Mamiya/Sekor CWP
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The name Mamiya-Sekor had long been used as branding on the company's lenses, but this is the earliest camera identified by this on its body nameplate, including a distinctive slash. This model is frequently known to collectors by its US-specific name Mamiya/Sekor CWP[1] but this is not marked on the camera itself[2] and elsewhere it was called the CP or given a nameplate reading "Mamiya" alone.
Unlike the Exakta-mount Prismat NP, this was the first 42mm screw-mount SLR from Mamiya. It was launched in 1964, the same year as the quite similar Canon FX, but two years after the Minolta SR-7. It stayed on the market for two years. It has a built-in exposure meter with the CdS cell positioned just in front of the wind-on lever. A High - Low meter range switch is situated coaxially under the shutter speed dial, on which the film speed is set lifting and turning it using a scale on the perimeter. The meter read-out window is next to the rewind knob, showing F-values to be transferred to the lens aperture ring. The camera has neat design, but a slightly rough and heavy feel. The focusing screen has a micro prism centre spot, surrounded by a ground collar and Fresnel rings. The finder has a 19mm (¾") thread for accessories. An automatic frame counter is visible under a window in front of the wind lever. The standard lens is the Mamiya/Sekor 1:1.8 f=55mm in black with a 52mm chrome filter ring, and an M - A slide aperture selector switch.
The CWP body has some slightly out of the ordinary features; the self-timer at the front has a release button in the wind lever hub. Lack of a switch for the meter means continuous drain on the 1.35volt mercury cell sitting in its base compartment; covering the cell minimizes the drain. The rewind crank is raised to disengage the film cassette, but the back door has a latch at the side. The tripod socket is moved forward on a base plate protrusion found on a few other Mamiya models. The strap eyelets are stamped out, possibly of stainless steel. However, TTL metering was taking over, and the much improved model TL/DTL series, based on the CWP, followed.
Notes
- ↑ This is the name shown on the manual linked below.
- ↑ Launch advertising in the US called it the "f2" (for the original bundled lens), even after it shipped with an f/1.8 lens; or later simply as "the Mamiya/Sekor."
Links
- Mamiya/Sekor CWP user manual at Butkus.org
- Prismat SLRs on Ron Herron's Collecting Mamiya 35mm site (archived).
