Mamiya Prismat CPH - leaf shutter 35mm SLR

Hi everyone,

Occasionally it's fun to foray into other manufacturers that had something to offer that's a little different. 

One of the issues that most 35mm SLRs have is an inability to synchronise with a flash at all speeds because they largely favour focal plane shutters.  Mamiya introduced their Prismat cameras at the beginning of the 1960s, some of which had the rare distinction of utilising leaf shutters; of course their popularity was limited as only 3 lenses were available but those lenses were recognised as being truly outstanding and a few studio photographers adopted the system.

The rarest of those Prismat cameras is the CPH - a variant of the PH but which included a CdS meter.  Shutter speeds were from T through to 1/500th using a Seikosha SLV shutter.  Very hard to find, especially in working condition, they do offer something that's a little different from the FP-shuttered camera with which we are more familiar.  I can't wait to get it into a studio and play around with a flash.

The build quality is superb for both camera and lenses, as you'd expect from Mamiya.  It will be fun to pit it against a Yashica Penta and Reflex 35 which were contemporaries of the Prismat CPH.