Melcon II

Meguro Kogaku · LTM mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1957

Also known as: Melcon II · Melcon-II · MelconII · Melcon 2 · Meguro Melcon II · Meguro Kogaku Melcon II · Meguro Opt Melcon II · Meguro Opt. Japan Melcon II · メルコン II · メルコンII · メルコン2 · メルコンⅡ · メルコン II型 · 目黒光学メルコンII · 目黒光学メルコン II

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Melcon II	LTM	1957–1957	75005–75612 seen (75005 in the 1957 advertisements and 75472 on Pacific Rim Camera, via camera-wiki; 75059 Arsenal Photo; 75612 Leitz Auction 42)	No maker figure. About 500, estimated by camera-wiki from the highest serial it had seen (75472); Mike Eckman and Pacific Rim Camera also say 500 or fewer; Flashback Camera says a few hundred

Sellers and auction houses describe its design three ways: as a Nikon S2 copy (camera-wiki, Pacific Rim Camera, Flashback Camera), as inspired by the Leica M3 (Leitz Auction) and as a Contax IIa copy (Arsenal Photo). camera-wiki and Pacific Rim Camera document the Nikon S2 resemblance; Mike Eckman argues it is a Leica-thread camera with Nikon touches rather than a true S2 copy.

How to tell them apart (expand)

'Melcon II' between the windows on the front: the original Melcon is a Leica-type body with separate eyepieces and knob wind
Rounded body ends, no focusing wheel and a Leica-thread mount: a Nikon S2 has square ends, a focusing wheel and the S bayonet
Strap lugs at both ends, toward the front; the original Melcon has none

Melcon II:

'Melcon II' inscribed on the front between the finder and rangefinder windows
'Meguro Opt, Japan' engraved at the rear of the top cover under the advance lever; serial number in front of the accessory shoe
Rounded body ends and no focusing wheel, the quickest ways to tell it from a Nikon S2
Leica-thread mount; shutter dials T, 1–1/30 and B, 1/30–1/500 with X, no 1/1000

Melcon II: camera-wiki knows of no variations; the run was too short for any to be recorded. The body in the 1957 advertisements, 75005, already looks like later cameras.

Serial-range notes

75005–75612: Five-digit numbers in the 75xxx block. camera-wiki's highest is 75472, the basis of its estimate of about 500 made; Leitz Auction 42 offered body 75612, which is higher.

Specifications

Format: 24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder: Combined rangefinder and viewfinder behind one eyepiece, offset to the left, with a single bright frame for 50mm · 1× magnification · 50mm framelines · single · none parallax correction
Base length: 70 mm
Effective baselength: 70 mm
Shutter: Horizontal cloth focal-plane, two concentric dials on one shaft · Upper dial B, 1/30–1 (in red), X, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500; lower dial, turned by a tab, T, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30 (camera-wiki). The speed can be set only after winding. No 1/1000 · flash sync One PC socket on the front under the rangefinder window, with an F/X selector beside it that is easily mistaken for a self-timer lever; the accessory shoe has no contact (camera-wiki)
Film advance: Lever, one 180° stroke or several short ones; exposure counter on top of the lever, much like the S2's. Rewind knob with folding crank and an ASA 12–1600 film reminder; the rewind collar round the release is marked A and R
Back: Hinged on the right, locked by a key on the base marked O and S, which also works Meguro's own reloadable cassette
Meter: None
Dimensions: 138 × 83 × 34 (camera-wiki) mm
Country: Japan
Original price: ¥46,000 with the Nikkor 5cm f/2 and case (Asahi Camera advertisements, September–December 1957, via camera-wiki; Mike Eckman gives the same price; Flashback Camera gives ¥46,000), ¥2,000 less than the original Melcon. Melcon hood with case ¥720, Melcon film cassette ¥500 (today ¥288,000)
Accessories: Melcon reloadable film cassette, ¥500, worked by the base key; not interchangeable with Nicca cassettes, which look alike (camera-wiki, citing Kitano Kunio) · Melcon lens hood with case, ¥720 (camera-wiki) · Nikkor screw-mount lenses distributed by Hinomaruya: 2.5cm f/4, 2.8cm f/3.5, 3.5cm f/1.8, f/2.5 and f/3.5, 5cm f/1.4, 8.5cm f/1.5 and f/2, 10.5cm f/2.5, 13.5cm f/3.5, 18cm f/2.5, 25cm f/4 and 50cm f/5 (camera-wiki)

1.0× with a 70mm effective base (camera-wiki; Pacific Rim Camera and Flashback Camera give a 70mm base), longer than the Nikon S2's 60mm and the Leica M3's 68mm. No parallax indication. No diopter adjustment is visible (camera-wiki). Mike Eckman could see the whole frame wearing glasses, through an eyepiece a little smaller than the S2's. With the Nikkor 5cm f/2 the rangefinder is coupled only to 3.5 ft, although the lens focuses to 1.5 ft.

Where sources disagree

Years

Featured in Japanese magazines in September and October 1957, advertised September–December 1957 (camera-wiki); sold for only a few months of 1957, last mentioned December 1957 (Mike Eckman)
Released summer 1957 and sold for about two years (Flashback Camera)
In production for about one year (Pacific Rim Camera)

Better supported: Autumn 1957, from the dated advertisements

Pacific Rim Camera says Meguro Kogaku appears to have failed in early 1958; Leica Copies Japan says Meguro disappeared in 1957.

What reviewers say

Mike Eckman (blog) — A Melcon II from the Voncabbage Collection, with a non-original Zunow 5cm f/1.1 fitted: built more like a FED or Zorki than a Canon or Nicca, with thin metal, a stiffer lever than his Nikons and a peeling covering; the shutter sounds snappy and the finder shows the whole frame with glasses, but it is "just not that spectacular."

History

Meguro Kogaku’s second and last camera replaced the original Melcon in the autumn of 1957. It kept the Leica 39mm thread but dropped the Leica body for one shaped like a Nikon S2, with rounded ends, no focusing wheel and a hinged back. The finder is the reason to want one. A single eyepiece shows the scene at 1.0× with a bright frame for 50mm, and the rangefinder works on a 70mm effective base, longer than the S2’s 60mm or the M3’s 68mm. There is no parallax correction and no 1/1000. The shutter runs to 1/500 on two concentric dials, now on the geometric 1/30–1/60–1/125 scale. A lever winds the film, a folding crank rewinds it, and a key on the base opens the back and works Meguro’s own reloadable cassette.

Hinomaruya, which also distributed the Nicca, sold it with the Nikkor 5cm f/2 and a case for ¥46,000. That was ¥2,000 less than the Melcon had cost and ¥1,000 under the Tanack SD, which came with an f/1.5 lens. Advertisements ran only from September to December 1957, and Pacific Rim Camera has Meguro failing in early 1958. Serials are five digits in the 75xxx block. camera-wiki’s highest, 75472, gives its estimate of about 500 made, and no variations are known. Leitz Auction 42 has since offered body 75612.

The example Mike Eckman handled, from the Voncabbage Collection, was built more like a FED or Zorki than a Nikon, with thin metal that bows in, a stiff lever and a covering peeling at the edges. Check that the base key locks, that the F/X sync selector has not been forced, and that the lens is a screw-mount Nikkor 5cm: Arsenal Photo’s body 75059 and Leitz’s 75612 both came with the f/2. As a dated reference, Arsenal Photo was asking €3,500 for body 75059 with its Nikkor-H·C on 9 November 2026. In Leitz Auction 42, body 75612 with Nikkor-H.C No. 731435 was estimated at €3,200–3,600 and did not sell.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Live listings

The listings collector hasn't run for this family yet — check back soon, or search the marketplaces directly meanwhile.