Harmony (N.K.K. / Fujita) 35/2.5 Exakta mount

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Member Univer put me on to this one last year (thanks !), only now have I got around to developing -

With "combat gear" (a nice vintage chrome hood) on my now nicely working Exakta VX body -

This is identical, except for a more conventional two-ring preset mechanism, to the early retrofocus Fujita 35/2.5. I'm guessing this one was made sometime after the Fujita-branded lenses as a generic distributors item by Fujita, Fujita's successor, or whoever made Fujitas lenses if Fujita didn't actually make them.

http://forum.mflenses.com/fujita-35-2-5-preset-an-uncommon-lens-t10368,highlight,%2Bfujita.html

What interests me here is a clue to the ownership of Fujita - N.K.K. - I have seen that mark on some other lenses, notably the fat, distinctive "zebra" lens seen under the usual variety of brands -

http://forum.mflenses.com/sonnagar-komine-135-2-8-ex-praktina-t19551,highlight,%2Bpraktina.html

Was "N.K.K." a Japanese distributor ? a manufacturer ? Nittoh/Komine ?

Anyway, as this is a wide angle in Exakta mount I can't use it on my Pentax, as my homemade adapters don't solve the infinity focus problem, and on a wide angle its hopeless.

So I put it on my newly overhauled Exakta VX body, and loaded some Arista 100 film from Freestyle photo.

The lens works about as expected. It seems reasonably sharp in the center, contrast isn't wonderful, it flares considerably, and the corners aren't great but not horrible, even on full frame. Still, this design is the first Japanese retrofocus wide angle for 35mm SLR's.

walter g · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 2463 Location: NC, USA

Interesting. N.K.K. was a lens, and camera maker that went out of business in the late 1950's.
It stands for Nishida Kōgaku Kōgyō, but I haven't found any evidence that this is the same company.
Kinda makes you wonder tho.