Rare Emi K 35mm Film Camera

March 14, 2021

Rare Emi K 35mm Film Camera

So, today I'm talking about a camera that has been around for a while.

The Emi K 35mm camera was released by the Oshira Optical Works company in Japan in 1956. A pretty simple little camera; everything is manual including the focus. It comes with a Fujiyama Eminent 50mm f2.8 fixed lens. Aperture options from f2.8 through to f16. Shutter speeds of 25, 50, 100 and, 300 with a Bulb setting also. Not the fastest of shutter speeds so really, this camera is limited in the ISO range of film that can be used with it.

It comes with a flash mount and a PC adaptor. No, not a personal computer adaptor; a Prontor/Compur external flash synch socket with X Synch (the letter X for Xenon Flash). This works via an electrical circuit with the shutter mechanism which activates the circuit once the shutter is fully open. Prontor and Compur were two separate German companies who specialised in making lens shutters. Both companies shared a common 1/8" coax cable connection. This system became the standard for flash connectors over the years and was allocated its own International Standard (ISO519) Although the tech has vastly improved since their introduction, many modern day DSLRs still utilise a PC connection for flash synchronisation.

This EMI K is a very solid little unit made from some type of dye cast aluminium alloy. It's still in very good condition and not a scratch or mark on it. If you go back a while to when I used this camera in Jan 2016, you would see that I was a little disappointed with its performance back then (visit that Blog post here). At that time, the film did not wind on properly and was scrunched up inside the camera. I had to take it to the Lab for the film to be removed in the Darkroom. I think I got about 5 good shots of a roll of 36! Still not sure to this day if that was simply a temporary glitch or operator error. But I do recall taking a close look at the camera at the time and the wind on spool did not appear to move in synch with the winding lever.

This particular camera has some history to it. My older Brother bought it for my Dad. My Dad was an avid photographer and used to develop and print at home. It was a smaller, different styled camera to his Voigtlander Bessa 1 folder. I am not sure how much Dad used this camera. When I was in my senior years in Grade 12, I used this camera for my photography project as one of my Arts Subjects. I am not sure what happened to that roll of film I used for that but I do have a few of the prints in an album.

Anyway, because I can't stand the idea of a camera sitting idly in the display case and, because this camera and I have a history that goes back 42 years and, let's face it, I am a sentimental bloke, I decided to give it one more try.

I loaded it with Fuji Colour Superia 100 and took it with us when we went to the Markets at Pelican on the foreshore of the lovely Lake Macquarie. Sort of like Street Photography without the street!

I am very happy to say that the camera worked well; no problems winding film on this time! The Fujiyama lens is lovely and sharp and the Fuji film has a nice colour to it!