1960 Ansco - Anscomark M

The 1960 Anscomark M was one of the finest cameras Ansco ever released. Manufactured by Riken (Ricoh), the camera features styling by Raymond Loewy and three incredible lenses to complete the outfit. In this video I'll go over the various features and unusual design elements of the camera, as well as take it out shooting.
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[@randallstewart1224]

Very nice video summary of the camera. A fact which used to be fairly well known, but now lost to time, is that the Anscomark M was one of America's first space cameras. NASA, looking for a camera astronauts could use in while in a space suit, purchased a number of Anscomarks and had them adapted for that use. Basically, the camera was flipped upside down and a protective covering added, with a handle like a stalk projecting from the old top, new bottom, which could hold the camera in a thick glove. Not sure how it was operated. At the time, Ansco published ads proclaiming their camera's selection for this prestige usage, but that didn't save the company either. NASA moved on to Nikon and Hasselblad as their camera vendors. The reason there were no more lenses to this mini-system was that the rear, in-body leaf shutter severely restricts the diameter of the back focus and diameter of the lens. Kodak and Voigtlander faced the same issues and designed lenses both shorter and longer in focal length, but that was well outside the economics of Ansco or Riken. (I did not know that Lowey did the external design of the camera!)

[@oddballcamera]

@@randallstewart1224 Excellent information, thank you for sharing!

[@williamthompson5929]

Although the camera really didn't grab me, I did like the selenium cell protector. I have an old Zeiss Ikon with a similar feature and the meter works perfectly - on the DIN scale. I think the relationship between ASA and DIN at that time must have been different. Although I shot some nice pictures with the camera at some point I found that the aperture blades had never moved, and research indicated that a repair would e far beyond me and unreasonably expensive even if I could find someone to do the work. So into the box of cameras I can't use yet can't bring myself to send to landfill. Ah, sentimentality. Thanks for another lovely production.

[@oddballcamera]

@@williamthompson5929 Thank you for your comments! If you need to find a new home for any cameras you are considering throwing away, let me know 😁

[@conrad1837]

I think that looks absolutely fantastic! I’ve never seen one before but I definitely need to track one down .

[@boydtv]

Such a striking design. I've got one, but I've only shot it one time but was able to get some very sharp color photos. Great walkthrough and backstory of the camera.

[@oddballcamera]

@@boydtv Nice to hear someone else out there has shot with one of these as well!

[@carloseduardodutra4398]

beautiful!

[@jdebultra]

Beautiful camera. Wow, really nice image fidelity. I have an interesting camera called the Agfa Ambi Silette and it has the best 50mm lens I have ever used, right there with the Leica Summacron .

[@oddballcamera]

@@jdebultra Thanks for the feedback! I'll also have to look up the Agfa Ambi Silette... you've piqued my interest!

[@philippaf_32nap62]

Great presentation and of cause great camera. Thank you!

[@oddballcamera]

@@philippaf_32nap62 Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate it.

[@dlyon9673]

Thank you for this well made, interesting and informative review of a beautiful camera, which I'd never heard of before. At this time there were several high quality leaf shutter rangefinders with interchangeable lenses, such as the Kowa Kallo 140 with a fast f1.4 lens (a similar model, the Kallo 180 has a fixed f1.8 lens) the Minolta A, and no doubt several others. A final question -- it looks like Ansco gave Ricoh permission to sell this camera as the 999 with the same Loewy design?

[@oddballcamera]

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate it. I'll have to look into that Kowa Kallo camera you mentioned...sounds intriguing. To answer your question, yes you are exactly right...as part of the Ansco/Ricoh arrangement Ricoh was able to market the exact same camera in Japan as the "Ricoh 999". It is exactly the same camera with only the label on the meter cover and the lens rings changed to Ricoh labeling.

[@outoftheboxblaster7131]

Looks like a metal kodak instamatic.

[@oddballcamera]

@@outoftheboxblaster7131 If only they were as easy to find as an instamatic