Yallu Flex

The Yallu Flex is a 35mm TLR produced as a prototype in 1949 by Yallu Optical Co Ltd (ヤルー光学, Yarū Kōgaku), a company formed afresh for the purpose.

The Yallu Flex (sometimes referred to as "Yalluflex") was influenced by the Zeiss Contaflex, which was available in Japan at a very high price and was of particular interest in view of the patchy availability of roll film. The Yallu Flex was ingeniously and elegantly designed and was well equipped and appealingly advertised, but in the end it was never offered for sale: it is said that potential dealers were unimpressed by the prototypes that they received. About fifty were produced.

Yallu Optical survived the disappointment, renaming itself Aires and bringing out 120 TLRs and other cameras.

Links

• Yallu Flex (billed as "Yallu Reflex-35"), from this page of old Japanese magazine adverts
• Kurashikku Kamera Senka 21–25 a page about five issues of a Japanese periodical, clearly showing the front cover of each; no. 22 shows a Yallu Flex
• The Yallu Flex in context: 35mm TLR cameras