Aires Cameras: Aires 35 V

Notes related to specific cameras
bill339
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Aires Cameras: Aires 35 V

Postby bill339 » Sun Mar 31, 2019 6:47 am

The Aires 35-V was manufactured in Japan from 1958 until 1962. With Aries vast experience producing rangefinders, they strived to compete at a higher level. Aires engineers, therefore, started working on a “Supermodel”: a 35mm rangefinder, with high quality, interchangeable lenses, a leaf shutter, and a coupled selenium meter. The 35-V is the result of these specification requirements. It was sold either with a 1:1.9 45mm H-Coral lens or (optional) 1:1.5 45mm S-Coral. The camera was also sold in a kit complete with hoods, filters, and three lenses in a leather case, bearing the Aires label. The lenses in the kit were the 1:1.5 45mm S-Coral, 1:3.2 35mm W-Coral, plus the 1:3.5 100mm T-Coral and they work with the rangefinder. The 35-V is the last of the Aires rangefinders. It sports a Seiko leaf shutter with speeds from 1 second to 1/400 of a second plus B. the camera also has a rapid film advance lever, cable release socket on the shutter release button, exposure counter, one hand focus knob, accessory shoe, synchro socket, fold down rewind crank, M-X synchro switch, and a double exposure setting on the front of the camera (has three settings of double D, Advance A, and Rewind R). The 35-V was one of the best rangefinder cameras ever made but the days of the rangefinder were numbered before it was introduced. In 1957 Asahi Pentax introduced the first SLR and in 1959 Nikon introduced the Nikon F SLR camera (the most advanced camera of its day) plus Agfa releases the first automatic camera. Aires was counting on sales of their other 35-V lenses too move towards profit. This didn't happen and by 1962 the firm tried a leaf shutter SLR designed camera; that also failed. For Aires it was the end and bankruptcy.

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