Mansfield
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| A Mansfield Skylark made by Yamato image by Voxphoto (Image rights) |
Note: The Mansfield photographic equipment company has no connection to the current Mansfield, Ohio metalworking company.
Mansfield Industries[1] was a Chicago-based company that distributed movie cameras, projectors, accessories and imported cameras which were rebadged with its logo or name from the late 1950’s into the mid-1960’s. Its various product lines had names like ‘Fairfield’, ‘Holiday’, ’Skylark’, ’Starlite’ and ‘Ultra’.
In April, 1962 Mansfield Industries bought Argus from General Telephone and Electronics. (In 1961 GTE had purchased Sylvania, owner of Argus Camera since 1957.) Mansfield appropriated the better-known Argus name and named itself as a division of Argus. Industry observers found this a curious development, as Mansfield was a much smaller player in the photo industry, mostly known for inexpensive imports serving the home-movie market.[2]
Mansfield moved the Argus/Mansfield headquarters to Chicago, Illinois, although some manufacturing continued at the Ann Arbor, Michigan facilities for a few months longer[3]. In 1965 Sylvania reacquired Argus. Without its main product base, Mansfield Industries disappeared from the market[4].
Cameras
- The most widely-distributed Mansfield camera models were branded as Mansfield Skylark (and described in that article).
- A later 35mm rangefinder camera distributed by Mansfield was the 1962 Eye-Tronic, rebadged from the Mamiya EE Super Merit[5], with Mantinar 40mm / f2.8-f16, shutter speeds 1/30s to 1/250s.
- The Mansfield Automatic 127 is a plastic box camera with an integral flash reflector, taking 4x4 photos on 127 film.
Notes
- ↑ The company name was not Mansfield Holiday, as mistakenly notated in McKeown‘s.
- ↑ Gambino, Henry J. Argomania: A Look At Argus Cameras and the Company That Made Them. Doylestown, PA: Aeone Communications 2005. ISBN 0-9770507-0-X
- ↑ The buildings still exist, and the main former factory (owned by C3 Partners, William Martin and Joe O’Neal) houses the Argus Camera Museum, founded by the late Gene & George O'Neal. The location is at 535 W. William St, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 in the second floor lobby
- ↑ "The Argus Museum—Ann Arbor's Hidden Treasure"(PDF) By Henry Gambino, PhD (author of Argomania); from Argus
- ↑ Sugiyama/Naoi “Collectors Guide to Japanese Cameras“ code #3393, p.181.
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