Asahiflex M37

35mm SLR system · Discontinued

Overview

Japan's first 35mm SLR system.

ASAHIFLEX CAMERAS:

  • Asahiflex I - a copy of the Praktiflex, a 1939 design made in the German Democratic Republic, but with the original M37 screw mount, mechanical focal plane shutter with non-standard progression of speeds from 1/20th to 1/500th of a second, and a quick-return mirror mechanism. When the shutter release button was pressed, the mirror was raised and held in the raised position, and after releasing the shutter button, it returned to its original position, reopening the viewfinder;
  • Asahiflex IA - a model with standardized shutter speeds;
  • Asahiflex IIB - the world's first camera with an instant-return mirror mechanism, which no longer required the release of the shutter button;
  • Asahiflex IIA - a model with an extended shutter speed range up to 1/2th of a second.

TAKUMAR LENSES:

Asahi-Kogaku produced a small line of TAKUMAR lenses, consisting of compact standard and telephoto primes, as well as a 500/5 super telephoto lens. Most of them were equipped with preset diaphragms, with the exception of the 50/3.5 (1952) and the 500/5, which had manual diaphragms.

List of Asahiflex M37 lenses

■Standard prime lenses
Asahi Takumar 50mm F/3.5 Type 1 • A32 • Pancake lens 1952 ●
Asahi Takumar 50mm F/3.5 Type 2 • A32 • Pancake lens 1953 ●
Asahi Takumar 58mm F/2.4 • ⌀39 1954 ●
■Short telephoto prime lenses
Asahi Takumar 83mm F/1.9 Type 1 • ⌀49 1953 ●
Asahi Takumar 83mm F/1.9 Type 2 • ⌀49 1955 ●
Asahi Takumar 100mm F/3.5 • ⌀33.5 1952 ●
■Medium telephoto prime lenses
Asahi Tele-Takumar 135mm F/3.5 • ⌀43 1953 ●
■Super telephoto prime lenses
Asahi Tele-photo Takumar 500mm F/5Pro 1953 ●

List of Asahiflex M37 accessories