Norita 66 / Graflex Norita

Variants & identification

1. No serial table and no official production figure are published. Topcon Club gives 'about 5,000' and Mike Eckman 'less than 5000', citing a Chinese-language blog; the 1972 Photo Argus advertorial, translated on collection-appareils.fr, gives 250 cameras a month in 1972, planned to rise to 500, assembled on Norita's own line from subcontracted parts.
2. The ¥108,600 Japanese price comes from a Norita price list photographed with a Japanese-language Norita 66 catalogue in a Yahoo! Auctions lot; the catalogue's spine code reads ©1972 NORITA 0572. The list carries the Kawagoe address but no date, so it is not a dated launch price.
3. French dealer guides carry the camera from 1972 and keep it after production ended: Grenier-Natkin's Cinéphotoguide has it as 'Norita 6 × 6' in 1972 and as 'Norita 66 N' from 1974 to 1978, and Phokina still lists it in its 1977–78 catalogue (catalogue pages reproduced on collection-appareils.fr).
4. Not read directly: Hagiya Takeshi's chapter 'Norita 66' in Zunō kamera tanjō (Asahi Sonorama, 1999, pp.79–90), which camera-wiki says first appeared in Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.18 (October 1991), probably the 'Classic Camera Senka' article Topcon Club cites; the Asahi Camera New Face reports (April 1969 and May 1972), Camera Mainichi for August 1972, the Amateur Photographer tests of 27 October and 3 November 1971, and Robert Monaghan's archived medfmt.8k.com page. They are cited here only as other sources report them.

• Norita 66, early body (pull-out N-D ring): The body as Norita took it over from Musashino, with the Rittreck's pull-out N-D ring. Topcon Club says Asahi Camera's New Face column complained that the ring stuck out and caught the hand, and Japanese Wikipedia says the same; neither says which issue, and the column covered both the Rittreck 6×6 (No. 142, April 1969) and the Norita 66 (No. 179, May 1972). Graflex's brochure of 1970 shows this body with a microprism focusing screen as standard and says a split-image screen 'will be available', and Norita's first manual also describes a microprism centre. When this body ended is not settled: see `disputed`.
• Norita 66, late body (flat N-D dial): Topcon Club dates the flat dial to 1973 and says the dial is harder to turn, though it no longer snags the hand. The same page says the Norita's film ring reads only 120 and 220 and treats the colour marks as a Rittreck feature; Norita's and Graflex's first literature shows them on the Norita too, and the later manual lists only 120 and 220, so the plain ring is probably a late-body feature. No source says when the strap lugs arrived, and they did not necessarily come with the flat dial: Leitz's photograph of 710597 appears to show lugs with the pull-out ring, while 711411 and 712449 have lugs and the flat dial.
• Graflex Norita (United States and Canada): Singer's Graflex Division in Rochester, and Singer/Graflex of Canada in Toronto, distributed the camera; Mike Eckman is explicit that Graflex 'or their parent company Singer had no role in the camera's construction', and English Wikipedia, citing Hagiya, says the cameras were 'sold as, and inscribed, Graflex Norita'. Japanese-market cameras carry no Graflex name (foto-pooh), and Topcon Club says plain NORITA cameras were sold in the United States too. Graflex's brochure names the 40, 80, 160 and 240mm lenses in its text and adds the 55mm in its specification pages; a later Graflex brochure described by a pentaconsix reader lists six Noritars, Graflex/Zoomar lenses and a two-year warranty. Topcon Club's plain-NORITA camera has a black-plated shutter button and strap eyelets where its Graflex camera's are silver. 'Graflex Norita Deluxe' is the title of one Leitz auction lot, not a model name in any Norita or Graflex literature. This badge is found on early and late bodies alike.
• NT NORITA nameplate (late): Known from Topcon Club alone, which says these appear to be late cameras. It wonders whether the stick-on plate was meant to make a rebadged Norita 66 easy, and has seen no other brand of it. No dates or serial numbers are published.

Specifications

Format

6×6cm on 120 or 220 roll film in the same body, switched by turning the pressure plate over and setting a ring on the film-load knob; no source found gives the exact gate size · 12 on 120, 24 on 220 (Norita's Operator's Manual) exposures

Finder

interchangeable: plain pentaprism (standard), TTL Prism with Light Meter, waist-level finder with open-frame sportsfinder and magnifier; a right-angle finder fits the prism's eyepiece · 87% coverage

Shutter

horizontal cloth focal plane ('silk cloth double blinds' in Norita's manual), mechanical, no battery; travels right to left seen from the back (Dante Stella) · B, 1s–1/500, and X (1/40) on its own click stop of the speed dial (Graflex brochure) · flash sync X at 1/40 on the focal-plane shutter, and electronic flash also from 1/15 to 1s; M bulbs 1/30 to 1s; FP bulbs at all speeds except 1/30 and X (the later manual and the 1972 brochure; the first manual's table also allows FP at X); one PC socket on the front. The Noritar 70mm f/3.5's leaf shutter syncs X to 1/500 (the later manual) · no self-timer

Film advance

lever, 'two or more strokes' in both of Norita's manuals; the later one recommends a half stroke and then a full one, and its data page says 'multiple stroke advance lever'. Two strokes for Topcon Club, Dante Stella and Hiura Shinsaku, about one and a half for pentaconsix and Aivaras Sidla. The counter resets itself when the back opens

Back

fixed, hinged; a reversible pressure plate for 120 or 220 and a matching ring round the film-load knob on the left, which looks like a rewind knob; film-type reminder disc on the back; no interchangeable magazines

Meter

none in the body; the TTL Prism with Light Meter (Norita Cat. 1003, Graflex Cat. 7963) has a CdS cell weighted 60% to the centre circle, LV 3–17, ASA 32–6400, an Eveready PX-77 or S-76 cell, and couples to the shutter-speed dial only, through a taller replacement speed knob; aperture is set by hand from the prism's dial

Motor drive

Not compatible — No motor or winder appears in Norita's 1972 accessory catalogue or in Graflex's accessory sheet

Weight

1295 g

Dimensions

172 × 143 × 90 'with prism finder' (Kamerastore; it does not mention a lens, and the 90mm depth means none is fitted); Norita's 1972 brochure drawing gives 176mm wide and 142mm high with the prism, and Graflex's brochure 6⅞ × 5⅝in. weight_g is Kamerastore's 'with prism finder', which on Mike Eckman's figures is without a lens; Eckman gives 1,284g 'body only' and 1,730g with the 80mm f/2 mm

Country

Japan

Original price

US$650 with the Noritar 80mm f/2 in Modern Photography's December 1974 SLR roundup (Mike Eckman's scan); in Japan ¥108,600 with the 80mm f/2 and pentaprism, ¥99,100 tax-free, on an undated Norita price list sold with a Japanese edition of the ©1972 NORITA 0572 catalogue, and ¥113,400 with the standard lens in 1977 (Topcon Club); in France 3,674 F with the 80mm f/2 at Phokina's prices of 15 January 1974. No launch price was found (today $4,140)

Accessories

Finders: plain pentaprism (Cat. 1002); TTL Prism with Light Meter (Cat. 1003; Graflex 7963), supplied with an extended shutter-speed knob; waist-level finder with open-frame sportsfinder and magnifier (Cat. 1004; Graflex 7960); right-angle finder for the eyepiece, with a rubber cup (Cat. 1005) · Focusing screens: cross-wedged split image (Cat. 1029), microprism (1030), matte (1031) · Accessory shoe that sits on the prism (Cat. 1032); rubber eyecup (1025); eyepiece correction lenses −2 to +2 dioptres (Cat. 1012–1016; Graflex 7990–7994) · Auto extension tubes 17, 33 and 76mm (Cat. 1033; Graflex 7930); pentaconsix weighs the set at 545g and found the bearings unreliable · Microscope attachments with a Copal No. 0 shutter (Cat. 1006) and without (1007); pentaconsix has never seen either, nor the right-angle finder, for sale · Carry-Cradle, offered in the first manual and, for pentaconsix, needed on the early bodies without strap lugs; ever-ready case (Cat. 1027; ¥3,000, or ¥4,000 for the TTL prism) and neck strap (Cat. 1028); aluminium gadget case (Cat. 1026); Graflex Norita Copy Stand (Graflex 4548)

87% coverage with the prism (Topcon Club, the same on the Rittreck); Hiura Shinsaku reports about 85%. The prism lifts off after pressing two slide buttons on its sides (Norita's 1972 brochure and both manuals). Screens: cross-wedged split image with microprism collar (Cat. 1029, standard in the 1972 brochure and the later manual), microprism (1030) and matte (1031), all with lines for an 8×10 print; Graflex's 1970 brochure makes the microprism standard instead, and Norita's first manual also describes a microprism centre. Dante Stella and Aivaras Sidla both find the finder bright, which they put down to the f/2 standard lens

Figures we worked out rather than found: Mike Eckman's 1,284g 'body only' includes a prism: his 1,730g with the 80mm f/2, less the 440g Graflex's brochure gives for that lens, leaves 1,290g, against Kamerastore's 1,295g with prism · 250 cameras a month, the 1972 rate in Photo Argus, is 3,000 a year; Topcon Club's total of about 5,000 means that rate was not kept up for long

What reviewers say

• Mike Eckman (blog) — A sceptic of big medium-format SLRs won over: it handles like a supersized Spotmatic, 220 is a flip of the pressure plate, and the 80mm f/2 is as sharp as any major maker's lens. His unserviced body put a dark band down the right side of every frame, which a commenter traces to the opening curtain bouncing once the foam pad that serves as its brake has perished.
• Aivaras Sidla, Emulsive (blog) — Bought for the 80mm f/2, which beat his expectations, and he credits it with the bright finder; against the camera, a loud shutter, no mirror lock-up, scarcity and tired bodies. Both of his had faults, a dead counter and curtain bounce, and his advice is to set the camera to double exposure to fire it empty.
• Dante Stella (blog) — Handles like a big Nikon F and the 80mm f/2 renders beautifully wide open, but his unserviced camera showed both first- and second-curtain bounce, flare that may be the shutter not capping, and a transport that gave 11 or 23 frames. A serviced one would be a great camera.
• PPP Repairs (blog) — A camera repairer's account: heavy, robust and a joy to use, and the 80mm f/2 surprised him more than any lens since he first used a Leica. Before loading, both the side dial and the top-left lever have to be set to N or the film will not move.
• TRA, pentaconsix.com (blog) — Pentacon Six against Norita, from a man who chose the Pentacon in 1977: the Norita has an instant-return mirror, an f/2 standard lens and a compact 40mm, but tops out at 1/500, brasses badly, takes one and a half strokes to wind and has a thin system, and his set of its heavy double-walled extension tubes shed its ball bearings.
• Topcon Club (Norita Club) (blog) — A collector's survey of bodies, badges and accessories: the mirror and shutter are remarkably gentle beside a Pentax 6×7 or Bronica S2, at the cost of the Rittreck's mirror lock-up; finder coverage is only 87%; early and late bodies differ in the N-D dial; and in 1977 it cost less with its standard lens than a Bronica S2, Kowa Super 66, Pentax 6×7 or Mamiya RB67. via machine translation — corrections welcome
• Hiura Shinsaku (blog) — Bought on eBay as working in 2007 and found to have a counter that would not reset, dead 1s and 1/2s speeds, a gouged screen and a jammed aperture. After his own repairs, with a cut-down Pentax 67II screen, he found mirror shock slight, the double-stroke wind light and the 80mm f/2 sharp, with soft bokeh. via machine translation — corrections welcome

History

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

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