Vintage Okaya / Lord Cameras

Okaya Optic K.K. was a camera company in Japanese city of Okaya, in the Nagano prefecture.  Its full title was Okaya Kogaku Kikai K.K., where Kogaku = Engineering, Kikai = Machine, and K.K. is roughly equal to ‘Co Ltd’.

Okaya Optic Lord 4D

Date: c.1956
Country of origin: Japan
Rangefinder: Very efficient yellow central diamond
Meter: None
Shutter: Seikosha MXL
Speeds: B 1 second, 1/2, 1/5/ 1/10, 1/25. 1/50, 1/100, 1/250. 1/500
Lens: Highkor 40mm, f/2.8
Stops: 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16, 22
This is a very well-made and high-quality camera from a particularly obscure Japanese maker.  The camera was imported into the US by Allied Impex  Corp (AIC), famous for its involvement with Miranda cameras and Soligor lenses.  It is doubtful if many of these cameras were imported into the UK, as import restrictions were in place until 1962, so few Japanese cameras were imported until then, by which time it seems like Okaya Optic had ceased camera manufacture.