Mamiya Prismat PH (1961)
The Mamiya Prismat PH is an unusual entry in Mamiya's early-1960s Prismat SLR family: a 35mm SLR with a behind-the-lens Seikosha SLV leaf shutter rather than a focal plane shutter. That makes it a different beast from the Prismat NP and other siblings. The PH is specifically the version with a selenium-cell meter, mounted on the front of the fixed pentaprism. The shutter-speed dial sits on the front of the body, and speeds run from 1 to 1/500 plus B. The camera came standard with a 48mm f/1.9 Mamiya-Sekor F.C. six-element lens in a proprietary bayonet mount (the Prismat PH mount — not the same as the later Prismat CPH bayonet, which is incompatible). A 38mm f/3.5 wide-angle and 100mm f/3.5 were also available for the system.
The PH was also sold through Photronic Corporation of America as the PCA Prismat V-90, and a meterless version went to Sears as the Tower 37. Unlike the rest of the Prismat family's focal-plane models, both the PH and its PCA rebadge used the leaf shutter. The instruction manual is dated c.1961 and reportedly includes a rare period test report. Auction prices for the PCA V-90 variant have run roughly $75–100, and the rare original manual commands about $20 as a reprint.
Known specs, as far as they're documented:
- Type: 35mm SLR, fixed pentaprism finder (95% field of view, 0.8x magnification)
- Shutter: Seikosha SLV behind-the-lens leaf, 1–1/500 + B
- Meter: Selenium cell, front-mounted on prism
- Standard lens: 48mm f/1.9 Mamiya-Sekor F.C., 6 elements in 4 groups, bayonet mount
- Focus range: 1.75 ft / 0.5 m to infinity
- Alternate lenses: 38mm f/3.5, 100mm f/3.5
- Introduced: c.1961
No original retail price, weight, or dimensions are recorded, and no user reviews or common-failure information has surfaced. What survives is a solid outline of a curious, short-lived design — Mamiya hedging between leaf-shutter simplicity and SLR versatility at the very start of the 1960s.
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