2026-05-20 Ansco Anscoset Camera

    I recently bought an Ansco Anscoset rangefinder camera. It seemed the best choice of cameras that varied from autofocus SLR’s to really, really old German viewfinder cameras. 
    “Why?” you ask.
    For starters it has a Rokkor 45 mm f/2.8 lens. Obviously that means it was built for Ansco by Minolta. It is actually the same camera as the Minolta Uniomat II.     According to McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras (11 edition) it has an Optiper-Uni-Citizen shutter as well as the Rokkor 45 mm lens used in all three Uniomat versions.
The three Uniomat models can be told apart because—

1. The first version (1960) isn’t marked with the Opiter-Uni-Citizen shutter, although the shutter acts the same way in all three models. We will return to the shutter later.
2. The Uniomat II (1961) is marked with the Opiter-Uni-Citizen shutter on the lens barrel.
3. The Uniomat III (1964) isn’t marked as such, but has the selenium cell for the light meter wrapped around the lens instead of mounted on the body.

    Later McKeown’s lists an Ansco Autoset made in 1962 that was a variation of the Hi-Matic with the Rokkor 45 mm f/2.8 used instead of the Hi-Matic’s Rokkor PF f/2.0 45 mm lens.
    All three Minolta Uniomat variations were priced used from $55-$85 in 2001-2002. At the same time the Hi-Matic version was priced at $40-$60.
    Under Ansco’s heading (instead of Minolta’s) McKeown’s lists the Anscoset as worth $30-$50, while the Anscoset III (identical to the Uniomat III, and labelled as Anscoset III) sold used for $40-$60 (higher in Japan, as they are less common there).     The Anscoset III sold new for $89.95. 
    Enough background. Other than the lens, why did I chose the Anscoset?
    Because the meter was still working! The Anscoset is a match-pointer automatic exposure rangefinder—a swell combination of characteristics.
    Let’s return to the outstanding shutter used in these cameras. The shutter uses five blades to both control the length of the exposure and set the aperture! This allows combinations from “B”, EV 6, 7 and 8 (in red and are all at wide open f/2.8 , coupled respectively to shutter speeds of 8, 15, 30 sec) then in black EV’s from 9 to 18 using combinations of smaller apertures with higher and higher shutter speeds. 
    Wallace Koopmans 2013 illustration shows how this works. Shutter speeds are marked further around the same dial that indicates the EV numbers so you can see the shutter speeds marked from 8 - 1000 sec. But this doesn’t mean you get to chose the shutter speed.

    Earlier it was mentioned this is a match-needle automated camera. The meter on the top deck has a needle that indicates how much light there is. You have only the one EV/Shutter speed dial to move to get a Red Notched indicator to center the needle. So you only have one choice of the shutter/aperture combinations to expose the film correctly. The EV/Shutter dial is also the dial you set to ASA’s from 10 to 1600. One ASA film speed at one meter reading equals one EV number.
    That may sound hard to work with to get a depth-of-field scale, but the solution is brilliant. The depth-of-field scale is calibrated in EV numbers! Only EV numbers 9, 12, 15, 17 and 18 are on each side of the footage mark but it does give you an idea of what depth you have to work with.
    But wait, we aren’t done with the cleverness!

As you may have already figured out there are only two dials on the lens barrel. The front (black) one is the focus. The black/chrome dial has the rest of the fun. It has four red dots, three on the front and one on the side closest to the body.

1. As mentioned the (from operator position) furthest right red dot shows the shutter speed. 
   
2. The middle red dot is set to the EV marks.
3. The  furthest left dot aligns with two coloured scales. 
   

    The closest scale to the lens is in orange marked “M”. It covers EV numbers from 9 (60 sec---f/2.8) to 18 (1000 sec at f/16) and gives you an idea of what sync choice to use with the flashbulb you are using (we will return to flashbulb and electronic flash sync soon).
    The far shorter red scale marked “X” runs from 9 (60 sec—f/2.8) to 14 (360 sec—f/7).  This sync speed works with all electronic flash and some flashbulbs.
    There are two separate coloured levers on the right side of the lens barrel. The red one sets sync at “X” (red) and “M” (orange). X fires the flash as soon as the shutter is fully open. M sync fires the flash earlier (by 20 milliseconds), before the shutter opens, so the bulb is up to full output when the exposure happens.
    The green “V” lever sets a mechanical self-timer. 
    Speaking of flashbulbs the camera body has letters A, B, C, D, E arranged near the sync speed coloured scales. A close distance scale aligns with these letters. 
    These letters indicate—
A—electronic flash at more than 7-feet
B—electronic flash 7-feet or less
C—AG-1B, 6B
D—5B, 25B, M5B, M25B, AG-1, 6
E—5, 25, M5, M25
    Any flashbulb with a “B” in the description is blue lacquer coated to match colour temperature with daylight colour film.
    So you focus on the subject (say 8-feet on the front focus ring). Set that distance opposite the flash number you are using (e.g. “E” 5, 5B, 25 and 25B bulbs). You will see the same ring now lines up with EV 17 (770 sec at  f/12.6). The furthest left front dot is in the orange “M” sync range, so of course you would need to use the M-sync position.
    Specifically with electronic flash, distance becomes simplified to either over or under 7-feet. Then use A (over 7 feet) or B (under 7 feet).
    This is potentially a fatal point in dealing with multiple sync settings. Use an electronic flash at M-sync and all your flash pictures will fail! The flash will be set off 20 milliseconds before the shutter even opens. Some flashbulbs aren’t too happy at some shutter speeds/sync combinations too, but you can check the flashbulb packaging for this.
    This is a remarkable camera in many ways. When I found the shutter wasn’t opening I bravely decided to see if I could get into the lens far enough to try using some lighter fluid to loosen up the old lubricants. There are two really obvious black screws in that front ring. I set the lens focus to infinity. When the screws came out easily I noticed they have threads near the heads and then short smooth shafts. I unthreaded (counter-clock-wise)  the front ring and found behind a second threaded metal disc that holds the front element to the lens. This metal disc has two notches (one smaller than the other). There is a brass coloured tab that lines up with (I think, the smaller) of those two notches. Stupidly I happily unthreaded the front element mount and found I had several slots I could spray lighter fluid in without hitting the front element. I played with winding and firing the shutter (it is still behind the second front element) and the camera came to life. Unfortunately the whole camera was floating in lighter fluid by this time. I left the camera outside for ten minutes and when I returned the shutter was still working.   
    I brought the camera inside and tried to get that front element disc threaded back on. It rapidly became obvious syncing the front lens element disc with the threaded-on-top focus dial was going to be a problem.
    After many hit and miss tries I have some hints—

1. If you have the inner disc two slots out of line with that brass tab, putting the screws in will lock the focus ring.
2. I am pretty sure you want that smaller notch aligned with the brass tab’s left edge. It makes sense that the focus has to stop exactly at the infinity mark, while the near focus stop can vary considerably. I noticed on my first image of the camera (at the beginning of this article) that “Rokkor” is located close to centered at the bottom of the lenses front bezel. This lead me to the next point.
3. You have to have faith, by winding the front element disc all the way down and then backing it off so that notch is aligned with the brass tab and leaving it like that, it hopefully will align with the front focus ring when it is tightened down.
4. I tightened down the focus ring and started with the lens set to infinity. Looking through the higher of the two screw holes there seemed to be a deep enough notch under the screw threads to accommodate the screw. When the second screw also threaded down without jamming the rings, I realized the lens was back together again.

    I happily kept firing the lens at all different EV settings, including when things would occasional jam at the “B” setting. Generally faster speeds (higher EV’s) will get sticky shutter blades to fire. Eventually it seemed the lens wasn’t completely closing either. I brought the camera to my bedroom when I had to go to bed to hope it would dry out more. Later that night—I had to have a bathroom break, I’m old— when I tried the shutter again it was completely stuck. Then the next morning it was working fine, there is no sign of liquid on the shutter blades and the shutter has been working on all EV settings ever since.
    I would like to stress how wonderful this camera is. The film wind/shutter cocking lever is almost effortless. The shutter is a gentle “snick”. The focus is smooth. The rangefinder is exact and bright. The meter works well. The self-timer works well. All-in-all it has been an adventure!