Asahiflex IIA / IIB
As you might deduce, the Asahiflex IIa and IIb cameras were the successors to the Asahi Optical's Asahiflex I. These cameras represent some of the first 35mm SLR cameras made for the Japanese market. With the Asahiflex I introduced in 1952, the design was quickly evolved and the Asahiflex IIa and IIb were released by 1954. Both of the Asahiflex II models remain pretty true to the first version and offer some moderate functional improvements. Most notably, the Asahiflex IIa added a slow speed shutter dial to the front of the camera, very much resembling the Hansa Canon and Leica IIIf rangefinder cameras of the day. The Asahiflex IIb went a step further and had an instant return mirror. Prior to this the mirror in the Asahiflex would trigger with the press of the shutter button but flipped back down when the shutter button was released. Since the first Asahiflex didn't have slow speeds below 1/25th, this was not much of an issue, but the slower speeds of the IIa required the user to hold the shutter button down for the length of the exposure or the mirror would return and prematurely cut off the exposure. The IIb's mirror locked itself up and when the shutter closed it flipped back down automatically. Some sources cite this camera as the world's first 35mm SLR with an instant return mirror, but other sources claim the Hungarian-made Gamma cameras introduced this feature a full seven years earlier in 1947. At the very least, the Asahiflex IIb was the first 35mm SLR with instant return mirror that was exported to the wider world in general.
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