Taron Eyemax (1961)

Taron Eyemax (1961)

Esta fotografia é do exemplar que possuo.

Características

The Japanese company that would become Taron (ticky-tCKy-ticky-tow) was founded as Nippon Kōsokki Seisakusho(日本光測機製作所) and was based in Tokyo, Omori. The company began as the manufacturer of NKS shutters. These shutters were used in the 1940-42 Mamiya Six series. Its first camera, the Taroflex 6×6cm TLR, dates from 1943.

After the war the company reorganized as Nippon Kōsokki Kōgyō K.K. (日本光測機工業㈱) or Nihon Kōsokki Company Limited. During postwar reconstruction, it survived by making NKS shutters for other camera makers such as Fujica, Tokyo Kogaku Kikai (Topcon), Tougo-Do and Yashima Kogaku Seiki. The 1953 Silver Six folder and Silverflex TLR cameras used NKS shutters and were made by the similarly named Nihon Kōki K.K.

Starting in 1955, Nihon Kōsokki began making its own Taron line of 35mm rangefinder cameras. It was still based in Tokyo, Omori. The company was renamed K.K. Taron (㈱タロン) after its own products in 1959. The company disappeared in the latter half of the 1960's.

Fonte: Camerapedia

The Taron company was founded in 1943, and at that time was known as Nippon Kosokki. After WWII the company started producing cameras named "Taron", and in 1959 changed its name to reflect this brand. The company ceased to exist around 1969.

Fonte: collectiblend.com

Produced from 1961 by Taron, the Eyemax is a 35mm rangefinder with a coupled selenium lightmeter. It was available with a 1.8/45 or a 2.8/45 Taronar lens. The shutter could be a Citizen MXV or a Copal MXV. Some cosmetic differences can be observed between the cameras produced at the beginning and the ones produced at the end of the production period.

Fonte: Camerapedia

The camera gets its distinctive look and name from the bulge above the viewfinder which houses the selenium cell for the built in light meter. At the time these type of light meters were often referred to as an ‘electronic eye’ so the name Eyemax therefore becomes a natural choice.

The output from the cell drives a meter needle which is visible in the viewfinder and the exposure is set by altering the aperture and shutter speed rings on the lens until the meter needle aligns with a fixed marker at the top of the viewfinder. On my particular camera this doesn’t work, but since I can’t find any ‘auto’ setting, and there is no way to convert a meter reading into an aperture / shutter combination I’m pretty confident this is how it should work.

Focusing is achieved with a rangefinder visible in the centre of the viewfinder. There is quite a short adjustment range which covers the full focal range of the camera, about 0.8m to infinity. The rangefinder window is quite a distance from the viewfinder window which leads to a good amount of separation of the images, and therefore accurate focusing.

The shutter speed range is typical of a camera of this age, from 1/500 sec to 1 sec with a B setting and the lens is nice and fast with apertures ranging from f/1.8 to f/16. This gives an EV range of 2 to 17 if the B setting is ignored and the ASA range of 10 to 800 is also typical of cameras of the day, matching the speed of film commonly sold at the time. Being a leaf shutter it’s synced for flash at all speeds, and has a sync socket on the front of the camera with a switch for X or M sync on the lens.

Talking of the fast lens, it’s a Taronar 45mm f/1.8 unit which has a purple/yellow reflection under light suggesting it has some sort of reflection reducing coating applied. I don’t know if it’s single coated or multicoated, but going by the date of manufacture and the brightness of the reflection, I would think it’s probably a single coating.

There is a frame counter built into the top of the frame advance lever which has to be set manually as the camera is loaded with film.

Fonte: simonhawketts.com

Especificações

• Taron Eyemax 35mm rangefinder camera
• Made in Japan by Taron in about 1961
• Shutter speeds 1sec to 1/500sec + B
• X & M flash sync via socket on front panel
• Large selenium cell light meter with match needle metering visible in viewfinder
• Rangefinder focusing
• User set frame counter
• Cold shoe accessory socket
• Off centre tripod socket on bottom
• 45mm f/1.8 Taronar coated lens
• Citizen-MVL shutter

Fonte: simonhawketts.com


Modelo

Não possui n.º de série no porto. O da lente é o 26928.


Manual


Sítios de referência

Camerapedia
Camerapedia
collectiblend.com
simonhawketts.com


Vídeos