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on Sept 16, 2021 20:04:23 GMT
Last Edit: Sept 17, 2021 0:53:26 GMT by lumiworx
This BIN listing showed up while searching for something else, but it did bring a question to mind about when the first rebranding deal might have taken place for anything in the SLR line. It's actually the Penta J-P with no substantial changes that I can see, other than the logo, but with a slightly different twist on the usual Yashinon 5cm f/2. The camera is marked as the Wards SLR 500, but the lens is branded for it's maker, as a Tominon, and in quite a different appearance from the norm that we're used to seeing. This one is distinctive in its satin chrome finish, but it does have some issues. If you're not familiar with the "Wards" brand name, it was a 'brick-n-mortar' national department store chain in the US - a.k.a., Montgomery Wards - and was a direct competitor to Sears and to some extent, JC Penny or KMart at the limited or budget end of the spectrum. It went out of business in 2004, from a bleeding balance sheet, and the name was acquired later and relaunched as an online-only shopping site. (Think in terms of a marketplace for 3rd party sellers - there's no real Wards warehouses.) In my much younger days when I actually shopped there, I often browsed the camera gear, but once you realize your paying a premium for the same wolf in sheep's clothing , the inflated price sends you elsewhere if you wanted to buy anything. Maybe for those that had a Wards credit card and no other (regular) bank credit cards, it might have been a more palatable possibility. EDIT: Corrected the body model from "J" to "J-P"
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Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
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on Sept 17, 2021 8:41:06 GMT
Posted: Sept 17, 2021 8:41:06 GMT
A very interesting find! I wonder if Wards sold a branded version of the Yashica clip-on light meter? It's also worth pondering whether the 'C' (one assumes it's for Colour) coating is the same as used on the equivalent Yashica-branded lens or did Tomioka use a bespoke coating for its own glass?
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on Sept 17, 2021 15:30:16 GMT
Posted: Sept 17, 2021 15:30:16 GMT
A very nice find! I've not seen this one before. Wards also sold an SLR 700 which was a Konica FP. Makes you wonder if there was a Wards SLR 600!
I'm pretty sure that Sears beat-out Wards on selling more re-badged cameras -- Wards also sold the Konica EYE as the Wards EYE, and Sears sold the Mamiya 16 as the Tower 16. Sears had a lot of TOWER cameras, named after the Sears Tower in Chicago. Many were re-badged Mamiya and Ricoh cameras, sometimes with slight modifications. Sears even had Minolta make a special SRT100 -- the SRTSC. It was only slightly modified, but was labeled MINOLTA, not SEARS or TOWER.
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