Group: Moderator
Post: 2,040 (563 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
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on Jan 22, 2023 17:57:02 GMT
Posted: Jan 22, 2023 17:57:02 GMT
I had just taken delivery of an Olympus-PEN S and was getting ready to photograph it when I noticed the proximity of one of my Yashica Electro 35 MCs - between them, these two cameras tell a story. PEN S Electro 35 MCThe Olympus-PEN S and its predecessor the PEN were the smallest 35mm production cameras of 1960. These lovely half-frame models gave you up to 72 frames from a roll of film and were also easily pocketable too. They appealed to the thrifty and the stylish. 12 years later we have the Yashica Electro 35 MC - a full frame 35mm viewfinder camera which has a body no bigger than the tiny PEN S. Yashica became the king of the half-frames with a greater variety of models than even Olympus but once the Rollei 35 appeared in 1966, the days for half-frames were becoming numbered. But what becomes obvious from the photo is just how compact 35mm full-frame cameras had become with advances in technology and production methods. Although Olympus kept selling half-frames until 1983, Yashica surprised everyone in 1988 when they launched a completely new concept for such cameras in the form of the Samurai series. Gone was the emphasis on compactness but back was the promotion of thrift - and highly advanced specifications to allow all manner of sophisticated work to be undertaken. And today we see new half-frames being introduced as film makes a comeback...
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Group: Administrator
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Join date: August 2016
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on Feb 7, 2023 19:10:16 GMT
Posted: Feb 7, 2023 19:10:16 GMT
The shrinking of the full-frame 35mm cameras certainly dampened half-frame sales, but just as important was the new (1972) 110 format craze. Tens of millions were sold.
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Group: Moderator
Post: 2,040 (563 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
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on Feb 7, 2023 19:21:28 GMT
Posted: Feb 7, 2023 19:21:28 GMT
The shrinking of the full-frame 35mm cameras certainly dampened half-frame sales, but just as important was the new (1972) 110 format craze. Tens of millions were sold. A good point. And prices for those little Pentax Auto 110 cameras and their lenses are moving inexorably northwards now that 110 film is readily available again...
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