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     Scott Rating: N/A |
This is not a question. I'm just curious, and would be interested to know more about a type of camera I have, which seems to be fairly unusual. Let me know if you know something. It's a Ward 35, apparently from the mid 1950s, and made in Japan. What seems odd is that the manual says that's got a 4 element lens. It's focused by turning the front lens element. AFAIK, the only similar lens I have is on my Vito II (Skopar). How common were 4 element, front element-focusing lenses in consumer-grade Japanese cameras in the 1950s? I admit to having quite a few of the cheaper Japanese cameras from the early-to-mid 1950s with 3-element lenses (before the better lenses became common in the cameras made by Walz, Taron, Graflex, Aires, Konica, etc. in the late 1950s), and I use them regularly. But this one seems to be considerably more solid and well-built than any of the others. It's got lever wind, a extra-large viewfinder, no RF, speeds to 300, "F.C. Ward 1:2.8 f=45mm" lens, and no other markings or names that would identify the manufacturer. Google search yields no clues. Feels like a great camera, so why so uncommon? |