Not many left

Hi, I just had a look at a 1969 Photographic magazine.

I decided to count the different makes of prismatic SLR cameras.
I counted 20 different brands most of them with more than 1 model.

Now, I think we have only 3 survivors.

Pentax, Canon and Nikon. I am not sure if the Sony or Minolta are prismatic models.

So it says something for Pentax, that they managed to survive when so many others didn't.

Regards, Horst

Minolta has been swallowed by Sony some time ago and it's not any more. Sony took mirrorless road. You seem to be right in saying that only Pentax, Canon and Nikon are left on the prismatic field. I also think it says a lot for Pentax, but personally have a feeling, that mirrorless technology will overcome prismatic models. Who knows, maybe first Pentax full frame will already be mirrorless?

There were so many makers, but the smaller ones started to be swallowed up in the 1960s and by the 1970s some of the bigger players like Rollei were suffering as well.

There seem to be two options these days - be part of a larger organisation or be small and specialised like Leica or Alpa.

Dont forget Leica make a DSLR too

I recall late Seventies at Campkins (they are still going) selling many SLR's often with K mount. We would sell models five years old as new then and new models would often be minor updates to metering etc.

Other makes included Leica (as dear as today),odd looking Ricoh with K mount, Yashica (now just a name on cheap stuff),Zenith (and Dixons version Prinzflex), Practica (I had a used Nova, all I could afford), Rollei, Mamiya and Contax. We would stock them ALL. Trade ins were the norm. Our most profitable sales were repairs, especially of cloth shutters losing sync.

There were also a lot more lens suppliers including some very obscure ones that you would sell as 42mm screw thread with or without an adapter. We were expected to know every make and model for our trade exams as well as photographic theory and practice.Not sure if that still goes on!

I think we'll want optical pentaprisms for some time yet outside of Japan.

And no doubt you would be asked tp put a 'spool' in customers cameras too.

The amazing part is, Rico also had a SLR which then disappeared.
Now they are back in business.

Regards, Horst

Favourite - Tin opener inside a light bag for ones over rewound. Quite a skill getting it light tight again!

Showing customers how to attach the film to the sprockets in the first place when they'd taken a whole film in their head but no photos to show for it.

Grovelling when their film had fallen off the clip at the lab and cooked in the developer!

Explaining scratches across whole film from dirt!

Convincing people to buy a real 35mm camera instead of a 110.

Being too poor to buy the lovely kit myself!

Ricoh made several SLRs. My first SLR was a Ricoh KR-5, which I bought 2nd hand in 1985. I've still got it.

Some great Ricoh History here


http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ricoh

Thanks. Always referred to mine as an Ricoh XR-X, not bothering to add 3PF on the end. Now I know the Ricoh XR-X and the Ricoh XR-X 3PF were two different cameras.

I reckon my Ricoh XR-X 3PF is a better camera than my SFXn (aside from AF) or my P50.

Still got them all too, among others

My British (Northern Ireland?) made Periflex had an absolutely cracking six element prime lens. Used to annoy the hell out of me that judges would always comment on how beautifully sharp everything was before saying anything else about the picture.

Focal plane shutter was all over the place though with consequently inconsistent exposures which is why I went Pentax in 1979.

Topcon pulling out was a big loss. Still going strong in other areas
40% owned by Toshiba.

Used exclusively by the US Navy up to discontinuation.

They made some great lenses. The Re.Auto-Topcor 58mm f/1.4 went on
to become the Voigtlander Ultron.

"Mr. Kobayashi likes his Topcon Super D of 1963 enough to style Voigtlander's new silver Bessaflex after it, even producing a Topcon style 58/1.4 complete with the Topcon engraving."

See about halfway down page.....
http://cameraquest.com/Voigt%20SL.htm

Some example shots off original Topcor 58mm f/1.4

Pentaxforums

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Some people might find this 1965 US Dealers 29 page catalogue
of interest.

Save as 11.5MB PDF

https://archive.org/details/CambridgeCameraExchangeCatalogFromTheLate60s

The Topcon Super D cost $27 more than a Nikon F

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Very interesting. Thanks for that link.

For old codgers like me, it is always nice to look back and see some of the things we bought and the many thing we would have like to have bought

1965 I still had my Vitomatic IIa which I bought on the never-never about 2 months after I arrived in Australia 1962.

Regards, Horst