Only Canon, Nikon and Canon?

Where have all the flowers gone?

When reading camera ads and articles these days one gets the impression that there are only three brands: Canon, Nikon and Canon. Well, there are more, but they seem to drown in the intense marketing of the biggest ones. And certainly there have been many more during the life of the PP SLR. Forests and meadows of colourful flowers in terms of innovative contributions to the camera history. 
Presented here are the many brands that are not making PP SLRs anymore, included the digital versions. Some are totally out of business, some are still there but not making cameras, some make cameras but not PP SLRs. Almost all cameras shown are of my collection. The few mentioned but not shown are not. Yet.

The lost brands are presented decade by decade. All brands are given a page of their own. Years of production are from the first to the last PP SLR. The company usually is older and may have lived longer, but producing other cameras or other products.

The Lost Brands:

Agfa:           Agfa: 1958-1966, PP SLR 1955-1959 , 
Aires:          Aires: 1959-1960, PP SLR 1955-1959
Alpa:           PP SLR: 1948-1954, The Origin:,  Alpa: 1949-1978
Alsaflex:      The non-PP specials
Braun:         Braun: 1958-1962, PP SLR 1955-1959 , 
Chinon:        Chinon: 1966-1989
Contaflex:    Zeiss Ikon: 1953-'72 PP SLR: 1948-1954
Contax S:     Contax S: 1949-1962, PP SLR: 1948-1954, The Origin: 
Cosina:         Cosina: 1969-2004
Duflex:        Gamma Duflex, The Origin:
Edixa:          Edixa: 1954-1971, PP SLR: 1948-1954
Exakta:        Exakta: 1950-1969, PP SLR: 1948-1954
Focaflex:      The non-PP specials
Fujica:          Fujica: 1962-1987 PP SLR: The 70s
Kiev:            Kiev: 1964-1994 PP SLR: The 60s
Konica:         Konica: 1960-1987, PP SLR: The 60s, PP SLR: The 80s
Kowa:           Kowa: 1960-1973
Krystal:        Lost Brands: 60s Zenit: 1952-2005
Mamiya:        Mamiya: 1961-1984 , PP SLR: The 60s
Minolta:        PP SLR 1955-1959 , Minolta: 1958-2006, PP SLR: The 70s, PP SLR: The 80s
Miranda:       PP SLR 1955-1959 , Miranda: 1955-1976
Nikkormat:    Nikomat: 1965-1978
Olympus:      Olympus: 1972-2013, PP SLR: The 70s
Pentacon:     Contax: 1949-1962, PP SLR: 1948-1954, 
Petri:           Petri: 1959-1977
Praktica:      Praktica: 1950-2001, PP SLR: 1948-1954, PP SLR: The 60s
Praktina:      Praktina: 1953-1960, PP SLR: 1948-1954
Rectaflex:    Rectaflex: 1948-1955, The Origin:, PP SLR: 1948-1954
Retina(Kodak)Retina: 1957-1966, PP SLR 1955-1959
Ricoh:          Ricoh: 1962-1998 PP SLR: The 80s, 
Rolleiflex:    Rolleiflex:1970-'82
Savoyflex:    Savoyflex: 1958-1963, PP SLR 1955-1959
Sigma:         Sigma: 1976-2016
Start:          Start: 1958-1964, PP SLR 1955-1959
Tokiwa:       Tokiwa: 1955-1965, PP SLR 1955-1959 , The RARE ones:
Topcon:       Topcon: 1957-1978, PP SLR: The 60s
Voigtländer: Voigtländer:1959-'69, PP SLR 1955-1959
Wrayflex:     Wrayflex: 1959-1961, PP SLR 1955-1959
Yashica:       Yashica: 1960-1994, PP SLR: The 60s
Zenit:          Zenit: 1952-2005, PP SLR: 1948-1954, PP SLR: The 60s
Zunow:        Zunow: 1958-1959, PP SLR: 1948-1954, 

 

Not included in this list are all the housebrands that have existed since the early days.

Most of them were produced by Cosina, and can be found under "The Cosina List".

I have been hinted that there are some Chinese brands out there, but so far I have only

found cameras that seem like copies of other brands, like Pentax, Minolta and Nikon. As soon

as I find independent models among them, they will be listed. (See Pentax K 1975-1997 for

Mingca copy of Pentax K 1000.)

For Cosina List, see Cosina: 1969-2004


 

  

denj 18.12.2014 10:10

Peral river S201 may be interesting, this is my one:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockershot/7379899384/in/set-72157608016944459

denj 17.12.2014 12:34

You have done a great work with your site. Can I suggest to include two Chinese brands? Seagull and Pearl River, I think they are worthy of mention.

Bosse 17.12.2014 13:25

Thanks! Seagull has been on my list, while Pearl River is new to me. I'll dive into this! Regards.

| Svar

Nyeste kommentarer

02.11 | 16:32

Thank you! I should have said around 500000. Also remember that sometimes a top plate was broken and had to replace it with a spare one numbered differently.

01.11 | 20:18

I think your SN indications for the S1 may be a little off. I just picked up a chrome one with SN 527384.

09.08 | 09:58

Hi,
I do not know that model code. Please check for model name.
Regards

08.08 | 20:58

Hi I have a Konica Minolta code 3739740 please advise if there are film strips available for this camera? I'd appreciate the help. Thank you