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 →tlr-medium-format
The Olympus Flex A-II is a 6x6cm twin-lens reflex camera that represents Olympus Optical Co.'s initial foray into the medium-format TLR market. Introduced in 1953, it was aimed squarely at the domestic Japanese amateur market, competing with the Yashicaflex, Ricohflex, and a large number of smaller local makers producing virtually interchangeable budget TLRs at the time.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — 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
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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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About this camera
Olympus's first TLR camera, a 1953 entry into Japan's crowded budget 6x6 market.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film, 6x6cm (~12 exposures) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Taking lens | F.Zuiko 75mm f/2.8 |
| Viewing lens | F.Zuiko 75mm f/2.8 |
| Year introduced | ~1953 |
| Shutter | Leaf: 1s - 1/200s + B |
| Flash sync | ~ |
| Meter | None |
| Film advance | Side knob, red-window frame count |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level, ground glass + sports finder |
| Battery | None required |
Olympus entered the twin-lens reflex market in the early 1950s as the format was at peak popularity in Japan. The Flex A-II is generally regarded as the starting point of the Olympus TLR line, predating or contemporary with the Flex B-II which carried a slower f/3.5 taking lens. The A-II designation implies a revised or refined version of an initial A model, though the details of any A-I variant remain poorly documented.
The Olympus TLR program was brief. By the mid-1950s Olympus's development effort was concentrated on 35mm cameras, a trajectory that led to the Pen series and ultimately the OM SLR system. The entire Flex TLR line was discontinued within a few years of introduction, making all variants uncommon today.
The Olympus Flex A-II holds a modest but specific historical position as the camera that opened Olympus's short-lived medium-format chapter. The f/2.8 taking lens is the camera's most distinguishing feature relative to competitors: at a time when budget TLRs overwhelmingly used f/3.5 Tessar-type lenses, the A-II's brighter optic gave it a nominal advantage for available-light shooting. Whether the optical design matched the aperture advantage in practice is not well-documented in the surviving literature.
For collectors, the appeal is primarily the scarcity and the Olympus pedigree. The camera does not command high prices, but clean examples in working order are genuinely uncommon outside Japan. It is a usable camera by the standards of the format -- the mechanics are conventional and serviceable -- but offers no practical advantage over the far more abundant Yashicaflex or Ricohflex for film shooters.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →Olympus Flex A-II
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