So did I! Sadly I don't have the title in characters, but the transliterated  title given in latin script is Huanghe gudao hua guoxiang. I wonder if the English words on the boxes are an allusion to normalization of relations with the UK and USA which took place around this time? You are so right about the rarity and prices of the books - I only have a few, although fortunately there are several very good western studies now available, which help plug the gaps. One reproduces a poster mocking the gang of  four, where Jiang Qing is shown with a camera, which is quite intriguing given the Red Flag 20...

One of the most unusual books I have is an English language history of Chinese matchbox labels (!), published in Beijing in 1989. I have always wondered what this one said......

Cheers, Ian

 

Hi Ian,

It sounds to me that you are a Chinese books collector? Those xiaorenshu are very interesting. I think these are unique. Have other countries published something similar? The matchbox label says " a photographer's eyes".

Collecting is a popular hobby in China in recent years. people collect everything. Even cigarette packing are collected. Some early RMB banknotes have astronomical price tags. The pictures on those banknotes are very interesting. I will post an image later.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

I have a great interest in China, both ancient and modern, and the latter also feeds my fascination with political posters and art. I used to buy books quite often from the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, and had the luck to find a few older ones in a second hand bookshop in a very remote town in Wales, 23 years ago!

Unfortunately the sort of work that particularly interested me was almost absolutely unobtainable, but in the early 90s I discovered that the North Koreans were producing similar material. I now have a fairly good collection of DPRK art and illustrated books - all of which was sent free, and some of which is now modestly rare, judging by e-bay. I have a much larger collection of Soviet material, but that is now very easy to obtain.

The DPKR stuff is very strange indeed.. Many of the artists seem to have learned their craft by copying pictures from Chinese and Soviet books. Quite often one finds a DPKR picture which is literal facsimile of an earlier painting, or at least very closely "inspired"

As to the origins of xiaorenshu ( thank you! I did not know that was what they were called!), I think one could safely say that they are a distinctly Chinese product. Although somewhat similar material was produced by the Soviets, I would suggest that the ancient traditions of the Chinese illustrated book and print were ultimately much more significant influences. The DPRK has copied them exactly, however

I would love to see your notes - I have a few little coupon-type notes from 1953 and 1962, but I believe these are very common

As you may have gathered, I too collect things

Cheers, Ian

Hi Ian,

I don't have those rare banknotes, but my mother has some 1st edition notes. She is 85, and is still very sharp.

Here are two rare notes issued in 1951 FYI. The horses cost RMB 300,000, and the Mongolian tents cost RMB 150,000 in average conditions. I borrowed the images from a site. These are some of the rarest notes. My mother has one or two that is listed for 2-3 thousand US$.

 Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 This interesting book, that I have previously shown,

 

provides some production numbers that I never heard of before. Here are some:



1, 7.1(July 1st) 120 folder made in Tianjin since 1956. about 50 cameras.

2, Shanghai 58-III 120 folder made in Shanghai since 1959. 60+ cameas.

3, Shanghai 201 120 folder made in Shanghai since 1959. 32,000 unts.

4, Seagull 203 120 folder made in Shanghai since 1964. 310,000 units.

5, Juhua 120 folder made in Changzhou in 1973. Only a few prototypes.

6, Zhujiang 60-1(Pearl River) 120 folder made in Guangzhou since 1960. 500 units.

7, Shanghai 581 135 rangefinder made in Shanghai since 1958. 1,198 cameras.

8, Shanghai 582 135 rangefinder camera made in Shanghai since September 1959. 70,000+ units.

9, Seagull 9 rangefinder camera with fixed 40/3.5 lens. made in Shanghai since 1968. about 5,000 units.

10, Seagull KE with a build in meter. since 1983. 161 units.

11, Seagull 88 fixed lens rangefinder camera. Since 1988. 14,600 units.

 

12, Hongqi 20(Red Flag 20), made in Shanghai since 1970. 300 cameras were planned ,but only 271 were made. Rare prototypes has an all metal winding lever, and a silver 50/1.4 lens. Early Red Flag 20 has a Leica M3 type back door, and later version has a larger M4 type backdoor.

13, Haiyan 821 120 rangefinder camera with a fixed 62/4.5 lens, made in Shanghai in 1982. Not mass produced.

14, Phenix 205 35mm rangefinder with a fixed 45/2.8 lens made in Jiangxi since 1983. A rare later version has a 39/2.8 lens, and a hand grip. More than 400,000 cameras for all versions.

15, Phenix 205A, experimental model for using b/w film for colour prints. Only 7 cameras were made since 1988 for military use.

16, Phenix 205 special edition for Hong Kong's return in 1997. 100 cameras were made, and was listed for RMB 19,977.10.

17, Phenix JG301 rangefinder with a fixed 38/1.8 lens., and a COPAL 1/500 shutter, a later version has a 35/2.8 tessar type lens. 100,000 JG301 were made since 1981.

18, Phenix JG50. 500 cameras were made in 1999.

19, Phenix T981, and 安原一式(for sale in Japan). 2000 cameras made in 1998.

20, Beijing SZ-1, early version of Changcheng(Great Wall) SZ-1. 2000 cameras were made in 1967-1968. There are rare versions of Hongguang(Red Light) SZ-1, and Beijing SZ-1 with Mao's inscription "Serve the People".

21, Hongguang PH35 rangefinder camera with a Planar type 38/1.8 lens. Less than 200 cameras were made in 1979 in Beijing.

22, Great Wall 35, a Rollei 35B copy made in 1972 in Beijing. Less than 10 cameras.

23, Great Wall 35 made to order model. Similar to Great Wall 35. 5 cameras made in 1973.

24, Changjiang 135, a copy of Smena made since 1958 in Chongqing until early 1960. 30,000+ cameras were made. This camera was made by a musical instruments factory.

25, Dalai 35 mm rangefinder camera, a copy of Leica II made in Beijing in 1956. 12 prototypes were hand made. The 1st camera has a s/n of 00101.

 

26, Xingfu (happiness) 120 box camera, a copy of Juwel. 75,000 cameras made in Tianjin between 1956-1959.

27, Xingfu-2 simple 120 camera, 11,000 cameras made in 1959 in Tianjin.

28, Xingguang (star light) 35mmm bakelite camera, about 20,000 cameras made in 1959-1960 in Beijing.

29, Valing 120, 127 box camera, made in 1940's in Shanghai. Rare for their age.

30, Laodong (labour) I,II, 120 camera. about 10,000 cameras made in 1960 in Shanghai.

31, Feiyue(jump&fly) DC-741 120 rangefinder camera with a fixed 75/3.5 lens. 10 cameras were made in 1974 in Wuxi, Jiangshu province.

32, Nanjing 58-2, a copy of Fed-2. about 2,000 cameras made in 1958 in Nanjing.

33, Bailing(lark) 821 early model. 135mm rangefinder with a fixed 40/2 lens which is a Summicron copy. about 600 cameras made in 1982 in Henan province.

34, Huaxia 821, same as Bailing 821. 150,000 cameras were made since 1983.

35, Huaxia 822, same as Huaxia 821, with a hot shoe. 400,000+ cameras made since 1984.

36, Huaxia 823, same as Huaxia 822 with multiple exposure. 99,000 cameras with many cosmetic versions.

37, Huaxia 841, same as 823 with a build-in meter. about 30,000 cameras made since 1988.

38, Xihu(West Lake) 35, a copy of Mometta. LTM mount, 50/3.5 lens. focal plane shutter 1/2-1/500. 3 cameras were hand made in 1959 in Hangzhou.

39, Xihu PT, 35mm rangefinder with a fixed 40/2.8 lens. about 30,000 cameras were made since 1972 in Hangzhou.

40, Zhujiang H801, 35mm rangefinder with a fixed 37/1.8 4g/6e lens. 1197 cameras made since 1979 by a few militray factories in Henan. Later those factories made Huaxia series cameras.

 

41, Shanghai 58-IV, a Rolleiflex copy. 11 cameras made in 1958 in Shanghai.

42, Shanghai 4A, only a few prototypes made in 1963 in Shanghai.

43, Shanghai 4, 120 TLR, made in Shanghai since 1962. according to my examples, some 60,000+ cameras were made until July 1973.

44, Seagull 4, 120 TLR, the same as Shanghai 4, made until March 1967. about 50,000 cameras.

45, Seagull 4A-1, same as Seagull 4A but with a Tesser type taking lens. Not mass produced.

46, Seagull 40 anniversary gold edition. 2,500 cameras made in 1998.

47, Seagull 4B, 120 TLR, economy version of Seagull TLR. 1,272,997 cameras were made since 1967.

48, Seagull 4C, 120 TLR with 35mm film kit. 33,545 cameras made since 1968.

49. Tiantan 120 TLR type A and B, some 20,000 cameras made since 1959 in Beijing. 20 type C cameras, a copy of Yashica D were made in 1961.

50, Changhong 120 TLr, similar to Dalai 120 TLR, made in beijing since 1961. 7,000+ cameras.

51, FIVE-GOATS 120 TLR, made in Guangzhou since 1967. About 1,500 cameras.

52, Zhujiang 7 120 TLR, a copy of Rolleiflex 2.8F. Less than 200 cameras. Sold for RMB 5,600 in 1970's. Its taking lens has one more element, and has a resolution of 64 lp/mm.

53, Zhujiang 5(Pearl River 5) 120 TLR, another Rolleiflex copy with a 3e/3g taking lens, and a crank film winding. Prototypes only.

54, Shanghai DF 35 SLR, about 200 cameras made since 1964. Prototypes has a shutter with speeds B, 1-1/600.

55, Seagull DF, the same as Shanghai DF. 130,000+ cameras made since 1968.

 

56, Seagull DF-1, white and black version. C1971 in Shanghai. About 40,000 cameras. It is a better made camera than the DF.

57, Seagull DF-2 with TLL metering. C 1982. Much less often seen than DF-1.

58, Seagull DF-1TEM with TTL metering, C1984. About 50,000 cameras.

59, Seagull DF-3. made in 1982. 3 prototypes only.

60, Phenix JG303M 35mm SLR made in 1983. 8 prototypes. It is the first Chinese TTL 135 SLR with a 50/1.4 normal lens.

61, Changcheng DFA-CL 135 SLR, inspired by Nikon FTN. only 4 prototypes made in 1975 in Beijing.

62, Tianchi SLR, 35mm SLR with a 56mm F1.9 normal lens. 30 cameras made since 1961-1964 in Changchun.

63, Dongfeng 120 SLR. Hasselblad 500C copy with a 1/1500 top speed. 97 cameras made between 1979-1976.

64, Zijingshan (purple gold mountain) 135 SLR M39 mount. About 2,000 cameras made in 1958.

65, Huaxi S-90 135 SLR, Made since 1992 in Sichuan. Less than 1,000 cameras.

66, Chenguang 135 SLR. 52/1.4 normal lens, M44x1 mount. Less than 200 cameras were made between 1959-1963 for all versions. I, II,621, IIIa, D1-IIIA, D1-IIIB.


These are production numbers found in this book. The author is working on a revised edition with additional and more accurate information.

 

 

Seagull 205

Thank you Zhang for the comprehensive and fruitful thread. You have provided valuable and scarce information and a set of very interestig photos. I would like to ask you if there is any logic or connection between the camera series number to the year of production with the Seagull 205 cameras. I recently bought one. Here it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this is in no way a rare camera, but it has a very sharp lens, it is a pleasure to use. The number is 30195 - can you estimate its age?
Thanks in advance
Joao

 

 

Hi Joao,

As far as I know, Seagull 205 has consecutive S/N. Your 205 could be the 30,195th camera. Seagull 205 were made since 1965. Early version has an all metal wind lever. Seagull 205 changed its name to Phenix 205 in 1983. I would estimate late 1960's for your camera.

Kind Regards,

Zhang

 

Hi, Zhang
Do you know this camera ?

 

 

Hi, J Paul,

I am not sure. It looks like a Seagull 501, but it has no Seagull logo.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

Hello Zhang,

Thank you for these very interesting numbers!!
For the Seagull 501 camera, it is a friend who has this model without number nor no engraving. Is this maybe a protoptype?
He bought it 15 years ago to Hong Kong on a "flea market" (?).

If it interests you, what he/it seems me while reading you, I have as a few microscope cameras that I can present you...

 Cheers
JP

 

Serve the people

 



I was attracted by this Seagull 501 displayed in a camera repair store in Shanghai. The camera is embossed with red Chinese characters of the slogan 'Service for the people', which is a copy of Chairman Mao's calligraphy script.

The sales in the camera repair store mentioned to me that the shutter movement was sticky. Finally, I purchased it. Now, the shutter seems not working at all.

Definitely, it is not a well built camera, but only a metal body with very raw finishing, very simple and basic control. It is an interesting collectible. Looking at this not so working Seagull 501, the slogan embossed on the camera forms a very appealing item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.eyescoffee.com/collectcam...l501/index.php

 

 

Hi JP,

In this new book, there is no such a Seagull 501 version, so it could be a prototype. It is a very rare camera. I have a Seagull 501 stored somewhere. Mine is a gift from a friend of mine. This new book does not mention Seagull 501's production number. These are interesting Cultural Revolution relics.

I believe those numbers were never published before, so I post them FYI.
If you have more interesting Chinese cameras, I will be glad to see what they look like.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

Here is an image that shows the early and later versions of Shanghai 203 120 folder. Earlier version has smaller inscriptions on the top plate. Less Shanghai 203s were made than Shanghai 582, and the early version is a rare camera.

I only have later Shanghai 203. Shanghai 203s are generally better finished than Seagull 203,and the 75/3.5 lens is generally sharper.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

A 55/0.8 lens made in 1958

 

An extremely rare 55mm F0.8 lens was made in 1958 by the same institute that made the other lens. A Chinese collector posted an image on the web.

 

 

 

Here is another interesting optical toy, a portable microscope for military use. It was made in 1971. Nikon made a similar product. But they are not exactly the same. This is not one of those toy microscopes.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

Here is another Zeiss copy, a 28/2 cine prime. It was made by Guanguang for the Heping 35 35mm movie cameras. Heping 35 is a copy of Arriflex 35II. Some Chinese motion pictures were shot with this camera.

This lens has a very large image circle that can almost cover full 135mm frame, so that it could be used on a Zorki or Leica with an adaptor. It certainly cover the sensor area of Leica M8 and Epson RD-1s. I wish this lens was made in Leica M mount. It could sell well. I also saw some 85/2, 75/2,150/2.8 cine optics, but I passed them. A Jupiter-9 and Jupiter 11 could do just ifne.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

Here are a couple of images shot with 28/2, 40/2 35mm movie lenses plus a Chinese 2x cine teleconverter at F4. The image is only re-sized, and no PS. Both lenses are high quality optics. With a 2x converter, these lens could cover full 135 frames, and the image quality is still very good. I also tested a Zeiss 50/1.4 Biotar and a Carl Zeiss Jena Tevidon 70/2.8 HD cine lenses. The image quality are about the same. These can only be used as a macro lens on a 135 SLR, but will be good for a digital rangefinder with an APS size sensor.
The 3rd image is a 100% crop of the 40/2 lens without PS.

 Cheers,

Zhang

 

 

 

Changcheng 20/2 +2x

Here is an image shot with Beijing 608 factory's Changcheng 20/2 35mm cine prime plus a Changcheng cine 2x teleconverer made in 1970's. The image of the seashell is only re-sized without sharpening. The other image is a 100% crop without sharpening. What would a Leitz and Zeiss 20mm F2 lens cost? 608 factory should continue making these lenses for digital rangefinder cameras. This 1976 20/2 cine prime is small and light, and it focuses down to 0.3m. This lens has brass helical thread so that it focus silk smooth.

Thanks for viewing.

Cheers,

 

 

Here is a China made DPRK military watch shown in an American movie

 

 

 

Hi Ian,

I believe that after the recent discussion of this watch, You probably have lost interest in it. But it is also hard to find. Now I am one of the moderators of the only online English language mechanical Chinese watch forum. I have a big number of vintage Chinese watches. If you ever visit the forum, and was interested in an old Chinese watch, just let me know.

Cheers,

Zhang

One more Chinese optical toy, a 900mm F11 process lens that I picked up recently. It was made in 1988 by Shanghai Optical Lens Factory. A big Rank Taylor Hobson 12.75 inch Xerox looks tiny in comparison, and a J-8 is almost invisible. This lens should have an image circle of 600mm+ at infinite. The biggest Chinese field camera is only 12". I don't know if I will ever need it to take pictures. But I think it can be used as a telescope lens. Yet it still looks tiny to my missile tracking lens.

 Cheers,

Zhang

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