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| Aires 35 IIA by Laurie.pettitt (Image rights) | |
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| Aires 35IIIC by J Hopper (Image rights) | |
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| Aires 35V by J Hopper (Image rights) |
The Aires 35 series of rangefinder cameras were made by Aires from 1954 through 1959.
Models[]
Here are the models, in approximately chronological order:
- Aires 35
- Aires 35 II
- Aires 35 III
- Aires 35 IIA
- Aires 35 IIIA
- Aires 35 IIIL
- Aires 35 IIIB
- Aires 35 IIIC f2.4/45mm
- Aires 35 IIIC f1.9/45mm
- Aires 35 IIIS
- Aires 35 V with Coral f3.2/35mm, f1.5/45mm, f1.9/45mm and f3.5/100mm interchangeable lenses
- Aires 35 IIISA
Links[]
General links[]
In English:
In English and Italian:
- Aires camera survey by Massimo Bertacchi
In French:
- Various models at www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand:
- Aires 35 IIIL from Collection G. Even
- Aires 35 IIIs from D. Broglin
In Japanese:
- Aires 35, Aires 35 II, Aires 35 IIIC, Aires 35 V in the AJCC website
- Aires 35 I at Itō Sadanobu's camera collection
- Aires 35 II and Aires 35 III at Asacame (short texts and pictures)
- Aires 35 II and more pictures in Miyazawa Noriyuki's camera site
- Aires 35 IIIC in Gillman's blog (with photos)
- Aires 35 IIIC from Puppy's Island
- Aires 35 IIIC and Aires 35 V at Kinkonkan (text and pictures)
- Aires 35 IIIC at Kamera to asobu heya (text, pictures and sample photos)
Repair notes[]
Aries 35's have a design fault similar to many Japanese fixed-lens rangefinder cameras of the 1950's. The lens unit is screwed to a brass plate which, in turn is screwed to the camera body. The 4 screws holding the lens assembly brass plate to the body have been loose and the holes elongated. Likewise the screws holding the lens assembly to the brass plate were also loose. Problem with the last fault is that the mechanism needs to be removed to access the 3 retaining screws. That give the repairer a chance to grease the focusing mechanism. Even though some frown on it, it is possible to carefully use a locking fluid on the screws.
There is another 'to be frowned on' cheat. I use the screws from later 'modern cameras' which I dismantle for the screws to replace the brass screws which have elongated the holes in the brass plate. Donor cameras can be any old junk with posi heads and a self tap for plastic thread. Being that I have yet to buy an Aires 35 which didn't have a loose mechanism etc. I regard the purism of the original screws as unnecessary. After all, it isn't a Leica! (It looks better and I can afford it, which makes it more of a treasure in my eyes)
(Laurie Pettitt.)
Another thing that turns the 35 II into a treasure is that the mechanism is carbon copy Synchro Compur! However... It has been slightly improved by the Japanese copiers, making it an even nicer mechanism than the German Compur (in a repairman's opinion). It's that much of a copy that an Aires mechanism could possibly be confused with a Retina mechanism of the same era.
'could possibly be confused with a Retina mechanism of the same era.' To the extent that I had to do a double take when I opened one up. I thought for a minute I was pulling a German camera apart and had to check that I'd started work on the right camera!
In English:
- Aires 35 IIIL: shutter removal, rangefinder and focus adjustment notes, at Daniel Mitchell's camera site
In Japanese:
- Takasaki Motohiro's repair/maintenance pages (text and pictures):
- H. Arai's camera repair pages (text and pictures):
Original documents[]
In English:
- Materials at butkus.org's Orphan Cameras:
- Instruction manual for the Aires 35 IIIC from mikec62.tripod.com
- Instruction manual for the Aires 35 IIIC in the instruction manual section of www.collection-appareils.fr
In Japanese:
- Advertisement for the Aires 35 and Airesflex dated 1954, reproduced in Shashin-Bako
- Aires 35 IIIB advertisement published in the September 1957 issue of Nihon Camera, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese advertisements by Toshio Inamura