Mamiya 35 Metra (late 1950s)
Documentation on the Mamiya 35 Metra is thin, and even the naming is slippery. The same camera shows up in period references as the "35 Metra," the "35 Metra 2," and the "35 Metra 1.9," and it's not clear whether those are distinct variants or just marketing drift. What the record does show: it's a Japanese-made 35mm rangefinder sold in the late 1950s, with a manual-focus body and an uncoupled selenium light meter built in. The shutter was a Seikosha-MXL, and the lens was a Mamiya Sekor, available, per Camerapedia, in either a 1.9/48mm or a 2.8/48mm version. Beyond that, the spec sheet is essentially empty. No one has pinned down exact production years, dimensions, or shutter speed ranges.
One owner on Lomography reported picking up a "Mamiya 35 Metra 1.9" in the winter of 2025 for $45 and falling hard for film photography because of it. In November 2025 the same owner reported that the camera had broken, with a repair estimate of $56 and no guarantee. A single eBay listing for a "Mamiya 35 Metra 2" (serial number 2456726, with leather case) described the lens as clean and clear with working focus and aperture, and claimed the light meter worked. That's about the extent of the surviving record. There's no original price, no production context, and no reviews from the period.
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