# New to me  / Wardflex II and Leica IIIc macro set (thoughts/history?)



## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 21, 2012)

Snapshots of a Wardflex II cam I'm going to clean up and use.  This is how I got it, the orangish dust on the body and lenses is from the inside of leather case. I can't believe the nice condition of the camera and the case.



> There were three Wardflex models. Two were metal and the other was plastic. The plastic Wardflex was
> made by Argus and is a rebadged Argoflex E. The Wardflex II was the top of the line.














Leica Macro tube kit. I dunno anything about it but a guy that does told me to jump all over this deal and I picked it up for pennies.  The decals on the front of the tubes are the original cam shop stickers, there is one on the bottom of the box as well.


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## Derrel (Nov 21, 2012)

Cool beans!!! The Wardflex "looks" to be in quite decent condition!!! It's not all "that" old...it's clearly post WW II....probably late 1950's I'd guess, just going by the coated lenses and the three-position flash synch selector: *X* synch, *F*ocal plane flashbulb synch, and *M*-type flashbulb synch...

A little web search turns up this page, which says this was made for Montogomery Wards to sell in the USA, and is likely an upgraded Beautyflex, made by the parent company, Taiyado Koki,Ltd.

Taiyodo

I bet it's still a decent shooter!!!


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 21, 2012)

Derrel said:


> Cool beans!!! The Wardflex "looks" to be in quite decent condition!!! It's not all "that" old...it's clearly post WW II....probably late 1950's I'd guess, just going by the coated lenses and the three-position flash synch selector: *X* synch, *F*ocal plane flashbulb synch, and *M*-type flashbulb synch...
> 
> A little web search turns up this page, which says this was made for Montogomery Wards to sell in the USA, and is likely an upgraded Beautyflex, made by the parent company, Taiyado Koki,Ltd.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the link, and we'll know soon if it shoots decent (up to hipster standards at least!)

I just ordered 5 rolls of B&W 120 film from BHPHOTO.  If this thing doesn't work well, no love lost I'll add it to the collection and move on....just like that 620 Brownie a family member gave me....one roll and move the %$#$ on hehehehe 

If it works well I'll slam wear it out though, unlike the buyer in 1957 did =)


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## compur (Nov 22, 2012)

The Wardflex II was sold by the Montgomery Ward store chain in the 1950s.  It was made by Taiyodo of Japan which was also known as the Beauty Camera Co.

Here is a manual:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/pdf_files/wardflex_ii.pdf


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 22, 2012)

compur said:


> The Wardflex II was sold by the Montgomery Ward store chain in the 1950s.  It was made by Taiyodo of Japan which was also known as the Beauty Camera Co.
> 
> Here is a manual:
> http://www.cameramanuals.org/pdf_files/wardflex_ii.pdf



Thanks, and that manual for the Wardflex II is going to come in handy!


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