Mamiya Mamiyaflex Automat A (1949)
The Mamiyaflex Automat A came out in 1949. It put Mamiya on the map, and it holds a genuine first: the first Japanese TLR with automatic film advance, which did away with the red window in the camera back for counting frames. It is the direct predecessor to the later Mamiya C series (the C-220 and C-330).
The Automat A was Mamiya's most advanced model when it was released. Focusing was done by a moving front standard, not a fixed lens board. It shot twelve 6×6 cm frames on 120 film and was offered with or without a sportsfinder. The shutter was a Seikosha Rapid (dual set) type.
The documentation on the Automat A's optics conflicts. Some sources credit a Mamiya Sekor 80mm f/3.5 lens. Others say the lenses were four-element Olympus Zuiko 75mm f/3.5 units, and that claim shows up in accounts contrasting the A with the later Automat B, which used Mamiya's own in-house Sekor triplet lenses. Because of the contradiction, the focal length and aperture are left unconfirmed here. The original 1949 price was around $150, roughly $1,600 in today's currency.
Digital Camera World (via its retrospective coverage) noted the Automat A’s success in 1949 and its role as the predecessor to the C series, which revolutionized TLR design in 1956 by introducing interchangeable lenses — beating the Koni-Omegaflex, the only other TLR to offer them, by twelve years.
The Automat A was followed by the Automat A II (1954) and Automat A III (1956). Production continued into the mid-1950s. Past that, the record is thin. No weight, dimensions or focusing screen details are documented, and collector market values aren't established.
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