The Kamerastore YouTube channel has released a fantastic 30-minute video (below), detailing Juho Leppänen’s visit to the JCII Camera Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
JCII originally stood for Camera and optical instruments Inspection and testing Institute (now Japan Camera Industry Institute). Its website says it was “formed to inspect all cameras exported from Japan in order to maintain quality standards”. Got a vintage camera with an ovular ‘Passed’ sticker? Look closer, it’ll say JCII somewhere on it.
I digress… the museum website states that in 1969 it began to preserve cameras, and now thousands are on display for your viewing pleasure. But if a trip to Tokyo isn’t on the cards any time soon, Juho’s tour is surely the next best thing.
Better yet, he’s accompanied by none other than Takeo "TKO" Suzuki. Visiting the museum is on my camera bucket list, but getting to experience it with the legend who designed the Pentax 17 is next level!
ABOVE: Watch the video tour
Rather incredibly, Juho starts the video by saying it costs just “two bucks” to gain entry. Bargain! You’ll need to watch the full video to truly get a feel for the museum, but suffice to say there’s plenty of interesting stuff to get through, from pioneering Victorian-era cameras to the first consumer cameras, early digital cameras, right through to today’s mirrorless era.
Being the Nikon fanboy that I am, I couldn’t help but notice a few legendary Nikons, including the incredibly rare Nikon I (the company's first camera), the Nikonos (its first underwater camera), and arguably the camera that proved DSLRs could be professional devices, the Nikon D1.
And of course, there are big hits from every brand imaginable, including the Canon AE-1, Asahi Pentax AP, and Yashica Electro 35. There are a few wacky instances as well, such as a whole display dedicated to spy cameras such as the Ticka Watch Camera.
Then there's the Konica Aiborg, which Juho notes is often referred to as the “Star Wars camera”, since it bears a passing resemblance to Darth Vader’s mask. And there's even a Sony Mavika prototype from 1981 – the world’s first still video camera – complete with a two-inch floppy disk!
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