Asahiflex

Asahi Optical (Pentax) had been producing camera lenses for other japanese manufactureres since 1929 . The predecessors of Minolta and Konica were among their customers. Then in 1952, with no former experience in camera building , they produced the first Japanese 35mm SLR, the Asahiflex. At first glance, the design of the Leica III and the Kine Exakta come to mind. The placement of the film advance and rewind knobs and the placement of the shutter speed dials bears some resemblance to the Leica III. A viewfinder separate from the optical focusing mechanism adds to that impression. Of course the Asahiflex is not a rangefinder, but a true SLR with an Exakta-style waist level finder. Nice design detail: when folded in, the hood of the waist level finder is in the same plane as the shutter dials and rewind knobs. All Asahiflex models have a nameplate reading just that one word. The different model designations apparently originate from their manuals

Asahiflex IIa

Asahiflex I

Japan's first SLR had a mirror coupled to the shutter button. Press the button and the mirror goes up, release it and the mirror moves down again. This quick-but-not-yet-instant return mirror was a nice feature for 1952, when most SLRs had to be transported to get the mirror down again. The waist level finder is non-interchangable. To solve the inconvenience of a mirror-inversed image on the ground glass and to make eye-level use possible, a small optical viewfinder was on top of the camera. The angle of view for this finder was the same as for the 50mm standard lens. The standard lens for this camera was a Takumar 50/3,5 objective with click-stop aperture (see below). Lenses can only be used with pre-set aperture.
This first version of the Asahiflex had only one flash connector, for FP bulbs . The shutter speed markings for this first model are a bit odd: B, 1/20, 1/30, 1/40, 1/60, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500s. Of this early model, only about 7500 cameras are said to have been produced, and only for the Japanese market .

Asahiflex Ia

The Asahilfex Ia followed the original Asahiflex in 1953. A number of modifications had been made: the shutterspeed numbers hade been "normalized" to a series of B, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200 and 1/500s. Whether this was a cosmetic change or an actual adjustment of the shutter speeds remains unclear. Template:Mckeown mentions the shutter design had been simplified in this model. A second flash connector (x sync) was added above the first one. Production number: about 11.500 made.

Lenses

The Asahiflexes take 37mm screw mount lenses. A 37mm screwmount is rather unique. They were named Takumar lenses after Takuma Kajiwara, a Japanese painter and uncle of the company director. Apart from the curious screw mount, the Takumars have some other interesting quirks. The aperture is pre-set and made up of 20 (!) blades giving a nice round lens opening. 50 and 58mm standard lenses were available and 83, 135 and 500mm telephoto lenses. No wide angle lenses were made, aparently because of the presence of the mirror in the light path.

Further reading

• Asahiflex and the pre-1959 Asahi Pentax cameras, F. C Sherfy, 1994, ISBN 0-9641107-5-X
• The ultimate Asahi Pentax screw mount guide, Gerjan van Oosten, 1999, ISBN 90-1244-35-x

Links

In Dutch:

• Asahiflex development
• Asahiflex model overview
• The Asahiflex Takumar lenses.

In English:

• The Asahiflex on Wikipedia.

In French:

• The Asahiflex in Krg's Pentax collection.