Walz Envoy 35

 This 35mm rangefinder was produced c.1959 and has been on Tash's radar for a very long time. Walz was a Japanese company who's history is not well documented. It sold cameras and other accessories under its own name, but whether it had a manufacturing branch is unknown, meaning it isn't certain who made the Walz Envoy. It may have been the Walz Camera Co, or it may have been a third party. Either way, the camera was not in production for long as Walz went bankrupt in 1961.

Whoever the manufacturer, this is a well-made camera. It's also large and weighing 750g you certainly notice it when carrying it around. Features include: a Copal SVL shutter, flash synchronisation at all speeds from 1 second to 1/500; a 10-second self-timer; coupled rangefinder; True-View bright line viewfinder with parallax correction for subjects closer than 3 feet; frame counter; tripod mount; and double exposure prevention. There is also a neat film reminder disc on the camera case. 

While the camera's history is murky, more is known about its highly prized lens, which is probably its most famous feature. It was built by Japanese optics company, Nittō Kōgaku. It is a 48mm, 7-element, Sonnar formula f/1.9 Kominar lens, which was clearly regarded as something special as the groupings of the 7 elements are illustrated on the top plate of the camera. The lens will focus as close as 2.7 feet and the camera manual states it is hard coated and colour corrected, and promises "needle-sharp crisp pictures and high resolving power".

 

I see a lot of hate online for cameras with coupled shutter and aperture rings using the Exposure Value system. This is the fourth camera in our collection to use this system the others are the Agfa Silette, the Franka Super Frankanette, and the Zeiss Contaflex III.  I honestly don't know why people get such a bee in their bonnet over this feature. If you feel it is such a massive infringement on your creative freedom, don't buy the camera. Just bear the exposure triangle in mind. ISO is baked into the film, so all you can alter is shutter speed or aperture. Each of these has just one corresponding value of the other to correctly expose. Your ability to be "creative" with these settings is severely limited unless you start messing with the ISO, which you can't do on a shot by shot basis, or start introducing filters to reduce the incoming light. 

Or, just dial the current EV into the camera and enjoy just being able to point and shoot thinking about little other than your subject, composition, and how much depth of field you want (or on your preferred shutter speed for the situation). The system really is nice to use. 

It seems Walz had a pretty decent distribution network in the US, which would explain why more of these cameras come up for sale in that part of the world. You seldom see them listed in the UK, which is why there was quite the wait to add this one to the collection. Now we've finally got hold of one we are itching to see what that lens can do. The following extract comes from the camera manual, and is rather a nice sentiment to end on.

There are many wonderful days of superb picture-taking ahead for you with your WALZ ENVOY Camera - a delightful companion and precision photographic instrument of which you will always be proud.