Anyone heard of this Leica copy?

An antiques dealer showed me an intriguing camera called a

Pax Golden View. (I might ask him to email a pic). It's obviously

based on a LTM but is shorter, it's gold like a Luxus copy with

green leatherette (non snakeskin), has a rangefinder, speeds to

1/300 and a fixed 45mm f/2.8 "Luminar " lens - oh, and a very

well made dark green leather case. Any info welcome.

Hello, it certainly looks like a Leica copy as such like a Shanghai or Fed etc but no listing in HPR's 'Leica Copies'.

 

It is in the 'Blue Book': circa 1954, 35mm RFR camera, Luminor Anastigmat 45mm, F3.5 lens, 1/10 - 1/300 sec, Made in Japan.

 

Value is given around $150, this is probably out of touch - most Leica copies passing through Christies in London are very collectable and fetching high prices now.

There was a discussion on the value of this Yamato <a href="http://krphoto.com/ccforum/messages/96.html">here</a>.<p>Does it look the right one in the bottom photo <a href="http://www.cameraguild.co.jp/nekosan/goldcam.htm">here</a>?<p>Oddly, the only one that resembles an LTM externally (all these Yamatos have a leaf shutter and a non-interchangeable lens) is the <a href="http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~shaman/camera2.html#PAX35">Pax 35</a>, which has a 45mm f:3.5 Luminor Anastigmat. From what I've found out, the 45mm f:2.8 Luminor Anastigmats were used in the <a href="http://www.buycamera.co.kr/paxM3.htm">Pax M3</a> and the <a href="http://canon-a.fantastic-camera.com/dasoku/paxm4.htm">Pax M4</a>. But then I'm no collector, just someone who once considered putting a Yamato Deluxe into practical use. (It's really small, fully mechanical, and not great loss if stolen.)

I have a couple of PAX cameras. The have rangefinders and are similar in appearance to Leica, but much, much smaller. The lenses are non-interchangeable with leaf shutters as mentioned earlier. For those reasons I don't think you can call it a Leica copy. The lens on mine is a 45mm f3.5 with both F and X sync. They are often found with very stiff or even stuck focusing so be sure to check that out before you buy. I don't recommend one for everyday shooting. The lens quality is good, but not great and at f3.5 it's not very good for low light shots. Frankly, for a small, inexpensive, carry it anywhere camera you'd probably be better off with an Olympus Stylus Epic.

Thanks Oliver and co, the camera does indeed look like the gold

Pax in the first link above. May well be 3.5, can't remember

offhand. I wasn't necessarily keen on buying it, just wanted to

find out some more about it. Thanks all for you help.

Dale, I wound up with an Olympus Stylus Epic for the reasons you mentioned!