Japan 1956 – Reflex TLR – 127 film – Infrequent. While not incredibly rare, the Ricohmatic 44 serves as a captivating example of an ambitious yet largely unsuccessful attempt to enhance the user’s photographic experience. Ricoh’s engineers dedicated their efforts to crafting an appealing design, highlighted by a stylish semi-transparent flip cover (though it unfortunately … Read moreRicoh
Ricohmatic 44
Japan 1961 – Compact – 35 mm (half frame) – Rare. The Yashica Rapid is a distinctive half-frame viewfinder camera featuring an elegant and atypical vertical design, a hallmark of the innovative approaches seen in Japanese cameras of the 1960s. Half-frame cameras employ a film format that is half the size of the standard exposure … Read moreYashica
Rapide
Japan 1972 – Compact – 35 mm – Infrequent. The Olympus OM-1 was presented in 1972 and was then called the Olympus M-1. Since Leica’s flagship rangefinder cameras are known as the M Series, Leica complained about the name of the M-1, forcing Olympus to rename it OM. Nikon had made the 35 mm … Read moreOlympus
OM 1
Japan 1952 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Tanack are Japanese Leica copies, made from late 1952 by Tanaka Kōgaku The Tanack IV-S, whose design is very close to that of the Leica III, is the most popular of the series which had started with the Tanack 35. The main difference to the … Read more95 Tanaka
Tanack IV-S
Japan 1955 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Asahiflex (exported under the name Tower by Sears) was a 35 mm SLR camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation in 1952. It is widely regarded as the first SLR camera built in Japan and brought up quite a few innovations Unlike the majority of … Read more90 Asahi
Asahiflex II (Tower 22)
Japan 1984 – Submarine – 35 mm – Infrequent. Nikonos is a series of 35 mm format cameras specifically designed for underwater photography launched by Nikon in 1963. While Nippon Kogaku trace their underwater camera history back to 1956, when the company developed an underwater housing for the Nikon S2 rangefinder camera, the Nikonos is … Read moreNikon
Nikonos V
Japan 1948 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Tone Micro was manufactured by Toko in 1948 At the time, a lot of Japanese manufacturers were producing micro cameras which were mainly intended as toys. The most common production was the Hit type, with which it was hardly possible to take any picture. They … Read moreToko
Tone Micro
Japan 1979 – Compact – 35 mm – Infrequent. The Canon A1 hit the market in 1978 and very quickly became legendary. The Canon A-1 is a historically significant camera and was the high technology standard bearer of the landmark Canon amateur level A-series SLRs (Started with the Canon AE-1 in 1976) It was the … Read more87 Canon
Canon A1
Japan 1955 – Spy Camera – 8 mm – Rare. Produced around 1955 by Suzuki the Camera Lite is a Spy camera hidden in a zippo-like lighter. It was produced as a simplified version of another Spy Camera, the Echo 8. In 1953 the Echo 8 made an appearance in movie “Roman Holiday.” A reporter, Gregory … Read more86 Suzuki Optical
Camera Lite (model 1)
Japan 1958 – Compact – 35 mm – Very rare. The Honor S1 (or Honor 35) is a Japanese Leica III copy, made from 1956 to 1959 by Zuiho Kōgaku. It seems that it was first developed by Daiichi Kōgaku as the Ichicon-35 though no original document has yet been found to confirm this. The … Read more77 Zuiho
Honor S1
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