| Latest Review Posted | Asahiflex Ia
Single lens reflex cameras have been around for a long time. The Asahiflex 1A takes us back to a time when the development of the Japanese 35mm SLR is just getting started. Most of us on this forum are familiar with modern SLR cameras, so how is this one different?
This appears to be the mechanical sequence for this camera:
The shutter release button on this camera is longer than on later Pentax cameras. In the mirror box, on the same side of the mirror box as the shutter release, there is a stiff spring and a mirror release latch. As the release button is slowly pressed, the spring is tightened. As the shutter release continues to be pressed down, the spring tension increases to the point that it is capable of flipping the mirror to the up position. Pressing the release a little further, the latch releases the mirror and it flips to the up position. The mirror then releases the shutter curtains to take the picture. At this point, the mirror does not flip back down, because it is being held up by the finger on the shutter release. As the finger is slowly lifted from the shutter release, the mirror slowly returns back to the down position and is latched in place.
The slowest shutter speed on the 1A is 1/25 of a second. The Asahi engineers wanted to put a 1 second shutter speed on their cameras. The problem was, with this type of mirror control, it was possible to lift the finger off the shutter button and thus lowering the mirror before the one second shutter expo... |
