Taiyodo Koki & the Beauty Camera Company

Beautyflex

(one word) with moving baseboard focusing.

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[6] There was a further variant based on the model 28 which appears to have only been sold in Japan. It was similar in so far as the styling and control layout - underlined Beautyflex nameplate, Bay III filter mounts, etc., - but there were some significant differences too (Figure 13).

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• f/3.5 80mm "Teiko"lenses (Teiko apparently being the name of Kunio Doi's wife).

• The camera was left-handed in so far that the shutter-release and flash-sync socket positions are switched.

• There was an additional switch on the right-side of the body marked "→F" (Figure 14). I am not certain what this does?

• There's an exposure guide table on the back of the camera (Figure 14).

• There was a black & white TKK badge on the viewfinder lid.

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According to this website($), this model is the Beautyflex U. It can also be seen in this advertisement (undated and unidentified source) for the Beauty Flex V, Beautyflex K, U, and Beauty Six folder.

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[7] The last model was the Beautyflex D, which is thought to date to 1955. The defining features are

1. a shutter release positioned like the "S" (bottom-right) and a flash-sync socket like the "T" (top-left).

2. a lower case, and non-underlined Beautyflex name badge, and

3. a red TKK badge on the viewfinder lid.

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The lenses were an unmatched pair of 80mm f/3.5s, comprising a viewing Tri-Lausar and taking Biokor.

 

There were three shutter options: 

• Copal MX (Figure 15),

• Rectus MX (Figure 16), or

• Synchro-MX (Figure 17), all with speeds of 1 to 1/300.

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The Synchro-MX version of the "D" was rebadged as

• the Wardflex II (Figure 18), and

• USC Auto Fifty (Figure 19) with more significant styling changes, and

• rebranded as the late version SCL Photoflex (Figure 20).

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The "D" was also rebadged with a Synchro MXV shutter as the Fodorflex (Figure 21).

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Follow this link for a copy of the Beautyflex model D Synchro-MX instruction manual($), and Wardflex II instruction manual($) at Orphan Cameras.

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Read the description of the Wardflex II in the 1957 Wards catalogue here($).

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Prices
(as of July 2023)

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In Japan, Beauty TLR cameras typically sell for between 2,000 and 4,000 Yen: that's between £11 and £22. Take a look at Mercari($) as an example (because search results include sold items). The cost of shipping is not visible, but it's probably something like £30 to £40.

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On eBay UK, the usual asking price is somewhere between £100 and £200 plus shipping (because most of the items offered are outside the UK), plus the choice is significantly smaller.

 

To buy TLR cameras from anywhere other than Japan is pure madness.