Super Westomat 35 35mm Rangefinder

An unusual rangefinder camera from Japan

I'm not sure if this camera should be classed as ugly or pretty, I suppose it all depends on how you look at things, but it is certainly odd looking!

The only thing that it vaguely reminds me of is the Kodak 35 RF, and that camera is certainly not pretty!

Lets delve into the cameras history a little, it was made in Japan by Taisei Koki who were founded in 1949. I suppose they were better known for their range of nice looking 6x6 folders such as the Welmy Six, a 120 camera quite common here in the U.K. which is in itself quite unusual as most Japenese 120 folders of the 1950's ended up in the USA, but for some reason lots of Welmy six's ended up in the U.K. I would love to try a 120 Welmy out!

Less well known maybe, were their range of 35mm cameras, such as the Welmy 35, Westomat 35, Welmy M2 and of course the Super Westomat 35 which is the camera I have in front of me. There were two versions of this camera, the first one had three windows at the front and was slightly better looking, this second version had two.

It is a solid camera weighing in at 597 grams, the body looks and feels really well made, but the lens / shutter less so. To me it looks a bit tagged on and the whole focussing / rangefinder part very agricultural. Maybe it was just tagged on, maybe they just took the nicer looking earlier Westomat 35 and added the rangefinder / lens part to a slightly modified body? The Westomat 35 looks like a complete design, the Super Westomat does not.

The lens/ shutter part has lots of gaps where dust dirt and moisture can get in and it seems 70 years on most of them have suffered as a result of this dust and dirt getting into the works. The shutter speed ring tends to seize up solid so you can't change the speeds, the focus wheels are as stiff as hell and it is almost impossible to turn the little focus wheel. If you are lucky and it does turn the end of your thumb will soon protest with pain! The shutter blades tend to stick or re-open slightly when you wind on to the next frame. There are just too many gaps where dirt and moisture can enter this front unit. It's a shame, as apart from this it is a cracking little camera. I suppose I could just focus using the front of the lens and forget about the finger killing little wheel.

Let us have a look at its features. The lens is a Terionon of 45mm and a maximum aperture of f 3.5. This particular example has the lens number 25690. The rangefinder image is small, but quite bright and easy to see, but it is let down by the very stiff focus action and the sharp teeth that dig into your finger so much, you shift position and use your thumb instead! The shutter speed is adjusted by a large knurled ring towards the front of the lens/shutter unit, they do seize up and at best are very stiff to change speeds. A very small drop of lighter fluid gently worked into the ring will eventually free it up enough to use, but again the teeth are not easy on the finger ends!

What I do like about the Super Westomat 35 is the aperture adjustment, it's a brilliant bit of design, you just move the adjustment knob which is underneath the lens / shutter unit with your finger and look down into a little window at the top of the lens where you can clearly see which stop you are on, as shown in the picture above. The action is easy, super smooth and the best bit of the camera !

The picture above shows the aperture adjustment knob, it really is a cracking way of selecting the apertures.

The rewind knob is another unusual feature, not only is the camera name engraved on it nicely, but it has a really stylish direction arrow in bright red, making rewinding clear and simple. I like the splash of red too!

The exposure table is another unusual if somewhat slightly limited feature but I suppose it shows us how popular Kodak Kodachrome and Ektachrome were at the time in the mid 1950's.

The wind on lever is really well positioned and easy to use, and I like the film reminder in the centre of the lever. Another nice simple feature.

The manually set film counter is a great design idea, clear and easy to set.

The Super Westomat from the rear, clean and uncluttered with a decent sized viewfinder eye piece for the time, which is nice and clear, even with spectacles.

Inside the camera the film transport area is well made and very solid and well finished.

It's just the front that looks odd and ungainly to me, too many gaps and cracks where dirt can ingress into the shutter and lens as these three pictures show.

The rest of the Super Westomat is stylish and well made, including the rather nice brown leather case.

Even the camera and the case look good together, which does not often happen!

So to sum up, an unusual 35mm coupled rangefinder camera from the mid 1950's, maybe inspired by the late 30's Kodak 35 RF? It's well made, well finished, the only downside is the lens / shutter section of it maybe is not as well made as the rest of the camera? However the faults are really only highlighted by time, the passing of roughly seventy years. I'm sure it's designer was not expecting it to be still useable seventy years on. Or that anyone would be daft enough to try and use it seventy years on either!

But brand new, this must have been quite a camera.

Maybe today the standard Westomat 35 is a better option to use than the Super Westomat 35? I'm not sure what I will do with this one, risk a film through it or not? Let me know in the comments! Use it or put it on e-bay? I am rather tempted to give it a try, if I can get it to function okay.

I hoped you liked this post, this camera is a real odd ball, do you like it or hate it? Go on let me know your thoughts.

Just a quick up-date on the unknown 127 folder featured in the last post, it is looking like Balda could be the maker, the new 127 film has just arrived for it from China, so that will be interesting to try out and I have attempted to do a video about it on You Tube! That was different, I have never attempted that before ! The link is below, but you may need sub titles to understand the West Riding of Yorkshire accent!

Unknown Roll-film Camera from the 1930's

Also a quick hello to my new subscribers, thankyou for subscribing I hope you enjoy reading the various posts!

Take care

Phil