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 B-II is a 6x6cm twin-lens reflex camera introduced by Olympus Optical Co. in 1953, aimed primarily at the domestic Japanese amateur market. Olympus is far better known for its 35mm rangefinder and SLR output -- the Pen series and OM system in particular -- but in the early 1950s the company made a brief, quiet foray into the medium-format TLR segment that was then dominated by Yashica, Ricoh, and several dozen smaller Tokyo-area makers.
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 1953 entry into the Japanese budget TLR market, carrying an F.Zuiko 75mm f/3.5 on a modest die-cast body.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film, 6x6cm (~12 exposures) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Taking lens | F.Zuiko 75mm f/3.5 |
| Viewing lens | F.Zuiko 75mm f/3.5 |
| Year introduced | 1953 |
| Shutter | Leaf: 1s - 1/300s + 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 TLR space in the early 1950s with a small family of Flex models. The B-II sits in the middle of this short-lived lineup, released in 1953 as a modest refinement over earlier iterations. The Olympus TLR program was never a commercial centrepiece for the company; production volumes appear to have been low relative to Olympus's own 35mm output and to competitors such as Yashica, which was then shipping Yashicaflex variants in substantial numbers.
By the mid-to-late 1950s, Olympus's development energy had shifted firmly toward 35mm cameras. The TLR line was quietly discontinued, and the company went on to define its identity through the Pen half-frame cameras and, later, the OM SLR system. The Flex B-II is consequently an uncommon camera even in Japanese collecting circles.
The Olympus Flex B-II is of modest historical significance: it is one of the few Olympus medium-format cameras, and it carries an F.Zuiko lens at a time when Zuiko optics were not yet the benchmark they would become in the OM era. The lens performs competently at middle apertures, consistent with Tessar-type designs of the period, but it is not a standout optical performer even by 1950s Japanese TLR standards.
For collectors, the main appeal is the Olympus branding on an otherwise conventional budget TLR body. The camera is uncommon enough that clean examples attract some collector interest, though prices remain modest. It is a legitimate user camera -- the mechanics are conventional and rebuildable -- but it offers no functional advantage over the more readily serviced Yashicaflex or Ricohflex models.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →Olympus Flex B-II
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