Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! Do you have that friend who always dresses nicely but is actually cheap? He is not cheap because he is frugal but he is cheap because he has nothing much to his name! I had such a friend and he was a miserable piece of work because he is the type of bastard who would eat all the good bits at a dinner but disappears when it is time to pay the bill! Not only that, he is the biggest poser out there, acting like he pays for everyone. Frankly, I am the generous type, I just can’t stand being close to people like him that’s why I told him to bugger off. Today, I will show you one such camera. It looks nice outside but is kind of a mess in the interior. It’s trying to present itself as something it isn’t, but unlike the dork that I mentioned this was all necessary because it’s the first of the many production cameras that the brand ever produced. Although that’s not an excuse since Nippon Kogaku made an even better camera at an even worse state given how the factory had been bombed to nothing, that camera is the Nikon.

Introduction:

The Hansa Canon was made by Seiki Kogaku (now Canon) in the early 1930s as Japan’s first production 35mm camera of its kind for consumers. This is not Canon’s first camera because there is an even earlier one that did not made it into mass production but it has laid the foundations of all cameras that are to be made from the same workshop. It is essentially a copy of the Leica but there’s a lot of differences that made it unique, these were done in order to skirt around patents. But unlike the Soviets who just stole every detail from the Leica (like all good socialists parasites do), the Japs did many different things that made this camera special. There is that stupid pop-up finder to differentiate it from the Leica’s central window, a complicated helicoid focusing unit specially made by Nippon Kogaku (Nikon), a dumb front-facing film counter, the omission of strap lugs, and many more. That’s just the external differences, you will see what’s inside of it later. To their credit, they did improve some things where possible but they are minor or insignificant to mention.

This is the face of Japan’s first production Leica clone. It was sold as a premium item at that time, commanding a high price and it also has an air of luxury to it as well with all the beautiful, shiny details. Despite that, notice that it does not have a slow speeds. It has a frame counter at the front which makes it unique along with the Mickey Mouse look of the focusing unit. The top shell is also unique, and even unnecessary as you will soon see but that’s more for evading a Leica lawsuit than anything else. It’s in pretty bad shape but it looks like something that I am able to restore.