Neoca 35-K

      Whoever heard of the Neoca camera? I remember Nyoka from the Saturday film series Perils of Nyoka  starring Kay Aldridge back in 1942 when I was seven years old and it cost a dime to get into the theater. Later, Nyoka lived on in comic books until 1962. She was quite a gal, that Nyoka. A real fighter! Boy, was she fearless and strong back in those days!

      Neoca? Well, I did a little research and discovered that the folks at Neoca in Japan manufactured a dozen or so cameras during the 1950s until they declared bankruptcy in 1960. I saw a Neoca SV SLR listed at $379 on an auction site, as well as a Neoca 2S at $100. Other than that, I found very little information about Neoca and practically nothing about the Neoca 35-K. I do know, however, that I paid $35 for my Neoka 35-K.

      Although this little camera won't win any prizes for build quality or finish, it still has a lot going for it. For one thing, because it's just 4 1/2-inches wide and can fit into the palm of your hand, it's a perfect little stealth camera. Nobody who sees you walking along carrying what looks like a toy camera would give you a second glance. What's more, it has a whisper quiet leaf shutter that's almost inaudible.
      And then there's its 3.5/45mm fixed lens. If you set the distance at eight feet and the aperture at f11, everything from about five feet to almost twenty-five feet would be acceptably sharp. That said, who needs a rangefinder for street photography?   
     The Neoca 35-K has just five shutter speeds: 25, 50, 100, 300, B. But that's not a problem unless you need to use the faster or slower speeds found on many other cameras.
      The back of the camera slides off for easy film loading, and the spring-loaded rewind lever pops up when it's time to rewind the film...a nice touch! The viewfinder is crystal clear and shows parallax markings. The film counter does not automatically reset itself.

       If you don't plan to challenge the work of such famous "street photographers" as Henri Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans, or Lee Friedlander, and if you'd be happy with a very basic camera that costs just a few bucks, you'd probably enjoy using a Neoca 35-K along with a supply of black and white film.
      Just make sure you keep the rather tacky lens cap in your pocket where no one will see it.

   

COMING SOON: RICOH 300