Wirgin Edixa-Mat Reflex mod B

I now own two Wirgin Edixa cameras. The other one is  simple viewfinder camera, the Edixa 1. This is a hefty, solid looking camera with a reputation for not being robust. It was made in Wiesbaden in West Germany between 1960 and 1962. The German heritage is very apparent in the styling - it has a very definite Zeiss Ikon look about it. In terms of facilities offered, it is between technological eras. It has an instant return mirror and automatic lens diaphragm which were very much state of the art in 1960. On the other hand, it has separate fast and slow shutter speed selectors which was becoming rather passé by then.

Edixa-mat SLR (C) John Margetts

lens: n/a

focal length:  n/a

apertures: n/a

focus range: n/a

lens fitting: M42 thread

shutter: cloth focal plane

speeds: 1,2,5 and 10 slow speeds, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500 and 1/1000  fast speeds

flash: M and X PC connectors

film size: 35 mm

A description of the camera:

On the right hand end of the top plate is the film advance lever. The camera is modern enough to have a lever and not a knob. This lever is not on a ratchet so it is not possible to advance the film with a series of short movements - not a major problem for most people. In the centre of the film advance lever is the frame counter. This is additive and needs to be set to 1 manually when loading film. With this particular camera, this is faulty - one sweep of the lever moves the frame counter either 1, 1.5 or 2 places. Next to the film advance is the shutter speed selector. This is in two parts. The central part works by lifting and turning the knob to the required speed. This can be turned continually (ie from 1/1000 to B to 1/25) and can be set either before or after advancing the film. Speeds available here are B, 1/25, 1/59, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500 and 1/1000. Below this selector is a lever to set the slow speeds. This lever is normally set to a black O to use the fast speeds. To use the slow speeds the fast speed selector must be set to 1/25 and the slow speed selector is then set to either 1/10, 1/5, 1/2 or 1 seconds.

Frame counter and two speed selectors

In the centre of the top plate is the viewfinder. This can be either a waist-level finder or a pentaprism finder. The waist-level finder was supplied as default. My camera has the pentaprism finder. This can be removed by sliding two chrome buttons apart and then lifting the finder off. The finder also has focus screen options - mine is plain ground glass with a split-image centre. My camera also has the optional accessory shoe which fits over the viewfinder eye-piece. It is so loose I suspect it came from another Edixa model (it is stamped 'Edixa').
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Blog (C) John Margetts 2016
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viewfinder detached

viewfinder detached

The front of the camera has the lens close to the centre - it is slightly offset to the left. The lens mount is M42 - also known as the Pentax thread mount and almost ubiquitous in 1960. This camera came without a lens but I have three excellent Soviet Helios-44 lenses that fit - one entirely manual Helios-44 that came with my Zenit E and two Helios-44M lenses that have the automatic diaphragm option. Just inside the lens mount is a small (3mm by 15mm approx) plate that moves forward when the shutter release is pressed. This plate presses on a pin on the rear of the lens to close the aperture to its preset value.

Plate to close the automatic aperture

Just to the right of the lens mount are two PC (Prontor-Compur) sockets for connecting a flash gun. The top socket is for flash bulbs and the lower one for electronic flash guns. The only difference between them is the delay between firing the flash and the shutter opening - the flash bulbs requiring a longer delay to allow the bulb to reach its full intensity.

Above the PC sockets is the shutter release button. I have around 60 mechanical cameras in my collection and this is the only one that is not threaded for a standard cable release. Why?  Instead, the surround to the button is threaded to allow the use of a very non-standard cable release. Beside the shutter release button is a sliding lock to prevent accidental use of the shutter release.

PC sockets and shutter release

On the corners on the top of the front are brass eyelets for attaching a neck strap. One of these is broken on my camera meaning I shall have to carry the camera in my hand - not a good idea for a rather heavy camera.

The base plate has a central tripod boss - the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth thread (1/4 inch UNC on more modern cameras). There is also a nice and large chrome button to release the film advance mechanism to enable rewinding the film. This is much easier to use than the usual minuscule recessed button.

This camera is entirely manual and has no light meter. This means that the controls are sparse and the camera easy to use. This morning I tried the camera using the Sunny 16 rule to gauge the exposure and checked on my accuracy using my trusty Zeiss Ikon Ikophot meter. My guess was f/8 @ 1/200 seconds and the meter said f/8 @ 1/250 seconds - close enough!

focusing screen with the viewfinder removed

Focusing this camera is easy. The viewfinder image is bright and exactly life-size. The split-image spot in the centre is larger than on any other camera I own. The ground glass screen is ground fine enough and the image is bright enough so that focusing is easy without the split-image spot. When the shutter has been released, a small circle appears in the top of the viewfinder image. This is obtrusive enough to make it clear that the film needs to be wound on. The shutter release button falls naturally to my index finger and has a fairly light touch (hence the release lock!). My only quibble here is that the button is at right angles to the front of the body. If it has to be on the front, I would prefer it to be angled like on a Praktica. Best of all would be on the top plate.

camera missing the viewfinder

When I first received the camera, lack of use was very evident. The fast shutter speeds were hesitant and the slow speeds did not work at all. My usual practice here is to repeatedly dry-fire the shutter for an hour or so - drives Bestbeloved nuts but this improved things to the point that fast speeds sounded OK and the slow speeds were hesitant. On reading Simon Hawketts' Photo Blog about old cameras (Edixa-Mat Reflex mod B article here) he lubricated the slow speed escapement (already beyond my technological limits!) to get the slow speeds to work. On the basis that I couldn't harm the camera with a bit of oil (experience tells me that, actually, I can) I removed the base plate and put very small amounts of oil around the parts that moved (I wouldn't know an escapement if it bit me on the leg). A further thirty minutes dry-firing and the slow speeds were sounding pretty good.

Other things to note: There is missing leatherette on the viewfinder. I could get some new and glue it on - it is a very simple job to do, but I doubt I shall bother. The front of the camera has had new leatherette fitted - is has a totally different pattern and is slightly too thick. The leatherette on the back is becoming detached and, again, it would be a simple matter to glue it back in place.

 My test film will show how well the shutter is working. Overall  poor exposure will indicate that shutter is not moving at the right speed and uneven exposure will indicate that the two shutter curtains are moving at different speeds. Any bright patches show there are holes in the curtain material - but they look fine.

The other thing that the test film will show up is light leaks. The Germans were not as reliant on light seals as the Japanese were but there are light seals on this camera. They look to be in good condition but we will see when the test film is developed.

Test Film

All is not well. But all is not lost, either. There are no visible light leaks and the shutter curtains seem to be moving smoothly - all the exposures are even. But even is all I can say for them! Most of the roll is massively over-exposed indicating that either both curtains are moving much too slowly, or the slit between them is much too large. However, it is not consistent. Really, I should keep a note of the exposure for each frame but I am too lazy to do that. The first two frames are exposed ok and a couple mid-roll were also exposed ok which suggests that the problem is related to the chosen shutter speed.

2-7-2016

Here is a comment I have received from Michael Roth about this exposure problem:

"John, I enjoyed reading your report. I might be able to help you with the overexposure problem. It is quite likely that nothing is wrong with your camera, but the lens you are using may not be quite the right fit. That's because the Edixa-Mat Reflex has a non-standard M42 mount that requires a longer than usual pin on the lens mount in order for the aperture to stop down beyond F8 or so. Since the standard M42 mount lens pin is too short for the Edixa mount, the aperture is not stopped down further than about F8 in auto mode even if you choose F11 or F16 on your lens. I have an Edixa-Auto-Cassaron lens that perfectly fits my Edixa-Mat Reflex Model D while standard M42 mount lenses have the stop down problem I described. The Edixa-Auto-Cassaron lens does not fit on my earlier Edixa Reflex Model C which appears to have yet another non-standard M42 mount. I have an ISCO Westanar lens with semi-automatic M42 mount which works on both Edixas. So you can either try other early M42 lenses you may have or use your M42 lens in manual mode or don't stop down more than F5.6 or F8 if you use your lens in auto mode. Good luck!"

I have had a look at the aperture of my Helios-44M lens while the shutter speed is set to B and it is clear that the diaphragm is not closing down at all. This means that those shots with an aperture set at f/2 to f/ 4 are well within the latitude of the film but the rest are over exposed to a varying degree. I can over come this as Michael suggests by finding a lens that works with the camera or by switching the lens to manual and not using the automatic aperture facility. My following comment is now moot (and greyed out).

It is possible that the 1/100 speed is where the exposure is ok and on other speeds the 1/100 speed slit is being maintained rather than being thinner as it should be. I am open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Here are the pictures: (problems are not as apparent as they could be as I have adjusted the images as well as I can on Gimp. Some are still clearly beyond the latitude of the film)

My usual first subject with a new camera

Exposed OK

First of the over-exposed photos

Kodak Retina Ia (type 015)

Kodak bought Nagel Kamerawerk in 1932 as they wanted the design and manufacturing facilities to produce top quality amateur cameras. The main camera Dr Nagel designed for Kodak was the retina introduced in 1934, together with the now standard 35mm cassette. Several models were produced before Kodak introduced the Retina I in 1936. The camera I have before me is the Retina Ia (type 015) introduced in 1951. This is broadly similar to my earlier Retina from 1936 and my folding Retinette of 1951. See photographs.

lens: Schneider Retina-Xenar

focal length: 50mm

apertures: 3.5 to 16

focus range: 

lens fitting: fixed

shutter: Synchro-Compur

speeds: to 1/500

flash: PC socket, synch for X and F

film size: 35mm

The top plate has a film advance lever on the right (this was introduced on this model, earlier models had an advance knob) which incorporates a frame counter which counts down to zero. This moves through about 180 degrees to advance the film one frame. The lever is not on a ratchet and so cannot advance the film with a number of small strokes (c.f. Wirgin Edixa 1).

To the left of the film advance lever and to the front of the top plate is the shutter release button. This is a small chrome plated button and is threaded for a standard cable release. Behind the shutter release button whose use took me a while to establish. This button allows you to advance the film without tripping the shutter - useful if you are re-loading a partially used cassette of film. This is the only camera I have ever seen this on. left of these is the model name engraved in Italic script.

Centrally, there is the viewfinder in a slightly raised hump. Left of this is the accessory shoe - no flash contacts so a cold shoe - which has the camera's serial number stamped in it - 503555.

On the far left of the top plate is the film rewind knob. This pulls out around one centimetre for rewinding and two centimetres to release the film cassette. this knob has a film selector on it, purely as a reminder as there is no light meter. The film options are all Kodak films, none of which are available now.. They are : Pan X, Plus X, Super X, Kodachrome Daylight, Kodachrome Artificial light and Infrared.

The bottom plate has a tripod boss on the right-hand end and a recessed button to free the mechanism for rewinding the film.  There is also a small button to release the lens door. The back of the film is mostly the hinged back which allows access to the insides to allow the film to be loaded. This is embossed in the leatherette with the legend "Kodak Retina Camera". Above the back is the viewfinder eyepiece which is as small as was usual at this time - it measures 3mm by 5mm.

The lens and shutter are in front, behind a hinged door. This is released by the small button on the base. The door does not snap open as my Zeiss Ikon folders do and needs to be opened fully by hand. The shutter and lens are fitted to a chrome plate which is, in turn, fitted to the bellows. The shutter is a Synchro-Compur. This offers speeds to 1/500 seconds. The shutter is released by the button on the top plate which is linked to the lever on the shutter housing. The shutter is cocked by the film advance lever through a hinged linkage to a gear on the side of the shutter housing. Both shutter release and shutter cocking have to cope with the shutter being folded away and also with the whole shutter housing moving when focusing. The lens is a Schneider Retina-Xenar with a focal length of 50mm and a maximum aperture of f/3.5.

Both the folding mechanism and the shutter itself are faulty on my camera - I suspect the folding mechanism was damaged by a previous owner attempting to repair the shutter; the lens is only hand-tight in its fitting which is indicative that it has been removed recently. If I am not careful, the whole folding mechanism will dis-articulate when closing the camera. The shutter fault is that it will open on its own (and stay open) as the advance lever finishes its travel.

Retina right, Retinette left

Retina Ia left, Retina I right

In use.

I was unaware of any problems with this camera when I started the test film - they became apparent in use. Of the 24 exposures available on the test cassette, 14 had images on them. This indicates that the shutter was working to begin with. However, a further fault is now apparent - there is a humongous light leak in the bellows  which nearly completely obliterates the images

Wirgin Edixa 1 Viewfinder camera (also known as Edina 1)

This is a West German camera made between 1953 ad 1957. It is a simple viewfinder camera which is clearly built to a price but quite well made within that constraint. This camera has been well used - witness the scuff marks around the tripod boss - and, at least latterly, stored badly - the nickel plating is corroded indicating that storage has been been somewhere damp. The pictures are of the camera as I received it. I shall be doing an intensive clean this week and I shall post a picture of the clean camera for comparison.

Wirgin Edixa 1 (C) John Margetts

lens: Steinheil Cassar triplet
focal length:  40 mm
apertures: f/3.5 to f/16
focus range: 0.9 m to infinity
lens fitting: fixed
shutter: Gauthier Vero
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200
flash: PC connector
film size: 35 mm

The camera measures 120 mm by 60 mm deep and 75 mm high. It weighs 427 g without a film in
place. Being a viewfinder camera, it has very few controls.

Starting, as always, with the top plate. On the right-hand end is the film advance lever. This moves through around 180 degrees but needs two throws to advance one frame. The lever is on a ratchet and several small movements will have the same effect. This is one area where the camera is clearly built to a price as the lever consists of a bent piece of metal - not the most comfortable of levers in use. To the left of the film advance lever and close to the front edge of the top plate is the shutter release button. This is fairly small, nickel plated, and is threaded for a standard cable release. It is well placed for the right-hand index finger in normal use.

The centre portion of the top plate is raised. At the front of this raised portion is the name 'Edixa' in Art Deco lettering. Behind the lettering is a screw head (7 mm diameter) which is used to reset the frame counter. This needs to be set to the film length as it counts down to zero - i.e. it tells you how many shots are left rather than how many are taken.

Wirgin Edixa 1

On the left-hand edge of the raised portion is an accessory shoe. This has no flash contacts and so is a cold shoe in flash terms. In use, this is just as likely to have had a rangefinder in it as a flash gun.

On the left of the top plate (left of the raised portion) is the rewind knob. There is no fold-out crank here, but the central portion lifts up to provide a fairly ergonomic grip.

The front of the camera has the shutter housing centrally placed. The shutter is a Gauthier Vero shutter which is basically a cut-down Prontor shutter (a further evidence of design to a price). This shutter offers four speeds (1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200) plus B There is no self-timer on a Vero shutter and there is no flash synchronisation setting - flash is provided for with a PC socket on the side of the shutter housing - this is X synch for electronic flash guns.

The iris diaphragm offers apertures from f/3.5 to f/16. The range of shutter speeds together with the range of apertures allows for good exposures with most films available 50 years ago and most light conditions. This might seem a bit meagre by modern digital standards but I have never found it to be limiting in my photography.

The lens is a Steinheil Cassar lens. The Cassar is a triplet and Steinheil seem to have generally supplied to the lower end of the market but I have always found them to be more than acceptable when stopped down to f/8 or f/11. See the test results further down to see how this particular lens performs. The lens has a focal length of 40 mm which is very slightly wide compared to 'normal' for 35mm photography (which is 43mm). The lens fascia bears the legend 'VL' which I take to mean that the lens is coated - it certainly has a slight colour cast to it. Focusing is by moving the front element of the lens (front cell focusing) rather than the whole lens assembly (unit focusing). This is generally considered inferior to focusing by moving the whole lens but any difference is technical rather than practical. The lens serial number is 889580 which should help me to date the camera precisely if/when I can find appropriate information on the Interweb.

The viewfinder sits above the shutter/lens and is much as I would expect for the time - i.e. rather small by modern standards but much bigger than was usual in the 1930s. It measures 8 mm by 12 mm. To the right of the viewfinder, below the shutter release button, is the maker's name - 'Wirgin' - again in Art Deco style.

There are three items on the back of the camera - all on the top plate. Centrally is the viewfinder eyepiece. this is round with a diameter of 5 mm. This has a circular brass surround which is dangerous to wearers of modern spectacles - mine have extensive scratches on the right-hand lens caused by using old cameras. To the right of the viewfinder eyepiece is the frame counter window. This is a meagre 2.5 mm square and is right at the limit of my eyesight. Right of this, under the film advance lever, is a small slide. Moving this to the left allows the film to be rewound.

 Test film

I have now finished the test film and had it developed and scanned by Snappy Snaps in Lincoln. Main negative is the presence of vignetting. Exposure is spot on as is focus (mostly focused at infinity).

Stamp End lock, Witham

View from the office window

Our road

Buildings, Dane Gate, Lincoln

Walkway, St Mark's Square, Lincoln

Olympus 35 ECR

This is a small, compact 35mm camera from Olympus. It is a part of the Olympus 35 line - 12 models with varying complexity. This model came out in 1972 and was produced for two years (as far as I can gather).

Olympus ECR, front view (C) John Margetts

lens: E. Zuiko

focal length:  42 mm

apertures: f/2.8 automatic

focus range: 3 feet to infinity

lens fitting: fixed

shutter: Seiko ESF

speeds: 4 seconds to 1/800 seconds

flash: hot shoe + PC socket

film size: 35 mm

Olympus 35 ECR, rear view (C) John Margetts

First, a description. The camera measures 110 mm wide, 75 mm high and 30 mm deep, not counting the lens, or 50 mm deep, counting the lens. It weighs 450g including a 24 exposure film. The top plate is sparse. On the right is the frame counter. this is reset to 'S' when the back is opened and counts up from zero. 30 mm in from the end of the camera is the shutter release. This is a chrome button and is threaded for a standard cable release - a conical thread to make fitting easier. Just behind the shutter release is the camera serial number. My camera has the number 215752. 

Incidentally, to date Olympus cameras (Olympus Trips and Olympus 35 ECR, at least) you take out the film pressure plate and look on the reverse. There are three characters printed on the metal. The first character is a code for the factory where the camera was assembled, the second character is a year number and the third character is a month code.   Months run from 1 to 9 for January to September and then X,Y and Z for the last three months. The code on the pressure plate of my ECR is X2Z. (I cannot type the Japanese character in the first position so 'X' instead)) The 2Z signifies the camera was made in year 2 (i.e. 1972) and month Z (i.e. December).

Just to the left of the mid-point is a square orange light. This lights up when the shutter release is pressed part way. This indicates that the battery is good and the camera is ready to use. It does not indicate that the exposure is good as it still lights if the light sensor is covered. Next to this is the accessory shoe. This is a hot shoe and allows for automatic flash use - more later. On the end of the top plate is a PC socket. using this does not to invoke the automatic flash system.

The front of the camera has an anodised aluminium strip (the front of the top plate). On the left this bears the legend "OLYMPUS 35 ECR". to the right are the small rangefinder window (5 x 3 mm) and the larger viewfinder window (12 x 8 mm). The lens/shutter housing is almost central. This houses the Seiko ESF electronic leaf shutter. The lens itself is an E Zuiko lens. The 'E' designation indicates five glass elements (A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5 etc.). this is a multi-coated lens with a definite blu tinge. Above the lens is the small light meter sensor - a CdS sensor - and below the lens is a window showing the selected film speed. This is marked in ASA but that is essentially the same as ISO. Just around the lens is a serrated ring which turns to select the film speed.

Olympus ECR bottom view

The lens takes 43.5 mm filters which cover the light meter sensor as well as the lens so no exposure correction is required for any filter being used. Around the shutter housing is the focusing ring which has a fairly short throw of about 15 degrees and focusses from 0.91 m (3 feet) to infinity. The scale is marked in both metres and feet but that is really academic as the focus ring is connected to the rangefinder and there is no need to look at the scale. The spot in the rangefinder is green and quite visible making the camera quick and easy to focus.

Between the focussing ring and the body is another ring to set the guide number of the flash being used. This has two scales - one in metres (black) and one in feet (red) - which scale you use depends on the guide number given by the flash gun maker. To the left of the lens/shutter housing is a small horizontal lever marked 'LOCK'. Pushing this down locks both the shutter to prevent accidental shots and also switches off the light meter to preserve the batteries.

The base of the camera has four items on it. On one end is the 1/4 inch UNC tripod boss. next to this, and recessed, is the rewind button (black). In the middle is the battery compartment. This is designed to take two mercury batteries giving a working voltage of 2.7 volts. As mercury batteries are no longer available, I am using two A640 batteries which give a working voltage of three volts. This probably affects the exposure system but the % difference is going to be less than half a stop on the exposure and so is nothing to worry about. Next to the battery compartment is the rewind crank. this folds out and is nice and large - much larger than is usual on an SLR.

Just about all 35mm cameras of this age use foam seals to prevent light coming in around the join of the back. As with most 35mm cameras of this age, the light seals have deteriorated and, in fact, have almost disappeared. These will need replacing before the camera can be used - quite a simple job with the foam being available on the Interweb.  When this is done, I will run a terst film through the camera and post the results here.

Ferrania Ibis 127 film camera

This is a very non-standard camera. Firstly, it is Italian which means a distinct design philosophy that is very different to the German.  Secondly, it has one control - shutter speed: either B or I (Instantaneous).

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Ferrania Ibis closed (C) John Margetts

lens: Primar

focal length:  75 mm (ish)

apertures: fixed

focus range: fixed

lens fitting: fixed

shutter: Ferrania own

speeds:  two: B and I

flash: PC socket

film size: 127

The camera measures 120 mm by 70 mm high and 55 mm deep (closed) or 80 mm (open). It is a small camera and fits entirely in my hand. It also fits comfortably in my jacket pocket so is an eminently usable travel camera. The only down-side is the size of the viewfinder eyepiece which is unusably small while wearing spectacles. It is made entirely from a cast light metal (aluminium?). As far as I can see, there is a single casting for the body and a second casting for the back.

Ferrania Ibis open (C) John Margetts

The lens is held on the front of a chrome tube that slides into the body when not in use. The lens seems to be a single element lens - that is, a meniscus lens and is coated (it has a blueish tint). The shutter is also in the chrome tube and is a simple, everset type. It has two speeds only - Instantaneous or Bulb. the aperture is behind the shutter. the front of the housing is marked 1:9 which I take to be the aperture (but more later). Measuring the distance from the approximate centre of the lens to the film 'plane' gives me a focal length of 75 mm which would be 'normal' for 127 film. If that is right, the aperture of 4 mm diameter would give a fixed aperture of f/19 in which case the 1:9 on the lens fascia is not the aperture.  Also on the collapsible chrome tube is a PC socket for flash - no accessory shoe is provided so the flashgun will require a bracket to hold it onto the tripod boss (the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth or UNC thread).

Ferrania Ibis - rear view

The film gate measures 55 by 42 mm so a 'normal lens' would have a focal length of 70 mm so the lens provided is 'normal' - equivalent to 43 mm on a 35 mm camera or 28 mm on a APS-C digital camera. The top of the camera has the shutter release to the right of centre and fairly forward. The viewfinder is pretty much central and to the left is the film advance knob. Being a film camera, there is no need for a rewind knob. On top of the viewfinder is a plate with details of ferrania films of the day.

Inside and the detached back

The back of the camera is held in place at each end by sliding strap lugs. There is a central red window for seeing the frame numbers on the film backing paper.

Inside is redolent  of cheap film cameras. To offset the aberrations inherent in a meniscus lens, the film 'plane' is curved (so not strictly a plane). The new film goes at the right and the take-up spool is on the left. Both spools are held in place by a single spring steel strip.

Inside showing the curved film 'plane'

The outside of the camera is painted grey with dark grey leatherette patches. Compared to what Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander were doing in Germany at the same time; it is a very crude, cheap looking camera but it is not without charm. The camera comes in a purpose made and rather nice leather case. As this camera uses 127 film which, while still available, is rather expensive I shall not be trying this camera with film.

Empty case

Case with camera

Cosina C1 35 mm film SLR

I got interested in Cosina cameras  while reading about the cameras they make for Big Name companies - companies like Canon, Nikon and Olympus. I started, many years ago, with the impression that Cosina only made cheap, low-spec cameras. That impression is now updated. My first Cosina was a CT1 (article coming) which is (still) sold by Nikon as their FM10 and was sold by Canon as their T60 and Olympus as their OM2000.

Cosina C1 - (C) John Margetts

lens: Cosina 35-70 mm zoom

focal length: 35-70 mm

apertures: f/3.5 to f/22 (nominally)

focus range: 0.5 metres to infinity

lens fitting: Pentax K-mount

shutter: Cosina metal focal plane

speeds: 1 second to 1/2000 seconds

flash: hot shoe, X synch

film size: 35 mm

This camera, the C1, is a much later camera.  The outside is plastic and so is (as far as I can tell) the chassis. This makes it feel to hold much like a modern DSLR. That is not a criticism of the cameras as a photographic device but as a collector of old cameras, the tactile component is important to me.

Once manufacturers turned to plastic mouldings, shape restrictions were removed. With this camera, while the internal chassis seems to still be rectangular (cuboid?) the outside has flowing curves. This is partially aesthetic and partially ergonomic. The camera is clearly designed to be held right-handed. There is a curved. raised portion on the front to give the middle two fingers a good grip and a second raised portion on the back to give a secure grip for the thumb. This leaves the index finger to comfortably sit  on the shutter release button. The curves continue around the pentaprism hump and in the junction between the body and the lens mount. my personal preference is for more classically designed cameras.

Cosina C1, top plate (C) John Margetts

The top plate has the standard layout - film advance lever, shutter release button and shutter speed selector on the right of the pentaprism hump and the rewind crank/door latch on the left. This camera has a standard hot-shoe accessory shoe (and no PC connector). The film advance lever acts as a shutter lock and light meter switch when the lever is flush with the body.

The front of the camera is unadorned apart from the Pentax K-mount lens mount and the name C1. This is the plain vanilla mount with no electrical contacts or autofocus screw. The rear of the camera is similarly unadorned - there is the viewfinder eyepiece and a window to allow the user to see part of the film cassette: ideal for those of us with virtually no memory.

Inside, the camera has no surprises. The shutter is a vertical travel metal shutter which is, I think, Cosina's own make. This offers speeds from 1 second to 1/2000 seconds and is synchronised for flash at 1/125 - marked in red on the speed selector dial. The speeds on the selector dial go anti-clockwise from 1 to 1/2000 seconds (the opposite way to the Cosina CT1).

Cosina shutter

The plastic back fits without light seals. the technique of moulding the plastic allows for sufficient light baffles without the use of foam. there are two exceptions: a small piece of foam by the hinge and a larger piece around the window to the film cassette. These are in good condition and the camera should still be usable without replacing them.

This camera comes with a TTL (Through The lens) light meter. It is powered by two LR44 batteries which are still available. On this camera, the meter does not work.

The lens that came with the camera is, I assume, the kit lens that Cosina provided with the camera when new. It is Cosina's own 35 - 70 mm zoom lens. It has an aperture range of f/3.5 to f/22 at 35 mm and f/4.8 to f/22+ at 70 mm. It is multi-coated and claims macro ability. This macro ability gives an image:subject ratio of 1:5 rather than the 1:1 ratio that is usually thought of as true macro. Focusing is from just under 0.5 metres (1.5 feet) and the focus scale is marked in both metres and feet.

The aperture scale is rather confusing. The aperture ring sets the size of the aperture (as you might expect) but the f-number is a ratio between focal length and aperture diameter. This means that the marked f/ stop depends on the zoom setting. For setting the aperture at 35 mm focal length there is a red dot for the aperture ring and at 70 mm focal length there is a green line (on the zoom scale, 35 mm is in red and 70 mm is in green). For zoom settings between 35 mm and 70 mm, neither mark will be quite right and you could be up to 1/2 stop out on your exposure, depending on whether you use the red dot or green line. in use, 1/2 stop + or - is neither here nor there. marked f/ stops are from f/3.5 to f/22 but this is clearly the case with  zoom setting of 35 mm. At 70 mm, the widest aperture is f/4.8 and the smallest is significantly less than f/22 - I would guess f/32.

The lens mount is Pentax's K mount. It is the plain vanilla mount as introduced in 1975. There are no electrical contacts or auto-focus screw so the lens is fully manual. Any K-mount lens will work with this camera so long as the lens has an aperture ring, and this lens will work on any K-mount camera - but only manually.

The lens is entirely plastic and does feel rather 'plasticky' but the adjustments are all very smooth and the lens looks to be well made.

Yashica Minister D

I already have an article on Yashica Minister III rangefinders. This Minister D is clearly from the same stable.

The camera is about the same size to look at  - I suspect the Minister II and D both use the same main casting. The most obvious difference is with the light meter. With the Minister III, the meter cells are selenium cells in a ring around the lens and do not require a battery. The Minister D meter has the sensor on the left edge of the top plate and it does require a battery.

lens: Yashinon 

focal length:  45 mm

apertures: f/2.8 to f/16

focus range: 0.8 m to infinity

lens fitting:  fixed

shutter: Copal SVL

speeds: 1 second to 1/500

flash: PC socket

film size: 35 mm

The camera measures 135 mm long (not including the strap lugs), 85 mm high and 40 mm deep - 75 mm including the lens.

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(C) John Margetts

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The controls are as had become standard on (non-SLR) 35 mm cameras. On the right is the film advance lever. this lever moves through about 120 degrees to advance the film one frame which is easily achieved with one movement of the thumb. Between the film advance lever and the right edge of the top plate is a window to the frame counter. This counter is automatically reset to 'S' when the back of the camera is opened. This is two before the counter shows '1' allowing for the film to be wound on two frames to move the fogged film leader past the film gate once the back is closed.

Just to the left of the film advance lever and slightly in front is the shutter release button. this is chrome plated and is 5 mm is diameter. It is threaded for a standard cable release.

To the left of these three, the top plate is slightly raised. on this raised portion are the light meter display and ASA setting. ASA (effectively the same as ISO) can be set from 10 to 400 - about the range of film speeds available in the early 1960s. the film speed can only be set in ASA numbers - there is no DIN scale - but for those who prefer DIN (me!) there is a ASA/DIN conversion scale on the inside of the back door.

The light meter consists of a window to a black and white scale and a pointer - see forward on how to use it.

Left of the light meter is an accessory shoe - no electrical contacts so a 'cold' shoe. On the far left is the rewind crank. This pulls up to release the film cassette when loading/unloading but plays no part in releasing the back.

The front of the top-plate has the viewfinder window - fairly large at 20 mm by 13 mm - and a small rangefinder window at the end of the 'Minister D' logo. To the right of the viewfinder is the light meter cell. This is circular and is around 5 mm diameter in a 15 mm diameter enclosure.

The lens is central in the Copal SVL shutter. Just to the left of the shutter housing is a PC (Prontor Compur) flash connector.

The base plate is uncluttered. It has a button to release the rewind mechanism, a 1/4 inch UNC tripod boss (the old standard for tripods was 1/4 inch Whitworth which is very close to 1/4" UNC), a battery compartment and then usual Yashica recessed catch for the back. This is marked O-P - 'O' for open and 'P' for closed.

The back of the camera, as well as having the hinged back, has the light meter actuating button, the viewfinder eyepiece and a grey plastic plug. This plug hides the rangefinder adjusting screw. last thing to note is the presence of strap lugs at either end.

The lens is a Yashinon f/2.8, 45 mm lens (actually described on the lens fascia as 4.5 cm as was usual up to the 1940s but was old hat by the 1960s). I am told the lens has five elements in four groups. It is, of course, coated as was usual by the 1960s. The camera focusses by moving the whole lens; this is the high quality method of focusing compared to the cheaper method of just moving the front element of the lens.

The lens is set in a Copal SVL shutter:

S - for flash synchronised

V - for Vorlaufwerk (delayed action)

L - for light value settings

The shutter clearly takes its name from the German Prontor shutters - S, SV and SVS.

The lens can focus down to 0.8 m (2.8 feet) and is coupled to the rangefinder. this camera is now 50 years old and the rangefinder patch is fairly dim. However, knowing this is in the centre of the viewfinder it is not necessary to actually see it. It is still quite easy to the secondary images of strong verticals and so the rangefinder is straight forward to use. On the rear of the top plate is a small (5 mm) grey plastic plug. This is easily removed to reveal a small screw which is used to adjust the rangefinder. This camera seems to be already adjusted correctly. 

Incidentally, it is possible to improve the contrast of dim rangefinder patches. this can be done by inking in a small black circle in the middle of the viewfinder using a Sharpie or such.

Another nice feature with focusing this camera is parallax adjustment. As you focus the camera closer, the bright lines in the viewfinder move progressively to the right and down. You will still get some parallax error in your framing but you should be able to avoid cutting peoples' heads off.

There is a usable range of f stops from f/2.8 to f/16. This couples with shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/500 seconds. With films rated between 100 ISO and 400 ISO there will be few conditions that this camera will not cope with - at least in the UK; Florida beaches might be a problem.

Setting the exposure takes several steps.

1) press the red button on the rear of the top plate to switch on the meter

2) while holding the red button in, note the number the meter needle is pointing to

3) transfer this number to the outer-most ring on the lens/shutter housing

This sets the exposure but to the camera's choice of aperture and shutter speed. To get either the aperture or speed you want requires a fourth step.

4) turn the inner, gnarled, ring until either the aperture you want, or shutter speed, is against the red index mark. Not every aperture or shutter speed will be available for a given LV setting. For instance, with an LV setting of 17 you are stuck with f/16 and 1/500 and at LV 3 you only get shutter speed of 1 second and an aperture of f/2.8.

This is essentially a shutter priority system as altering the LV will alter the aperture, the shutter speed staying constant until the aperture required is outside the available range.

Most Japanese cameras use black foam in the recess the back fits in. this acts as a light seal. Unfortunately, this foam eventually turns to goo which has happened to this camera. Before I can run a test film I need to clean out the remains of the light seals and fit new black foam - easily secured on the Interweb.