Miranda Sensoret
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| black body image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights) |
The Sensoret is a 35mm coupled rangefinder camera introduced by Miranda in 1972,and was the only rangefinder type camera ever offered by the company. It is a compact, snapshot type camera with a fixed lens and fully programmed exposure automation. Miranda provided a good quality 4 element 38mm Tessar type lens. The shutter is the new SEIKO ESF electronic shutter which controlled the speed and diaphragm settings simultaneously in a combined unit. Other cameras of this time also used this new shutter to provide full automation at a popular cost, such as the Minolta Himatic E, the Konica C35, or the Olympus EM. All of these cameras were totally electronically powered with two mercury cells, which are no longer available. There was no manual exposure control provided.
In the USA and Japan, the Sensoret was available as a kit complete with a little custom flash gun, the EF-1. This flash worked with the Sensoret aperture adjusting according to the distance set by the user.
Miranda also offered a wide angle and telephoto auxiliary lens kit, similar to lenses offered by other makers for their rangefinder cameras, notably Yashica. The magnification of these lenses, however, was only 0.8x and 1.3x respectively. Since the auxiliary lenses totally obstructed the viewfinder, an external finder was fitted to the flash shoe of the camera. The rangefinder was not coupled to these lenses either.
The Sensoret was sold under both the MIRANDA and SOLIGOR brand names but there was no difference apart from the name identification. Most of the production was in black leatherette with chrome top and bottom plates, but other cosmetic versions were also offered. The Sensoret was available with either chrome or a black enamel finish to top and bottom plates.
In addition, chrome model variants were made with different coloured leatherette covering in small numbers. Sensorets with red, beige, grey, green or blue finish have accordingly become collector items.
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| lens detail image by Justin Jakobson (Image rights) |
