Truly historic! Asahiflex IIb ["Explore" 17-12-2021]

The Asahiflex IIb (1954), shown here branded as "Tower 23" for the Sears Company of Chicago, was the world's first marketed single-lens reflex camera with a self-returning mirror. This was more than a minor revolution in photography: the "black-out" after releasing the shutter (still to be found in many single-lens reflexes even into the 1960s) had been overcome. This removed one of the drawbacks of the single-lens reflex concept as opposed to twin-lens reflexes such as the Rolleiflex or range-finder cameras such as the Leica and its numerous imitators. Note that the Asahiflex, in common with the excellent Praktina, has a second "look-though" viewfinder. The shutter release is quiet and smooth, with just a light "clack" from the mirror. Asahi's next step was to incude slow shutter speeds (Asahiflex IIa), followed by the Asahi Pentax (1957) with pentaprism viewfinder, quick wind-on lever, M-42 screw-mount, and many other improvements.

 

Mounted on the camera is an Asahi Kogaku Takumar 100mm f:3.5 (1952, M-37 screw-mount), a very beautiful triplet lens (see my album), but one which practically needs three hands for easy operation, as the focussing ring is easily moved when the aperture is adjusted.

 

Super Takumar 55mm f:2 (from the Pentax SP500)

 

PENTAX K-1

 

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