1973 Photography Year

The Classic Forum has been an open window into the development of Manual SLR technology. I have written about

1974, as being in my opinion a sentimental year,in being the pinnacle of Manual SLR's before the inevitable AE

onslaught, yet I have read that 1973 had some important offerings , the compact Olympus OMl ( pre Motor Drive),

Fuji being the first to make LEDS glow in the viewfinder, and the Praktica incorporated electric contacts for

transferring Aperture measurements, between the Lens and Camera, and Vivitar's Zoom benchmark Series 1 had the

impressive 70- 210 mm with their F/3.5.

 

Any other developments, should I be aware of ? Sad, but true I see the 1970's as being swan song for Manual

SLR's and with their demise, the smaller firms went to the wall, Topcon, Miranda etc, but it is fascinating to

re-view the impressive

early 70's as laying the tentative groundwork for this phenomen.

To give a concrete example of the middle of 1973, here's a camera store that published this one page ad in the May 1973 Modern Photography (Garden, again, even so). This shows what was being sold at the time. Exakta (RTL 1000) is still offered alongside the Canon F-1 and the Nikon F Photomic FTN. Spiratone's ad talks about "Dollar Devaluation" in red.<div></div>

Man, that ad is a serious trip down memory lane when I was a kid. Look at all the classic, great cameras: Pentax Spotmatics, Nikons, Konicas, Canon Ftb. And those prices! What hasn't changed? Film prices, and enlarging lenses.

 

What else? Maybe built in spot meters and auto-loading film? (Canon quickload system, and maybe Konica's too?)

I'm showing my age, tell me more about the AE onslaught? Are you referring to the Canon AE-1?

I am refering to the tenative release of AE Cameras pre 1976, Canon AE1 benchmark. After a while I am sure the use of refined electronics and use of Plastic models, made AE SLR's cheaper, but the pioneers were the robust metal bodied Pentax ES, Nikkormat EL 1972,and Canon EF 1973, all with electronically timed shutters, but still offering manual operation. There was the Miranda Sensorex EE too, and the trusted Konica Autoreflex, so by these means I feel the golden age of Manual SLR's were beginning to be challenged. Anyway, it would be interesting to realise the sales figures of these models, because I may be talking them up.This is what makes the whole period fascinating, the economics and costings, plus marketing budget considerations, dictating techological advances. We are seeing it directly, with DSLR's, it would be a pity that this subject was clearly recorded for the 1970's

Here I bought a New Nikkormat FTn with 50mm F1.4 Nikkor SC lens for 301 bucks in the fall of 1973 from Olden Camera; the price with shipping. <BR><BR>Nikon updated the F1.4 in that 1973 era to multicoating; but the NYC dealers would work off the older stock of -S lenses (non multicoated ones) until fall; and wanted a decent premium for the multicoated lenses. I paid tad extra to get multicoated version; about 20 bucks; it once was 30 to 40 !<BR><BR>. I remember calling Olden; Garden, Cambridge, Helix (chicago) and Franks in LA and many others trying to find out when they had a SC version of the F1.4 in stock. In smaller Regional Nikon dealers in New Orleans, Atlanta, Mobile, Memphis, Dallas, Detroit wanted between 450 to 530 dollars for the Nikkormat and the OLDER -S F1.4; and most all had not ever heard or could get the -SC version; one was hell bent on adding a Neverready case.<BR><BR> I saved a 20 dollar bill in a business envelope each pay week towards the Nikkormat; and got a moneyorder when at 301 bucks. Somewher I have a shot of all the 15 to 16 twentys in my hand spread out like a fan.<BR><BR><BR><BR>I use to buy alot of film mailorder from Garden camera; In JDM's advert the GAF 500/36 slide film with processing for 4.75 for astro work ; I think one mailed the film away to New York for processing. <BR><BR>Another staple film I bought in the advert was Kodachrome II 36 exposure rolls with Kodak processing for 3.39; and the Kodachrome II regular 8 movie film with processing for 3.19; ie the K459 entry.<BR><BR> Garden also had other films too but one had to ask; ie like 16mm Kodachrome II movie films in 100 rolls; and even Kodachrome II in the 16mm Magazine load for surplus gun cameras and the Kodak and Bell and Howell Magazine movie cameras. They also<BR><BR> had Kodachrome II in 9.5mm Pathe movie and regular 8 in magazine load too; plus 100 foot rolls of regular 8mm Kodachrome; ie double perf 16mm for Bolex regular 8. I believe some/many of these formats didnt make it to Kodachrome 25.<BR><BR>Alot of the Kodachrome II for 35mm I got from Garden Camera in that era was made in England; it had a hybrid early form of snap cap; when the USA all still had still screw on film cans. The Brits Kodak can was smaller in diameter; and had this weird plastic snap on cap; with concentric inner rings on the inside. There was about 3 times the aluminum than a USA film can; like aluminum was free in the UK. The standard USA can was 1 1/4 " diameter; we use to use them for homemade telescope eyepiece bodies; the idea from 1950's literature of Sam Brown at Edmund Salvage Co; now Edmund scientifc. <BR><BR>The Kodachrome 16mm and regular 8mm films I got from Garden in that era were almost always made in Kodak in France; more so with the regular 8. Maybe super 8 didnt take hold in Europe as much as the USA?

As a 1973 reference; the 301 buck Nikkormat Ftn with 50mm F1.4 was about 1/10 the price of a new car; 1/100 the price of a new house; or like 750 to 1000 gallons of gasoline; or maybe three "4 function calculators"; or a top of the line water saving 3 belt westy front load washer with all the bells and whisles; or 3762 first class US postage stamps; or TEN goober low end push mowers at Kmart with 3.5 HP briggs motors

JDM, thanks for posting the old photo ad from 1972.

 

Of all the cameras listed, it appears to me that only one now sells for more than its 1972 price, the Rollei 35 for $114.95.

 

Thanks to the rise of digital cameras, I'm enjoying being able to finally buy all those wonderful film cameras I used to drool over in the back

pages of Modern & Popular Photography magazines. But even the plunging film camera prices can be slightly frustrating: three years ago I

picked up a nice Canon FT with a 50mm f/1.8 "chrome nose" FL lens for $50 at a pawn shop. Its foam light seals were actually still flexible,

so I suppose they had been replaced recently. HOWEVER, a year later I saw a nice Canon FTb with a FD lens AND a well-made Canon

leather case for a mere $35 at a thrift store... almost bought it, but could not justify two nearly identical cameras.

 

Around 1974 I bought my first new camera from Cambridge in NYC: a Zorki 4 with a 50mm/f2 Jupiter 8 lens for about $35, and I thought I

was getting a fantastic deal. But its shutter quickly got erratic and the local camera repairman claimed it was unfixable, so I got rid of the

body. But I kept the J-8 lens and got a lot of use of it on my inherited Leica IIIf, which came with a large heavy 50mm/f1.5 Summarit. The

J-8 was soft wide open, but was decent stopped down, and focused quicker, and was much lighter. I still sometimes use it on my Leica M2.

 

Now if I can live another 30 years, I'm looking forward to buying a Leica M8 in a thrift store!

That was a very memorable year for me. My second daughter was born in June, the same month I entered the

Honeywell Photo Division sales force (Pentax). There is an interesting side point about the photo industry of that time

that everybody either misses or can't possibly know about because they didn't live through it. The market for 35mm

cameras was a very small "niche" market. Mass market cameras of the day were Polaroid instant cameras (huge

market) or Kodak 126 instamatic (later 110). There was a general feeling that 35mm photography wasn't for the

masses. Exposure was complicated, flash exposure nearly impossible to figure out, and film loading only for the

nimble-fingered. Several things changed that, some of which have been mentioned here and in other threads:

automatic exposure, for sure.

 

However, it was Canon's benchmarking TV advertising of the AE-1 that paved the way for a genuine mass consumer

market of 35mm SLR cameras. This was in the planning stages for years.

 

Before Canon could launch its campaign, it had to divest itself of its U.S. distributor, Bell & Howell. The Japanese

executives set up a U.S. subsidiary and began wholesale distribution of their products. It was called "going direct."

One by one, the entire photo industry followed suit: compact auto-everything camera, no more third-party U.S.

distributor, and TV advertising. I'm not sure about the timing of the other brands going direct, but the Pentax

transition was in 1977.

 

Asahi and Honeywell were in discussions for Asahi to buy the entire photo division, which included the Honeywell

electronic flash line, Nikor (no relation to Nikkor) stainless steel darkroom products, and Agfa film and paper. Nobody

knew why, but Asahi bolted from the discussion and set up Pentax Corp. for its U.S. subsidiary, minus all the other

Honewell stuff. Honeywell then sold off the remaining lines to Rollei of America, which promptly drove the stuff into

the ground and died. In hindsight, Asahi did the smart thing.

 

Enough history for today -- it makes my head hurt. [smile]

 

Will

Will, thanks for your entry. As I was born in the early sixties, I am eager to fill in my knowledge of my first

full decade re SLR Cameras, and your point about 35mm photography, not being for the masses, prior to the AE1

is like a relevation. In earlier posts, I wrote about my admiration for the UK publication SLR Camera Magazine

and my two copies of Amateur Photography 1974, and I would never have guessed that the SLR market was

limited, compared to the Polaroid and 110 film compacts. The vast adverts for SLR Cameras in the latter magazine

amazes me. I gather you are writing from the American perspective, could the UK experience been different ?

Antony,

 

Yes, I was talking about U.S. market only. I can't speak authoritatively about UK market, but I do remember people telling me that U.S. consumers lagged behind Europe and Asia in our lack of enthusiasm for 35mm photography. I assume that means sales of SLRs were much higher in Europe and Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, but I have no facts to confirm that.

 

Will

Interesting, Will. Overall, photo distributors/importers played an important role in camera development (commissioning models) and trends; i.e. Kling Photo, EPOI, Ponder & Best. Yes, those days are gone.

Yeah, the U.S. distributors did play an important role in pushing brand recognition within the tiny niche market that was 35mm photography, but they actually didn't contribute much toward turning that small market into a major mass market that it is today. The U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies did that after they dumped their U.S. distributors. If you saw some of the numbers it would astound you.

 

Speaking of those old U.S. distributors, many brands had multiple distributors and some distributors sold more than one brand. I can't remember the company names (you didn't mention them above) but two companies on the East Coast distributed both Yashica and Minolta at the same time, and competed with one another for sales. And don't forget Berkey Photo. Not only did they make Konica cameras popular, they had one of the largest consumer photofinishing labs in the U.S. and owned a chain or retail stores which they eventually sold to Ritz Cameras.

 

Yup -- those days are gone.

Braun of N.A. distributed Hasselblad, Braun flash, Ricoh, Gepe and Agfa. I don't recall 35mm being a niche market. It seemed like a pretty large market at the time.

Michael,

 

When I call it a "niche" market, I am comparing all 35mm camera sales (not just SLRs) to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid instant cameras in both units sold and dollars of revenue. Tiny, tiny, tiny by comparison. That all changed in the mid to late 1970s as documented above.

 

I left the photo industry in 1985 to pursue other things, but it seems that one day I turned around and all cameras being sold in the U.S. were 35mm, including Kodak and Kodak throwaways. You can't even buy Kodak or Polaroid film for any of the cameras that led the market in the early 1970s. Polaroid -- gone; Kodak 126/110 -- gone.

 

Will

I didn't remember Braun having the Agfa line. We (Honeywell) picked it up in 1974. They gave me 60 rolls a month to shoot and/or give away to my dealers' salespeople. Fun days. I still have tons of good Agfa slides, but the negative film was crap!

 

Will

<p>Re - read these threads again and they are great. Just thought are there any books detailing the history of this period ?</p>