Graflex.org

disemjg · Joined: 10 Jan 2002 Posts: 469 Location: Washington, DC

Recently I obtained a camera from a mail order dealer that was described as a "Century 35". I was expecting the simplified camera illuistrated in the Graflex manual, that bore some relationship to the well-known Graflex 35. What showed up was a Kowa made camera marked "Century 35 NE", which I have not seen listed anywhere before. It is a rather nice camera, with conventional focusing instead of the push-button focusing found on the Graflex 35. It has a coupled selenium meter, and the weird internal rewind claw like a Jet; the rewind crank is on the bottom. Overall it looks like a native Kowa product that was rebadged for Graflex, rather than a Graflex influenced design like the Jet. I suspect that it dates from the early '60s.

Has anyone heard of this camera before, and are there any other lesser known Graflex 35s beside this one?

Scott Cogburn · Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Taiwan

Hi, I have the model without the light meter, the Century 35N, which was produced in the same year (1960). It's the only Graflex camera I have owned, though I have quite a few other amateur-grade Japanese cameras from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The 35N seems to be quite well-made, and seems be at least as well-made as the popular rangefinders made by Yashica, Mamiya and Minolta in that same vintage.

Mine has aperture blades which are either broken or have come loose, so I can't test it until I spend a few hours repairing it.

Mine has top-mounted advance lever, bottom-mounted folding rewind crank, rangefinder, unit focus, and the same type of aperture-shutter-speed coupling system as on my Yashica Minister and Mamiya 18B (by which a raised, knurled ring (between the aperture and speed rings) turns both aperture and speed rings together in LV combinations.

disemjg · Joined: 10 Jan 2002 Posts: 469 Location: Washington, DC

Mine also has a bad (loose) diaphragm blade. Someday I'll get around to dealing with it, but I hate working on this kind of lens/shutter.

Since the original post, I've found that there are a number of 35mm cameras that Graflex marketed, most of them made by Kowa. They are listed in Mckeown's guide to collectable cameras.

shadyapex · Joined: 25 Dec 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Bishop, CA USA

I also have the Century 35 N. Found it at an antique store for $10. Just ran a roll of film through it so we'll see how accurate the focusing and shutter speeds are. It really seems like a great little camera.
I posted a query about it on rangefinderforum.com but haven't heard anything back. There are some pics of the camera on my post.
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73223
I like it so much that I doubled my investment and bought a shoulder strap for it.[/img]

PhillipLonghenry · Joined: 02 Sep 2010 Posts: 1

Hey shady I've also got the century 35n. I got it on ebay for $40 though. Looks like you got a real bargain at 10 bucks. I agree it's a great little camera and I'm happy with it.

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shadyapex · Joined: 25 Dec 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Bishop, CA USA

Hey Phillip, even at $40 I think its a great bargain. Mine seems to work flawlessly and I think the lens is very good. I'm really enjoying it and I'm surprised that this little gem isn't better known. Maybe there just aren't that many of them around.

Henry · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:37 pm Post subject: Re: Century 35N

shadyapex · Joined: 25 Dec 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Bishop, CA USA

Sorry they're so small.
http://stevenbaldwin.zenfolio.com/p1041015419

Henry · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:21 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Looks not unlike a Minolta Hi-Matic. Hope you get many years of good service out of it. For $10 you can't go wrong!