Camera has No View Finder Lever
Of all the rangefinder models there are only 3 cameras with this set of characteristics:
- No Model designation on Body
- Maximum Shutter speed 1/500th
- No Slow Speed Dial
- No View Finder Lever
| Model | Date | Model | Date | Model | Date | ||
| Canon J | Jan 1939 | Canon NS | 1940 | Canon J II | Dec 1945 |
Fifth Question:
Does the Camera have a Rangefinder?
A few early Canon cameras had no built in rangefinder. This meant that they only needed a single window on the front for the viewfinder. This arrangement is very easy to pick out.
This camera has the two windows, the square one for the viewfinder and the second round one for the distance measurement. So just count the windows: 1 means no rangefinder, 2 or 3 means there is a rangefinder.
This J II has no rangefinder. Only one window on the front is necessary for the view finder. The camera rangefinders of the day used two windows and then compared the images to arrive at the distance (to be very simplistic).
If you make a wrong selection you can go back one step or all the way to the beginning one step at a time. If you simply get lost or want to look up another camera you can go straight to the beginning again and start over. Or, if you feel you don’t need all the explanations you can go to the Rapid Finder. You get the same questions but in abbreviated form with no discussion or photos.