Optica Atelier / Est. 1954

The camera that waits for light.

Thirty-one machined parts. One instrument. Scroll and it builds itself around you.

Model O-1 / readout

Assembly0%

Aperturef/1.4

Shutter—

Exposurestandby

Scroll to assemble

Built by eleven pairs of hands.

Every O-1 leaves the bench of one assembler in Kyoto and one finisher in the Jura. The serial plate carries both initials, because a camera outlives the people who made it and should answer to them.

BodyOne billet, no seamsThe shell is milled from a single magnesium billet and wrapped in tanned calfskin.

GlassSeven elements, five groupsHand-ground and coated in small batches. Each lens is signed under the front ring.

ShutterCloth, not titaniumA rubberized cloth curtain, quieter than the mirror it replaces, rated for two hundred thousand releases.

Commission yours.

Eleven cameras a month. A letter, not a cart: tell us what you photograph and we will write back within the week.