Samoca LE-II

an old Japanese rangefinder

The Samoca LE-II was a rangefinder camera for 35mm film. It had a built-in selenium meter. Appropriate settings for proper enlightment could easily be found with help of the two-slice analog calculator around the rewind crank. The calculator was coupled to a second pin in the meter's instrument window. When the film speed was selected and the instrument's pin was in line with the second pin the calculator showed the possible aperture/shutter-speed combinations.

specifications

• type: rangefinder camera
• Manufacturer: Sanei Sangyō
• Years of production: early 1960ies
• Film: 35mm
• Lens: Samocar 1:2,8/50mm
• Shutter: leaf shutter with speeds 1 sec. to 1/300 sec.
• Aperture: 1:2,8 to 1:22
• Viewfinder: optical finder with superimposed coupled rangefinder, bright frame with parallax correction marks
• Metering: Selenium meter