Wards SLR 600

Wards SLR 600 image by Tarn McDaddo (Image rights)

The Wards SLR 600 is a fully mechanical SLR with a built in light meter sold by the Montgomery Ward department store chain. The camera was introduced in late 1964 and was advertised for sale until around 1968.

The SLR 600 was manufactured by Yashica but is not an exact match to any Yashica-branded cameras. It is most similar to the Yashica J-3, including that camera's unique self timer lever, shutter wind lever, and the late version of the J-3's shutter speed dial. However, the left side of the camera uses the light meter and rewind knob from the later Yashica J-4, and the nameplate area of the camera has the deeper style from the J-4 and J-7. It is possible that this camera was assembled with parts left over from the J-3 camera line after that camera had been replaced by the J-5 and later cameras.

The SLR 600 features a high-quality Tominon 50mm f/2 lens manufactured by Tomioka, who were the primary lens suppliers for Yashica at the time (Tomioka was purchased by Yashica in 1968). The lens is set in a relatively standard M42 mount; however, it uses a semi-automatic aperture actuation that must be set separately from the shutter wind for each shot. The semi-automatic aperture system was relatively common in the 1950s and early 1960s, but was becoming outdated technology by the time this camera was introduced.