Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Sure there may be prettier cameras and ones with more personality but this Beauty has it all in one package.  This camera incorporates all the design and technology that the late 1950’s had to throw at a camera.  The 45mm lens has 6 elements in 4 groups with a fast maximum aperture of f1.9.  The selenium meter provides a needle displayed on the top plate (I have to admit to not using it though).  To trip the shutter the film advance lever needs to be left out slightly providing a shutter lock so it won’t go off in your camera bag.

The rangefinder patch is unusual in that it is a circle where most I’ve come across are squares rectangles or diamond shapes.

More on the Beauty Lightomatic here When Beauty isn’t subjective

Let me explain, from around 1957 to 1963 there was a Japanese camera company that manufactured under the name Beauty.  There really is very little information available so I’m relying on Camarapedia for much of it.  http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Beauty_Lightomatic.  This particular camera the Lightomatic,  “wasn’t everything in the fifties ‘omatic?”, has a fast f1.9 45mm lens.  The selenium cell is attached to a  meter  visible on the top and is coupled to the shutter and aperture.  A unique feature of the film advance lever is that it needs to be left partially out otherwise the shutter is locked.  The viewfinder has parallax correction and shows a generous amount of area outside the picture frame.  It’s an attractive camera that I will need to test further to determine it’s strengths and weaknesses.