Auto Terra II and Super
The Auto Terra II and Super are Japanese 35mm cameras with a leaf shutter, a coupled rangefinder and a spring motor device, made by Teraoka Seikōsho in the second half of the 1950s. They were preceded by the folding Auto Terra, treated in a separate article.
Contents
General description
All the Auto Terra II and Super share the same body with smooth edges. The viewfinder and rangefinder are integrated into the top housing and share a common eyepiece. The viewfinder is of the bright-frame type and has 1.0× magnification,[1] and the second image window is diamond-shaped. The smooth top plate has a name engraving, an accessory shoe and an exposure counter window, and it has a small film reminder disc on the back.
The main release is at the front of the body. Next to it is a thread for a cable release and a selector with three positions: D for double exposure, A for automatic advance and R for rewind.
The body has strap lugs on both sides. The back is hinged to the right. The bottom plate has a tripod thread at the right end, and the motor winding key and rewind crank at the other end.
From back to front, the lens barrel has a focusing ring with focus tab and depth-of-field indications, a ring and an aperture ring.
The Auto Terra II series
Common features
The Auto Terra II models have a separate lever on the lens barrel, actuated by the photographer's left hand, which both releases the spring-driven advance and cocks the shutter. Full loading of the spring motor allows for twelve exposures.[2] When the camera is operated fast enough, these twelve exposures can be taken in four seconds.[3]
Other common features of the Auto Terra II compared with the later Auto Terra Super are the separate windows for the viewfinder and rangefinder, the flush accessory shoe, the cable release thread placed under the main release and the separate compartments in the bottom plate for the spring loading key and rewind crank.
The Auto Terra II
The original Auto Terra II has automatical parallax correction in the viewfinder. It has a round exposure counter window at the top, and a silver-coloured three-position selector under the main release. The lens barrel has a mixed black and chrome finish, and the advance release, focus tab and speed selector tab are light-coloured. The name is engraved on the top plate as AUTO Terra II and in front of the lens barrel as AUTO TERRA II.
The shutter is a Seikosha-MX (B, 1–500). The lens is a Plover 44/2.8, certainly the same as on the previous Auto Terra.
The Auto Terra II was featured in Japanese magazines from December 1956 and advertised from that month to October 1957.[4] The December 1956 advertisement in Asahi Camera has no price indicated and says that the camera was the "first Japanese auto-winding camera" (国産最初の独創的自動巻スナップカメラ), ignoring the previous Auto Terra, which probably remained at preseries level. Despite the long advertising period, it is not certain that the Auto Terra II was actually sold, and no surviving example is known.
The Auto Tera IIB
The Auto Tera IIB mainly differs by the absence of the parallax correction feature. It has a crescent-shaped exposure counter window at the top. The lens barrel is all chrome, with black speed selector tab. A presumably early example has a black advance release with a rounded shape, a black three-position advance selector and an all black lens rim.[5] A presumably late one has a silver advance release with a triangular shape, a small silver knob replacing the advance selector and a lens rim with an external silver finish.[6]
The shutter and lens are the same as on the Auto Terra II. The name is engraved on the top plate as AUTO Tera IIB and in front of the lens barrel as AUTO TERA IIB, with a single 'R'. The logos in the advertisements also have the spelling "Tera". The company changed its mind again after some time, and all subsequent models are spelled "Terra".
The Auto Tera IIB was announced in December 1957, January and February 1958 issues of Japanese magazines, and it was advertised from November 1957 to October 1958.[7] The February 1958 advertisement in Asahi Camera gives the price of ¥21,500.
The Auto Terra IIBS and IIL
The Auto Terra IIBS and IIL are versions of the Auto Tera IIB with a Seikosha-MXL shutter and a Plover 4.5cm f/1.9 lens having six elements in four groups.[8] The shutter has a PC synch post at the bottom and the shutter name is written in front of the aperture ring. There is a light-value scale under the diaphragm ring, which is coupled to the speed ring by a small levern, a feature typical of the Seikosha-MXL. All the IIBS and IIL have an all chrome lens barrel, a silver triangular advance release and silver coloured focusing and shutter setting tabs. The advance selector is the same small silver knob as on the late IIB. The name is engraved above the top plate with a different font: Auto Terra IIBS or Auto Terra IIL.
The IIL has an additional uncoupled exposure meter, with a selenium cell covered by a hinged flap. This meter is controlled by a disc at the top and has a needle running under a window in the top plate, probably indicating a light-value number.
No advertisement for the Auto Terra IIBS is reported in any Japanese magazine, and this was probably an export model only.[9] The IIL was announced in Japanese magazines dated November 1958 to January 1959, and advertised from November 1958 to November 1959.[10] The November 1958 advertisement in Asahi Camera says that the camera was a "new model, available soon" (新製品・近日発売).
The observed examples of the IIB and IIL have a five-digit lens number. At least some of them are in the 50xxx range, and they might share a common sequence with the Plover 4.4cm f/2.8 lens of the original Auto Terra.[11]
The Auto Terra Super series
The Auto Terra Super models have fully automatic advance, at last removing the need to press a special advance release after the shutter is tripped. They also have a long window covering both the viewfinder and second image windows, with an intermediate portion perhaps containing a brightline illuminating device. The top housing has a raised line on both sides of this window, and the accessory shoe is raised above the top plate. The cable release thread has moved to a new position above the main release, and the advance selector is now black and silver. The main release itself has a conical rather than hemispherical shape. The bottom plate has a single recessed compartment for the motor winding key and rewind crank, at the left end. The lens barrel is black and chrome and the shutter is a Copal-SVL (B, 1–500).
The original Auto Terra Super has a Plover 4.5cm f/2.8, engraved Auto Terra Plover 1:3.8 f=4.5cm C. No.xxxxx. It was announced in Japanese magazines dated June and July 1959, and was advertised in Japan from December 1959 to April 1960.[12] The December 1959 advertisement in Asahi Camera calls the automatic advance "Touch-O-Matic", and says that it was "the world's first one-touch magic system, with internal spring motor" (世界最初のワンタッチマジックシステム！スプリングモーター内臓). This is of course not true, with the Robot and the Leningrad as obvious counter-examples. The advertisement also gives the price of ¥14,500, and mentions some advertisements: a grip motor, tele and wide-angle conversion lenses, a lens hood and filters.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Items 1362–6.
- Hattori Yutaka (服部豊). "Supuringu mōtā makiage no 35mm LS kamera: Ōto Tera Sūpā" (スプリングモーター巻き上げの35mmLSカメラ:オートテラスーパー, A 35mm leaf-shutter camera with spring motor advance: the Auto Terra Super). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.35, November 1995. Nihon no kamera 50nen (日本のカメラ50年, special issue on 50 years of Japanese cameras). P.121.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.91.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P.917.
- Shirai Tatsuo (白井達男). "Auto Terra I" (オートテラⅠ型). Pp.117–26 of Maboroshi no kamera o otte (幻のカメラを追って, Pursuing phantom cameras). Gendai Kamera Shinsho (現代カメラ新書). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1982. ISBN 4-257-08077-9. (First published in Kamera Rebyū / Camera Review. no.13, September 1980.)
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Items 3787–92.
Links
In Japanese:
- Auto Terra Super in the AJCC website
- Auto Terra Super in a page of other cameras of the Topcon Club website
- Auto Terra Super in a page of wanted cameras in the je2luz camera site
- Optika Auto 35 among other cameras with Zunow lens at Nekosan's website
