As an American teenager, I remember a fair amount of mockery towards Japanese-made goods in the early-to-mid 1960s. For example, in a cartoon appearing in "Mad Magazine", someone broke an anvil - and Alfred E. Neuman uses his magnifying glass to show us one of the broken parts is stamped "Made in Japan"I remember when I just started learning photography, I have been told old Japanese cameras are junks, probably made from recycled materials, including the lenses. I know German made cameras are great in1950s. But from histoty I can see the core shifted from Europe to Japan.
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If you were going to buy a 35mm SLR made in the 1960s, what would you choose, other than a Leicaflex, that was not made in Japan? Alpa might be one. Any others?
Exakta, Pentacon(? not sure if they made a 35mm), Edixa, Praktica (maybe the same as Pentacon, I don't remember), Zeiss (e.g., Conterex and Contaflex), Kodak Retina Reflex, Praktina, Zenit.
There may be some overlaps in the above list, and I may have missed one or two brands.
A nice list for sure.....but many of us chose the Japanese cameras.
Honda motorcycles were good, but the first Honda car brought to the US, as Consumer Reports stated had a front bumper that could not stand up to a collision with anything more formidable than an overripe watermelon.
Honda motorcycles were good, but the first Honda car brought to the US, as Consumer Reports stated had a front bumper that could not stand up to a collision with anything more formidable than an overripe watermelon.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s, and I never heard or thought of Japanese cameras as "junk". In fact, the first camera I listed after and bought with my own money was a Canon FTbn, which I still own. I own dozens of Japanese cameras, including many Canon rangefinders, Minolta rangefinders and TLRs (the superb Autocord), Yashicas, Nikons, Pentaxes, etc. And nothing, but nothing, outclassed my two Topcon RE Super cameras. The Japanese were the great innovators during this period, with metering systems in particular, and lens design.
I somehow have avoided running into anything with my 1976 Honda Civic -- which I bought new and still drive. I'm getting close to 500,000 miles on the original engine -- and it still gets 45 MPG. I also still have my 1977 Suzuki GS550 motorcycle. It also runs like new -- but only gets 60 MPG. Not bad for cheap Japanese junk.
From 1950-71, the Japanese Yen - USD exchange rate was fixed at 360 Yen to 1 USD, and that surely didn't hurt sales of Japanese goods in the USA.
3rd party lenses could be a mixed bag, probably because the emphasis was on price rather than performance.
A 40 year car in Colorado, considering the salt in the winter, that is remarkable.
A 40 year car in Colorado, considering the salt in the winter, that is remarkable.
Both Alpa and Exakta ended their life as rebranded Japanese bodies. Alpa a rebranded Cosina 2000 and Exakta a rebranded Topcon RE, not the super, the next down in the line up, both shared the same mount. The rebranded Cosina used a M42 and later K mount. The Exakta rebranded Topcon was likely close to Exakta in build while the rebranded Cosina not was in the same universe in terms of quality as the Swiss Alpa, then the change in mount.
I remember when I just started learning photography, I have been told old Japanese cameras are junks, probably made from recycled materials, including the lenses. I know German made cameras are great in1950s. But from histoty I can see the core shifted from Europe to Japan.
Now it is 2022(moving to 2023) I have seen many reviews of different vintage japanese cameras. And it's quite clear that those vintage JP cameras are actually not that bad, and some even have stylish look that other Europe brands never given. Some models, like Minolta V2 /V3, are having 1/2000 and 1/3000 (both compensated with smaller aperture size) as shutter speed, so as Minolta AL and Yashica Lynx 1000 having speed of 1/1000s top speed that never happened in Europe brands . Minolta Hi matic (original) is also the first RF camera brought to space?
And when Cds getting dominant in metering mechanics, Japanese RF has Programed AE function, like Konica Auto S series and Minolta Hi-matic 7 series.
So my question is, what made people believe 1960s japanese cameras are "bad"? Are they actually good products but just rejected by the market of that time?
As an American teenager, I remember a fair amount of mockery towards Japanese-made goods in the early-to-mid 1960s. For example, in a cartoon appearing in "Mad Magazine", someone broke an anvil - and Alfred E. Neuman uses his magnifying glass to show us one of the broken parts is stamped "Made in Japan"
My first job in 1968-1974 was working in a bicycle shop. During that time I saw Japanese made bicycle parts slowly replace parts formerly made in France, England and Italy. One employee continued to badmouth Japanese components long after everyone else in the shop recognized the Japanese parts worked better / cost less than their European counterparts.
Certainly by 1972-74 we had seen enough very nice Japanese stereo gear and cameras brought back from Asia by returning Vietnam vets to have a high regard for Japanese made goods.
“Japanese cameras” is too broad a category. As with any bunch of products produced anywhere, there is a wide range from well made to so-so. For example, 35mm cameras from those made by Nikon to those by Petri. MF from Bronica to Kowa. For example, my 1964 Nikon F still going strong.
The Korean War brought photojournalists to Japan where they could buy cameras for hard use. Their favorable evaluations did much to make the better Japanese cameras sell well in America. The Japanese also produced some high quality tools and electronics. However, American companies pandering to cheapskate American buyers rarely made such items available in America. In my experience, early Japanese cars and motorcycles were disappointing. Toyota was perhaps the best of the lot. My Mazda Carol certainly wasn't.
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