Hi there, I recently got a vintage camera which has 'Matahari 35' in the top right. However I can't find mention of this brand anywhere and I'd really like to know the year/history around it. I've posted some pics below.... Thanks for any help you can provide! ALEX JACKSON has shared 1 photo with you! ALEX JACKSON has shared 1 photo with you!
Appears to be a 1950s Japanese 35mm viewfinder camera. The name is not listed in McKeown's Guide. My guess is it's a re-branded camera made by a small manufacturer, a made-up name plate was attached to it and it was exported to some non-Japanese retailer.
Thanks so much for your reply. I did a bit of digging around 'Matahari' and did find some old film projectors with the same brand. Name plate seems similar but again, nothing at all around about the brand itself <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="s-l1600 (2)" title="s-l1600 (2)"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4226/34845652245_adccb5dde8_h.jpg" width="1600" height="1198" alt="s-l1600 (2)"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
There were a plethora of small camera makers in Japan in the 1950s. Most went to the wall fairly quickly, particularly if they did not qualify for that famous golden sticker to allow them to export. Not in McKeown's nor in Hove Blue Book, but there is a business called Matahari Foto in Indonesia! Mata Hari, of course, was a famous spy in the first world war - not sure how that relates to a camera, perhaps the Japanese just thought it was a euphonic name.
Matahari (one word) means "Sun" in the Indonesian language. I guess Mata Hari (the spy) liked the sound of it and adopted it as her stage name. She was an "exotic dancer."
