C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →rangefinder-35mm
The Beauty Canter is a fixed-lens 35mm rangefinder camera produced in 1957 by Beauty Camera Co. (Taiyodo Koki), a Japanese manufacturer based in Tokyo. Its principal distinction within its market tier is the Biokor 45mm f/1.9 lens -- a fast normal lens significantly brighter than the f/2.8 Tessar-type glass standard on competing budget Japanese rangefinders of the period. The lens is set in a mechanical leaf shutter covering 1s to 1/300s plus B. The rangefinder is coupled to the lens, and the viewfinder and rangefinder are combined in a single eyepiece window. No exposure meter is included; the camera is fully mechanical and requires no battery.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
A 1957 Japanese fixed-lens rangefinder from Taiyodo Koki with an unusually fast Biokor 45mm f/1.9 for its price class.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | Biokor 45mm f/1.9 |
| Manufacturer | Beauty Camera Co. (Taiyodo Koki), Tokyo |
| Years | c. 1957 |
| Shutter | Leaf, 1s – 1/300s + B |
| Meter | None |
| Focus | Coupled rangefinder, combined VF/RF window |
| Battery | None |
Taiyodo Koki operated under the "Beauty Camera Co." brand and produced a range of 35mm cameras through the 1950s and into the 1960s under the Beauty name. The firm's output included viewfinder cameras, rangefinder cameras, and at least one press camera variant (the Beauty Press 25). The Beauty Canter was introduced in 1957 as a higher-specification rangefinder offering within the Beauty lineup, the f/1.9 lens being the key differentiator from lower-cost stablemates.
Taiyodo Koki, like most small Japanese camera manufacturers of this era, did not survive the industry consolidation of the late 1960s. The company's cameras are sparsely documented in English-language sources.
The Beauty Canter is notable primarily for its lens speed. In 1957, an f/1.9 normal lens on a budget-tier Japanese rangefinder was uncommon. The major Japanese manufacturers -- Canon, Nikon, Leitz -- offered f/1.8 or f/1.5 lenses, but on cameras priced significantly higher. The Beauty Canter's Biokor 45mm f/1.9 placed meaningful low-light capability in a camera accessible to a broader market.
Whether the Biokor 45/1.9 fully delivers on its aperture specification is a practical question: fast lenses on budget rangefinders of this era often sacrifice corner sharpness, field flatness, and resistance to flare in order to achieve the maximum aperture. At f/1.9 the Biokor is likely soft at the edges and prone to some coma and field curvature -- characteristics that can produce pleasing rendering in portraiture while limiting utility for critical technical work. Stopped to f/4 or f/5.6 the lens should perform on par with slower contemporaries.
For collectors, the Beauty Canter offers above-average interest for a minor manufacturer's product due to the fast lens, and prices reflect this modestly elevated status compared to strictly-f/2.8 equivalents from comparable firms.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →Beauty Camera Co. Canter
Image coming soon