Yamato Pal Jr

Yamato Pal Jr

lens: Yamanon
focal length: 45 mm
apertures:  f2.8 to f16
focus range:3 feet to infinity
lens fitting:  fixed
shutter:  proprietary leaf
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300
flash: cold shoe, PC connector, one sync speed
film size: 35 mm

This camera was made by Yamato Kōki Kōgyō in the 1960s.  It is  a smallish 35mm viewfinder camera from Japan made in the early 1960s.  Yamato Kōki Kōgyō made a range of cameras, frequently for private labels.  This particular model, Pal Jr, was sold in the USA by Sears as a Tower 55B.

It is a well made camera made from die cast metal with the only plastic being in the lens/shutter assembly and then take-up spool.  The size and shape of this camera are much reminiscent of the Voigtlander Vito B but with angled ends rather than rounded.

The lens is a 35 mm Yamanon lens (either made by or specifically for Yamato).  The aperture range is somewhat restricted - f3.5 to f16 - but this is a very usable range.  The diaphragm has nine blades which gives a fairly circular aperture; more circular than most modern lenses offer.  If you are interested in bokeh, this should bode well.  This lens allows focussing from a bit less than three feet to infinity.  The lens has a bluish caste so is coated at least on the external surface.  The shutter is a leaf shutter in the lens and speeds are as a Prontor - 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300 plus B.  The shutter bears no name - again either made by Yamato or specifically for them.  There is a single Happy Snapper setting - just less than f11 and twelve feet - both are marked in red on the lens barrel.

This camera is synchronised for flash - there is a PC socket on the underside of the shutter housing.  There is no indication as to whether this is M, F or X sync but given the age of the camera I am inclined to suggest it is F (for Fast flash bulbs).

Pal Jr, rear view

The top plate is fairly uncluttered.  There is a slight bulge for the viewfinder which is large enough (I can use it while wearing my spectacles).  The viewfinder has bright-lines plus secondary lines to avoid parallax errors for close subjects.  On the top of the viewfinder is an accessory shoe (a cold shoe in flash terms).  To the left is the rewind knob with a small fold-out crank.

To the right are the shutter release button (threaded for a standard cable release), the film advance lever and the rewind button.  In front of the rewind button is a window for the frame counter.  At the start of a film this is set to zero by a knurled ring around the rewind button.  The film advance lever moves through 180ᵒ for each frame.

To load a film, you turn a ring on the base plate from L to O and then the base and back come away as one piece.  Loading the film is as you would expect on a fully manual camera - insert the cassette in the chamber on the left, pull the film leader over the image gate and attach to the take-up spool.  There is a slight difference to normal here as the take-up spool turns clockwise (the film is would emulsion side outwards) so the leader is attached on the left of the spool rather than the right.

The base of the camera also features a standard (1/4 inch Whitworth) tripod boss.  This is right at one end of the camera and so is likely to be poor for both stability and level.

In use, this camera is pleasant to use.  It is small and light which means you can carry it around all day - more than I can say for some of my Zeiss Ikon or Voigtlander cameras. The shutter release falls under my right index finger and the film advance under my thumb.  The viewfinder is a bit too small but still usable.  One fault with the viewfinder that I have found is the metal surround of the viewfinder comes into contact with my spectacle lens and will result in the lens getting scratched - softer plastic/rubber is much nicer.  The settings on the shutter barrel are easy to access from above and are nice and clear.  Would be better if there were depth of field markings beside the focussing scale, but this is a cheapish camera and you cannot have everything.

I now have some test pictures from this camera.  In general I am well pleased.  There is a lot of vignetting on a couple of frames but not in general.  I clearly have had an issue focussing this camera, but many are in good focus so I cannot blame the camera!

Cathedral Close, Lincoln

North Tower, Lincoln Cathedral

Central Tower, Lincoln Cathedral - with vignetting.

Some roofs, Lincoln

Zeiss Ikon Voigtlander Vitessa 100 SR

This camera outlines the dangers of buying online.  One is reliant on the written description given by the seller and a photo or two.  Unfortunately, it is just not possible to physically examine what you are buying.

In this case, the camera was described as 'good and clean' with the seller saying that they knew nothing about cameras and so could not comment on functionality.  That last should have been a red flag to me - anyone can press the shutter release and tell if anything happens or not.  Similarly, other controls either turn, press or not and any seller can report such.

This camera is missing the battery cover which is blindingly obvious on even a cursory examination of the underside of the camera.  Less obvious but still well visible is the loose leatherette on the top (not visible in the picture supplied on Ebay) which covers two holes from which the screws have been removed.  Clearly, someone has attempted to take this camera apart.  The seller?  Or did the seller buy it in this condition and try to pass their mistake on?  I cannot know which but a small honesty on the part of the seller would have saved me buying an unusable camera.

I could have taken this up with Ebay but the cost to me was less than £10.00 including postage so it is not a major issue.  I just do not like people being dishonest with me and they now have a negative feedback for their troubles.

As to the camera itself, there is much to admire.  This model is one of the last engineered German cameras - Leica excepted - before Japanese plastic took over the world.  I don't mean that in a derogatory way as Japanese plastic has much to recommend it if only in weight.

This camera is heavy and you are not going to forget that you are carrying it.  The three main controls are easy to find by feel - at this time Zeiss Ikon had taken to putting plastic tabs on the focussing ring, aperture ring and shutter speed ring.

The aperture ring is between the other two and has the widest tabs.  The shutter speed ring is closest to the camera body and has tabs that extend to less than half the circumference of the ring.  The focussing ring is at the front and has only a small tab at the bottom below the lens.

This set-up means that it is easy to find the correct control by feel - the values are repeated in the viewfinder with a rangefinder spot in the centre for focussing.

The rangefinder is the worst aspect of this camera - the rangefinder spot is fairly small and quite faint.  It works fine but could be easier to use.

Canon EOS 650

Canon EOS 650 front view

This is Canon's first EOS camera (and not to be confused with the digital EOS 650D!) and came out in 1987. The numbering is misleading.  On subsequent models they used three digits for amateur cameras, two digits for serious amateur/professional cameras and one digit for professional cameras.  You could be misled into thinking this is a thoroughly amateur camera  -  my almost new digital camera is an EOS 650D (in this case definitely an amateur camera).  In fact, it is aimed at very serious amateur and professional photographers.  While Canon make good use of plastic, the camera chassis is metal - evidenced by its weight.

As a modern electrical camera, it will not work without a battery.  It takes a six volt 2CR5 battery.  The camera takes all EF lenses (but not EF-S as they are solely for crop-sensor digital cameras) and I am trying out the camera with Canon's EF35-80 mm lens  This is an old lens and I suspect from very early on in the history of EF lenses.  It has an optically flat element sealing the rear of the lens so that the zoom mechanism cannot act as an air pump and pump air onto the film.  It is a pity that Canon abandoned this practise.

Canon EOS 650 top view

There are few controls compared to a more modern camera.  No knob to select mode - in fact only five modes available (P, Tv, Av, M, and Depth).  In P mode the camera sets both shutter speed and aperture.  In other cameras (including this camera's sister the EOS 620) the shutter speed/aperture combination can be altered by setting wheel, but not with this camera.  Tv, Av and M are as you would expect on a modern EOS camera with the camera setting the value you do not.  Depth mode effectively forces the camera to focus on the hyperfocal distance to maximise the depth of field.  There is also a full auto mode (designated by a green square).  This full auto mode is selected by the on/off knob while P, Tv, Av, M, and Depth are selected by the mode button and the setting wheel.  The only other control on the left of this camera is an exposure compensation button used in conjunction with the setting wheel.

The right of the viewfinder is dominated by the LCD display.  In front of this is they setting wheel and shutter release button.  Behind the LCD display is a button to alter the method of light metering.  Normally, this camera uses evaluative metering where it uses all of the field in the viewfinder.  Pressing this button restricts the metering to a central circle so that it almost becomes spot metering.

At first sight this is all the controls - absolutely miserly by modern standards - but there are further controls hidden behind a door below then hinged back.  These are not intended to be used very often so they are hidden away for safety. 

The controls are: film rewind button for when you want to rewind the film before the end (it is automatic at the end of the roll), AF to change between the focussing method (one shot or servo), S-C to change between single shot and continuous shooting (at three frames per second).  This button also sets the ten second shutter delay.  The fourth button is to check the state of the battery.  If the second and third buttons are pressed simultaneously you can over-ride the DX ISO setting - useful for either pushing film or using Adox film which is not DX coded.

EOS 650 - rear view

The viewfinder contains one autofocus point.  As this is intended to be an autofocus camera, the focus screen is plain - no microprisms, no split image circle in the centre.  Other focus screens were available as extras but not as standard.

Shutter speed and aperture are repeated in the viewfinder together with a focus lock indicator (a green circle).  The viewfinder also reminds you if you are in manual exposure mode or Depth mode.

Underneath the lens in the front are two more buttons.  Canon seem to have been keen to spread them around the camera.  These buttons are depth of field preview (which stops the aperture down) and a manual aperture button.  This last is used in manual mode in conjunction with the setting wheel to change the aperture.  It has no effect in other modes.

This is all the controls.  They are certainly sufficient - I, for one, do not miss the plethora of buttons that appeared later.  What I do miss is the ability to attach either a cable release or an electric version.  The EOS 650's sister the EOS 620 has a jack socket for a remote release in the grip/battery cover.  As the 650 has contacts inside this grip/battery cover I suspect the 620's grip could be used here.  There also seems to be no facility to use a remote release.  However, this was Canon's very first EOS camera and Canon learnt to add both electric and remote releases to future models.

Loading film is easy, as it is with all modern film cameras.  Open the back, insert the film cassette in the left chamber, pull the film across the shutter to the orange mark and close the back.  When you turn the camera on - if it isn't already - the camera automatically pulls the film leader onto the take-up spool and the camera is ready for frame 1.

The back is replaceable, Canon offering at least two alternative backs.  One simply printed the date and time on each negative.  The other back has an on-board computer that will record the date, time, frame number aperture and shutter speed in its memory.  These details can then be downloaded to a computer (I suspect you would need a 1980s computer to get the necessary interface).  The only evidence for these other backs with the standard back fitted is a row of  electrical contacts by the hinge.

I now have sample pictures available for this camera.  The one problem I have had is with the auto-focus.  I do not know if this was the lens (Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II) or the camera but the combination would not focus in sub-zero conditions - see the last picture.  It was fine above zero.  I have not used this lens in the cold before (we don't get a lot freezing weather in Lincoln) so I don't know how it would behave with another body.

Braun Paxette IIM

Braun Paxette II M

lens: Steinheil Munchen Cassarit
focal length:  45 mm
apertures: 2.8 to 16
focus range: 1 m to infinity
lens fitting: 39 mm (non-Leica)
shutter: Prontor SVS
speeds: 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 300
flash: m, x, v  PC connector
film size: 35 mm

Braun made collecting their camera tedious.  They didn't bother putting model names on their cameras.  OK, this says "Paxette" but that is a range of cameras not a specific Braun camera.  My other Braun camera also says 'Paxette' and they are clearly different models.

The basic body of the design is the same but this current model has no extinction meter (no great loss) but does have a rangefinder (no great gain) and an exchangeable lens.

The film advance is a lever advance but it really is just a lever stuck on a knob winder.  It requires two full strokes to advance the film one frame - a bit awkward and not really any better than a simple knob would be.  I suspect the main advantage of adding the lever was a marketing one rather than a practical one.  The second travel of the film advance cocks the shutter and reduces the film counter by one (this camera counts down from the length of the film to zero).

Film rewind is still a knob and I prefer this to the small cranks that became popular through the 1960-s, 70s and 80s.  If a maker fits a rewind crank then it should be a sizeable one as on a Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE. 

This camera does not have the extinction meter that my other Paxette has.  In its place is an uncoupled rangefinder.  This is adjusted by a small vertical wheel which works well enough but is a bit on the small side for my fingers.  As the rangefinder is uncoupled it is necessary to read the distance from a small window by the adjustment wheel and then transfer this reading to the focussing ring on the lens.  Guessing the distance is easier with a bit of practice and just as accurate with the lens stopped down to f8 or so.  The rangefinder and focus ring are both marked in meters which is unusual in an official import from Germany - the back of the camera is clearly marked "Made in Germany" so it is an official import.  My other Paxette has the focus ring marked in feet, so it is not a case of Braun not having the resources to produce market dependant versions.

The shutter is a Prontor SVS which was very much the standard shutter with serious cameras at this time. (1953 or so).  Compur shutters have something of a better name but I have never had a Prontor shutter of fifty or sixty years age be anything but excellent.

Shutter speeds seem to be about right.  I have no way of testing them but the manufacturers were happy with +/- 20% of the marked speed.  Half a stop out is not a problem  - half a stop is when the 1/300 speed is actually 1/225 or 1/450 seconds.  Your negative will be well exposed with that much error.

The shutter also has a PC (for Prontor Compur) flash connector with M or X flash synchronisation and V (V= Vorlaufwerk) for delayed exposure settings.  It is general wisdom not to try the V setting on old cameras as this can fail and prevent the shutter working at all.  Sure enough, when I tried 'V' it failed.  It took a bit of coaxing to get the shutter to fire.  In fact, I had to manually move the shutter blades (something else you should never do) while depressing the shutter release.  Not recommended and in future I shall heed accepted wisdom and leave the 'V' setting alone.

The iris diaphragm has (I think) twelve blades giving what is very close to a circular aperture - good for those concerned with bokeh.  The lens itself is a Cassarit 45 mm lens with a maximum aperture of f2.8  The Cassarit lens has three elements.  I can see no evidence of any coating (usually visible as a blueish sheen) but coatings were normal by 1953 and I suspect the lens has at least some coating.

The shutter release is the same as on my other Paxette - a bit of a hair trigger - but is rendered safer by being stationed between two of the stanchions which hold the shutter housing in place on the front of the camera.

Camera with back/base removed

Loading the camera is simple.  You release the back by turning the wheel around the tripod boss on the base (it takes quite a few turns).  The back and base come off as one piece making access to then inside easy.  There is a hinged bracket which must be moved to one side to put the new cassette in place - one the bracket is returned to its place, the cassette is held securely.  The pressure plate is attached to the camera body, not the back, and this must be raise to put the film between the guide rails (see picture).  If you forget, your film will not be exposed!  The leader of the film goes into a slot on the take-up spool - there is nothing to hold the film in place but it works well enough.

Bracket holding cassette moved to open position

Pressure plate in raised position

There is an accessory shoe on the top plate (cold shoe in flash terms) in front of which is the frame counter.  The frame counter is set by a toothed wheel behind the accessory shoe.  You need to set this to the length of the film when loading a new roll as the counter counts down to zero at the end of the film.

Rewinding the film is quite awkward.  With your right hand you have to press a small button on the top plate while with your left hand you need to partially raise the rewind knob and then turn it to wind the film into the cassette.  With such a small camera it is difficult to do this two handed.  I found the rewind knob kept putting itself back in the rest position - in this position, the knob will rotate freely and the film is not rewound.  Also, it was not clear when the film had been rewound so I found it necessary to keep winding long after I thought the film must be rewound in case I opened the back and fogged a length of exposed film.  Normally, there is a significant resistance from the film when rewinding and when the film leaves the take-up spool, this resistance is significantly reduced.  With the Paxette IIM, the awkwardness of rewinding masks this change in resistance.

I now have some sample pictures available from this camera.  These were taken on Agfa Vista+ negative film (made by Fuji, if you are interested).  They show up the susceptibility of this lens for flare and there is significant vignetting in the first picture but once you avoid light sources, the lens is quite sharp and gives good contrast.