Group: Administrator
Post: 1,409 (314 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
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on May 9, 2021 5:03:37 GMT
Posted: May 9, 2021 5:03:37 GMT
If this were an american product, I'd be tempted to think that it could be a salesman's sample, but I don't know if that ever occurred for Japanese makers of anything, let alone cameras. The most logical answer might be that it is, as suggested... a prototype. There's another possibility, but a far-fetched one. It might come down to who the original owner was, and if s/he had some place in the supply chain and wasn't a retail customer, but someone like a primary distributor for a country or even a continent. It may have been a gift or an early production sample that got passed onto someone 'on the inside', or someone wanted to do a hands-on review before they committed to a mega-order for their dealer network. It wouldn't be the first time that Mr. BigCheese wanted to see one first, and after they'd sent a hand-assembled pre-production one-off... he decided, "Well, I reckon I'll keep this one since I just bought 38,000 more".
Aside from my wild speculations, it might be worth comparing the serials from both lenses to those that Paul already has from other makes and models that may have used the same ones. It might point to a date range to see if there's a clue from that direction to get it somewhere into a timeline.
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Group: Moderator
Post: 2,077 (584 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 May 9, 2021 9:02:35 GMT
Posted: May 9, 2021 9:02:35 GMT
If this were an american product, I'd be tempted to think that it could be a salesman's sample, but I don't know if that ever occurred for Japanese makers of anything, let alone cameras. The most logical answer might be that it is, as suggested... a prototype. There's another possibility, but a far-fetched one. It might come down to who the original owner was, and if s/he had some place in the supply chain and wasn't a retail customer, but someone like a primary distributor for a country or even a continent. It may have been a gift or an early production sample that got passed onto someone 'on the inside', or someone wanted to do a hands-on review before they committed to a mega-order for their dealer network. It wouldn't be the first time that Mr. BigCheese wanted to see one first, and after they'd sent a hand-assembled pre-production one-off... he decided, "Well, I reckon I'll keep this one since I just bought 38,000 more". Aside from my wild speculations, it might be worth comparing the serials from both lenses to those that Paul already has from other makes and models that may have used the same ones. It might point to a date range to see if there's a clue from that direction to get it somewhere into a timeline. Paul is pretty confident that the camera dates from the first half of 1954. The taking lens' serial number is now the earliest in his database for the YashicaFlex B.
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