A few years ago I began my camera collection. After getting a couple of rangefinder cameras I started to browse the internet to see what others I might find and bumped into this post on photo.net: The Final Fujica’s Film. I liked the look of the camera and was somewhat taken by the images provided. Time went by and I would occasionally see one for sale, but until now I hadn’t actually gotten around to acquiring one. Recently, however, I saw this one. It was quite inexpensive and looked to be in fairly good condition. So I purchased it.

According to Sylvain Halgand’s wonderful site:

This camera has a coupled rangefinder and a parallax correction. An ultra-bright orange framing view is visible in the viewfinder and moves accordingly to the setting of distance. This setting is a first surprise because the setting is not made by turning a ring around the lens, but by turning a knob located where there is most often a film advance lever, it means under the right thumb. Distances are displayed by a rotating plate, located on the cover of the camera (near the frame counter) also serving as depth of field chart.

Accordingly, the film advance lever is below the camera without doubt in order to leave a body cover as flat as possible; the rewind crank is located on the side, such as a Leica.

The shutter speed and aperture settings are made by turning the two rings around the lens. A small window on the top of the lens displays the selected values. The values are combined using EV (exposure value).

The shutter allows shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/500 per sec, plus B. It has a self-timer, and M sync and X sync.

The lens is a Fujinon 45mm/2.8 with 5 elements.

In 1959, this camera was sold in the United States, § 69.95.

I was a little disappointed when it arrived. I’d bought it from a reputable dealer, from whom I’d bought a number of cameras in the past and with whom I’d always been satisfied. The camera was described as working and came with a decent warranty. However, when I examined it I noticed that in fact it wasn’t working – the shutter was stuck. I could have returned it under the warranty, but I’d paid so little for it I couldn’t be bothered. I’ve always had a yen to try fixing these older cameras. I’ve got to start somewhere. Maybe with this one?

And even if I never get it to work – so what! It still makes a decent display piece.