Prototype Mamiya SLR
New information and pictures from Mamiya Japan indicate there were two Mamiya prototype SLR models that preceded the Mamiya Prismat, making Mamiya one of the early developers of the 35mm SLR!

It is accepted historical fact that the odd-looking Russian GOMZ Sport (c.1935) was the first 35mm SLR. Ihagee, a Dutch company totally destroyed in WWII, had introduced the Kine-Exakta 35mm SLR in 1936. Neither of these innovative cameras, however, used a pentaprism. The honor of being the first pentaprism SLR is generally acknowledged to have been the Zeiss Ikon Contax S (c.1949-50).

   
ABOVE: GOMZ Sport (c.1935), Ihagee Kine-Exakta (c.1936), and Contax S (c.1950)

However, Mamiya was not far behind. In October 1951, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), obviously understanding the innovation the SLR would bring to the camera industry, contributed the very large (at the time) sum of 600,000 yen to assist Mamiya in the development of their own single lens reflex camera.

The Mamiya Prismflex prototype was available by 1952. The second prototype, the Mamiya Pentaflex was created in early 1955. My research into how many were produced of each prototype - and the specifics of their construction - is not yet complete, but Mamiya innovation is clear.

In truth, Mamiya beat most of their competition to everything but the market. Asahi did not release their first Pentax model until 1957. Minolta's SR-2 was not released until 1958. The Canonflex was not released until 1959, as was Nippon Kogaku's Nikon F which, as we all know, quickly cornered the market. Why Mamiya did not enter the SLR market with the Prismat until 1961 is an open - and intriguing - question, since they had clearly been working on 35mm SLR development for at least the previous 10 years.

Mamiya Prismat NP
The Mamiya Prismat NP, released in February 1961, was (by a few months) Mamiya's first production single-lens reflex (SLR) 35mm. The very first Prismat is readily identifiable by its distinctive curved nameplate on the front of the prism housing. It was soon updated to the more familiar rectangular Mamiya nameplate. It has no meter, and features a semi-automatic aperture with an external linkage for aperture function.

The lens-cocking mechanism serves as a depth-of-field preview device. The horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter has speeds from 1 to 1/1000, plus B and T. It also features FP and X sync receptacles and a self timer. Typically equipped with a Mamiya FC 58mm f/1.7 lens, other manufacturers also made lenses for the Mamiya NP.

A version was marketed through Sears as the Tower 37 (c.1961). It was also marketed as the Mamiya Prismatic (c.1962 in the UK), or the Mamiya Reflexa (c.1963), two of several Mamiya 35mm SLR cameras sold with Canon lenses in an Exacta-bayonet mount. I have not yet found any definitive information concerning the exact lenses Mamiya manufactured for this camera body, but there were a great many other third-party lenses available that would fit the Exacta mount.

The Prismat NP was also sold (c.1963) through Sears, as the Sears 32A and later the Tower 32B and Sears 32B. They featured an optional clip-on exposure meter which fits over the prism and coupled to the shutter speed dial. A version of the NP with a vertical-travel, metal focal plane shutter was also sold as the Sears SLII.


Aperture mechanism, 58mm MAMIYA F.C. f/1.7 lens (left); clip-on exposure meter (right)

Mamiya produced a camera similar to the Prismat NP for Nikon, using a standard Nikon F lens mount. It was introduced as the Nikkorex F in 1962. It was the first camera fitted with the new metal Copal S vertical-travel focal plane shutter, beating the Nikkormat from Nikon by a full three years. The Nikkorex F, in good working order, is very much sought after today. A version of it was marketed in Germany as the Nikkor J. Later, this same camera from Mamiya can be seen in the Nikon-mount Ricoh Singlex. Click Here for more information from the Nikon Historical Society!

Mamiya also made the Nikkorex Zoom 35 for Nikon (not pictured). It featured a non-interchangeable 43-86mm f/3.5 Nikkor Auto Zoom lens. It had a Porro-mirror reflex finder and a coupled selenium meter.

Click Here for a table of known Mamiya NP clones.

Mamiya Prismat PH
Released in July 1961, the Prismat PH, pictured at left, was Mamiya's first leaf-shutter 35mm SLR (the Prismat NP, seen above, was their first SLR). The shutter was built into the camera body, not the lens.

The Prismat PH has a selenium-cell meter mounted on the front of a fixed prism, and features a Seikosha-SLV behind-the-lens leaf shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/500. The shutter-speed dial is on the front of the body, and the camera came standard with a 48mm f/1.9 interchangeable bayonet-mount lens.

There is little available information about it, but a version of the Mamiya PH (below), known as the Mamiya CPH, (c.1963) was produced with a round CdS meter positioned on the camera face, just below the rewind knob.

Yet another version of the Prismat PH, without the selenium cell or CdS meter, was sold through Sears as the Tower 37 (c.1961). All versions had a truly unique bayonet-mount. All versions are also rare today in working order, and are considered a nice prize by Mamiya collectors.


ABOVE: MAMIYA Prismat CPH, with CdS meter

Mamiya CWP
The Mamiya CWP was introduced in August 1964. The CWP designation was used exclusively in the USA. Elsewhere it was known as the Mamiya CP. It could have either Mamiya or Mamiya/Sekor body nameplates.

It came with a 58mm f/1.7 thread-mount (42mm) Mamiya-Sekor lens, with a fully automatic aperture. It had a CdS exposure meter on the front plate. The meter is not coupled to the diaphragm and, rather than reading through the lens, the metered f-stop is viewed in a small window on top of the camera. The meter was originally powered by a 1.3v PX625 mercury battery (mercury batteries are no longer available).

Usable replacement batteries are the 1.5v A625PX alkaline battery or the Z625PX zinc-air battery, which can both be purchased online.

With synch for both bulb and electronic flash, it has a horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/1000; a self-timer; and came with a full complement of optional, interchangeable lenses.

A rugged and dependable camera, the CWP is still found today, although working models are becoming increasingly rare, and bring a reasonably good price.