The Asahiflex was a 35 mm single-lens reflex camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation (later to become Pentax).

Unlike the majority of Japanese camera manufacturers of the time, Asahi made a conscious decision not to produce a mere German rangefinder copy, a relatively simple task.

Asahi's designers (Nobuyuki Yoshida and Ryohei Suzuki) were convinced of the inherent superiority of the SLR and so proceeded along these lines.

Note: According to company information from Asahi Optical Co., however, the Asahiflex I is based on Mr. Matsumoto’s Kochmann Reflex-Korelle, a pre-war 6x6 roll film camera.

Note: Both in the Praktiflex and the Asahiflex I the reflex mirror returned to its original position after taking your finger from the shutter release button.