Asahiflex

Asahiflex

Overview
Type	35 mm SLR camera
Lens
Lens mount	M37 Screw Mount
Focusing
Focus	manual
Exposure/metering
Exposure	manual
Flash
Flash	hot shoe

The Asahiflex was a 35 mm single-lens reflex camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation (later to become Pentax).

Asahi Optical introduced its first 35 mm camera in 1952. Unlike the majority of Japanese camera manufacturers of the time, Asahi made a conscious decision not to produce a mere German rangefinder copy, a relatively simple task. Instead, Asahi decided to copy the Praktiflex, a 1939 design, made in the German Democratic Republic. Asahi's designers (Nobuyuki Yoshida and Ryohei Suzuki) were convinced of the inherent superiority of the SLR and so proceeded along these lines. This effort resulted in the Asahiflex I, which was also the first Japanese 35 mm SLR.

Note: According to company information from Asahi Optical Co., however, the Asahiflex I is based on Mr. Matsumoto’s Kochmann Reflex-Korelle, a pre-war 6x6 roll film camera.

Asahiflex I

The Asahiflex I had a non-interchangeable waist-level viewfinder, with a direct optical viewfinder for eye-level use. Like the Praktiflex the Asahiflex I did not have a returning mirror (which means the mirror will only be back to its initial position to redirect light to the viewfinder for composing and range finding work after the operators had wound the film) and shutter speeds from 1/20 to 1/500 and B. The camera used the M37 screw mount. The Asahiflex I went through some minor modifications for flash use, resulting in the IA.

Note: Both in the Praktiflex and the Asahiflex I the reflex mirror returned to its original position after taking your finger from the shutter release button.

Asahiflex IIB

The Asahiflex IIB was released in 1954. With the IIB, a key advance was made, the quick-return mirror. It was the world's first SLR camera with an instant return mirror.^[1] The problem of mirror black-out was one of the main problems with prior SLR designs, greatly reducing usability and leading to the greater popularity of the rangefinder. With the IIB there emerged the first practical quick-return mirror, a vital innovation and one which was quickly adopted by other manufacturers. With the final model in the series, the IIA, the Asahiflex gained slow speeds from 1/25th of a second to 1/2 of a second.

• 
  Top view: Asahiflex IIb Model I #72734
• 
  58mm f/2.4 Asahiflex IIA
• 
  Top view: Asahiflex IIA #79346

Asahiflex series

• Asahiflex I (1952–1953)
• Asahiflex IA (1953–1954)
• Asahiflex IIB (1954–1956)
• Asahiflex IIA (1955–1957)

See also

• Pentax
• Pentax cameras
• History of the single-lens reflex camera

References

1. Michael R. Peres (2013), The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography, page 779, Taylor & Francis

2. "Asahiflex I - Pentax M37 Screwmount Slrs - Pentax Camera Reviews And Specifications". Pentaxforums.Com, 2022, https://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/asahiflex-a.html.