T.Y.O.W.
The acronym T.Y.O.W. corresponds to a Japanese lens maker based in Tokyo, whose full name is currently unknown.[1] It made Taiyo-Anastigmat barrel lenses for large format cameras. These are usually marked T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO–Anastigmat.[2] The brand name certainly comes from the word taiyō (太陽), which means "sun" in Japanese.[3]
The Taiyo lenses were already existing in 1941.[4] They were made by a relative of Mr. Yamasaki, founder of Yamasaki Kōgaku Kenkyūsho and maker of the Congo lenses.[5]
List of known Taiyo-Anastigmat lenses:
- 18cm f/4.5[6]
- 21cm f/4.5[7]
- 21cm f/6.3[8]
- 21cm f/6.8 (reported only)[9]
- 25cm f/4.5[10]
- 30cm f/6.3 (reported only)[11]
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TYOW Taiyo Anastigmat 21cm f/4.5 (sn#3161) |
Notes
- ↑ Probably Taiyo Yamasaki Optical Works
- ↑ Some lenses with higher serial numbers are marked "TOKYO TAIYO-ANASTIGMAT" with 'MADE IN JAPAN" on aperture ring (Source: FLICKR).
- ↑ See this disambiguation page for other uses of the name Taiyō.
- ↑ An advertisement by Kuwata in Asahi Camera April 1941 mentions the Taiyo as one of the lenses onto which one could attach the Bimagon wide-angle attachment.
- ↑ Taiyo-Anastigmat at Leica Virgin.
- ↑ Example seen in an online auction.
- ↑ Marked: T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21cm:
sn#3161 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann.—sn#3177 online sale at sy916.net (2011); sn#3863 (thaidphoto forum); sn#6973 Online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2016; sn#7202 (Russian site).
Marked: TOKYO TAIYO-ANASTIGMAT:
sn#69138 marked 'MADE IN JAPAN" on aperture ring (Source: FLICKR (August 2012), image since removed. - ↑ T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat: sn#1353 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann.—sn#5522 observed in an online auction (eBay August 2012), mounted on an Asanuma field camera;
Marked: T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F-21 cm:
sn# 7783 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan November 2016) - ↑ Lens reported in this thread at mformat.com.
- ↑ Example observed in an online auction. See also Pleasure Classic lenses (in Japanese) and same site.
- ↑ Wooden camera retailed by Western India Photographic Agency, Bombay, reportedly having a Taiyo-Anastigmat 30cm f/6.3, sold as lot no.1515 on 11 December 2007 by Rosebery's.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera. Advertisement by Kuwata Shōkai in April 1941, p.512.
Links
In Japanese:
- Taiyo-Anastigmat at Leica Virgin
- Large-format Japanese camera reportedly having a Taiyo-Anastigmat 21cm f/4.5, at tinyslope.com
In Russian: