Photographica Pages

An online guide to collectable cameras and related stuff

Omega 120

The Simmon Brothers were well known for their very successful line of Omega enlargers. In April 1953 Alfred Simmons applied for a patent on the Omega 120. The camera was marketed in 1954.

The camera is a non-folding rangefinder camera for 6x7 on 120 film. The film is advanced by pulling a knob out of the side of the camera and pushing it back in. It was a rapid advance for medium format at the time, and gives you more the feeling of cocking a pump shotgun than winding a camera. The coupled rangefinder and viewfinder were separate, with the eyepieces one above the other. The lens is a fixed 90/3.5 Omicron in a synched leaf shutter.

The styling is unusual, vaguely like the styling of their enlargers. I would try and describe it, but there are pictures, so you can see for yourself. One accessory is the Omegaflash, which holds six flash bulbs and rapidly places a fresh bulb into the reflector.

This was the only civilian camera that Simmon Brothers produced. The design was sold to Konica, and evolved into The Koni-Omega line of cameras, which are a bit more modern looking, continue the design with the push-pull film advance.

The boxed camera, and it's unusual boxed flash.