Australian Camera — May-June 2017

MaMiya CLASSICS

camera – which also employed

back-focusing – and a 16mm

format sub-miniature model,

all of which were introduced in

1949. During the early 1950s
      the company expanded its
      manufacturing facilities and began
      setting up subsidiaries around
      the world to handle distribution,
      including in the USA, as export
      volumes continued to grow. The
      company made its Photokina
      debut at the 1956 show. The
      following year it launched the
      Magazine 35, a 35mm rangefinder
      camera with interchangeable
      film backs so the film type could

be changed mid-roll. It was a

clever idea, but largely a failure

commercially due to its high cost

and possibly overestimating how

much photographers who bought a

35mm RF camera actually wanted

to change film type mid-roll.

There was more success

elsewhere as Mamiya continued

to develop the 35mm lens-shutter

camera, introducing the ELCA

later in 1957, the first Japanese-

made model to have match-

needle metering.

The meter was a selenium

cell type – so there was no need

for a battery – and the ELCA also

provided the convenience of

automatic shutter recocking when

the film was advanced.

Mamiya stayed right at

the forefront of 35mm compact

camera design right up to the

Osawa collapse; having embraced

features such as auto exposure,

the built-in flash and autofocusing

along the way.

Inevitably, in the mid-1960s

there was a half-frame 35mm

camera – the format was hugely

popular in Japan – and one of

the very last models was the

pocket-sized U, similar in styling to

Olympus’s XA.

Twin Peaks

The twin lens reflex was at the

height of its popularity throughout

the 1950s and 1960s, and a great

many camera makers offered a

wide selection of models. In early

1957 Mamiya turned this market

upside down by introducing the

first model with interchangeable

lenses... well, to be more precise,

interchangeable lens pairs.

The Flex C Professional was the

beginning of a long line of Mamiya

interchangeable lens TLRs which

remained in production until 1995.

There was initially a choice of three

lenses – an 80mm f2.8, 105mm

MaMiya Magazine 35

Nice idea, but... the Magazine 35 offered interchangeable camera

backs so film types could be changed mid-roll, but the high cost

appears to have dampened consumer enthusiasm.

MaMiya 16 auToMaTic

Mamiya built a number of 16mm sub-miniature cameras

between late 1949 and 1962.

MaMiya 6 auToMaT

The Mamiya 6 Automat was the first Japanese-made camera

with automatic shutter recocking.

MaMiya RB67 PRo S

The RB67 Pro S was the second version of Mamiya’s 6x7cm SLR and

undoubtedly one of its most successful cameras, being widely used by

professionals around the world. It remained in production for 15 years.

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1955 1956

1959 1974

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