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.
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The Mamiya/Sekor 528AL Date (~1969) is a variant of the standard chrome Mamiya/Sekor 528AL, distinguished by the addition of a factory-fitted date-back mechanism that imprints the date onto each frame at the moment of exposure. The photographic specification is unchanged from the base 528AL: a fixed-lens 35mm coupled-rangefinder with selenium-cell automatic exposure, a leaf shutter spanning 1 second to 1/500s with full flash synchronisation at all speeds, and no battery dependency for either metering or shutter operation.
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.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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About this camera
The 528AL with a factory date-imprinting back - same battery-free selenium AE rangefinder, with date data recorded directly onto the film.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | Mamiya-Sekor fixed, ~40-45mm f/2.8 |
| Shutter | 1s - 1/500s, leaf |
| Flash sync | 1/500s (all speeds) |
| Meter | Selenium, coupled AE |
| Modes | Auto, manual override |
| Focus | Coupled rangefinder |
| Battery | None required for meter/shutter |
| Date back | Factory-fitted, imprints date on film |
| Weight | ~635 g |
Date-back variants of consumer 35mm cameras proliferated in Japan during the late 1960s and early 1970s, responding to demand from amateur photographers who wanted a record of when images were taken without the discipline of maintaining a separate shooting log. The practice was widespread across manufacturers — Konica, Canon, and Mamiya among others offered date-back versions of otherwise standard models — and the variants were typically priced at a small premium over the standard body.
Mamiya's 528 series in this period comprised multiple variants of a common selenium-AE fixed-lens rangefinder platform:
The Date variant therefore represents a parallel development alongside the chrome and black standard models, rather than a successor. It likely shared the same production window as the 528AL Black.
The 528TL's introduction of CdS TTL metering marked the substantive technology transition. The selenium-based 528AL Date was a refinement within the established design rather than a forward step; its production probably ended when the 528TL displaced it in the catalog, around 1970-1971.
The 528AL Date is a narrow variant of an already modest camera. Its practical distinction from the standard 528AL is the date-imprinting function — useful to a photographer who wants dated negatives for archival or organisational purposes without any external annotation. The date data is permanent: burned into the negative at the time of shooting, it cannot be separated from the image and does not rely on metadata or post-processing records.
In 2026, the date-back feature is of historical interest more than practical utility; digital tools have entirely superseded in-film date recording for most photographers. However, for shooters who value dated negatives for archival film projects or documentary work in the spirit of the camera's era, a functioning date mechanism on a battery-free AE rangefinder is a genuinely useful combination.
The camera carries no notable premium over the standard 528AL beyond a modest collector interest in the variant; date-back mechanisms are frequently non-functional after 55-plus years.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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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 →Mamiya 528AL Date
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