Kokka
The Kokka (コッカ) are Japanese 6.5×9cm plate folders, advertised by First Camera Works around 1935. It was certainly distributed by Minagawa Shōten, the owner of the "First" brand, and made by Kuribayashi.[1]
Description of the body
The Kokka have a pressed steel body and rounded folding struts. They have a distance scale on the photographer's left, a brilliant finder offset to the left of the front standard, and a wireframe finder with a rectangular eyepiece on the rear. The leather handle and folding bed release are above the rear body.
Two models exist: the simpler one has single extension bellows and is focused by moving the front standard back and forth by hand; it seems that it has no movement ability. The other model has double extension bellows driven by a worm screw on the photographer's right; it sometimes has vertical movements driven by a knob atop the right-hand branch of the U-shaped front standard.
Commercial life
Some sources say that the Kokka was introduced in 1930 and substituted by the "New Kokka" in 1932, but no original document has been found to confirm this.[2]
The Kokka was advertised in Asahi Camera in 1935.[3] One advertisement from mid-1935 shows the following range:[4]
- single extension:
- double extension:
The Toko and State lenses were made by Tōkyō Kōgaku, the Trinar was supplied by Rodenstock and the Tenar was made by an unknown company.
Xenar f/4.5 lenses, Vario and Pronto shutters are also reported.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Made by Kuribayashi: Baird, pp.15–6 and 54–6 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras; McKeown, p.575. No original document has been found to confirm this.
- ↑ Baird, pp.16, 54 and 56 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras; McKeown, p.575.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.72, where it is dated July 1935, and in Baird, p.17 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras, where it is dated May 1935. The advertisement is exactly the same and has the same page number (A67). Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.339, reports no advertisement dated May 1935 for the Kokka, and the date of July 1935 is the most probable.
- ↑ Baird, p.56 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras.
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 106–7.
- Baird, John R. Collectors guide to Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras. Grantsburg, WI (USA): Centennial Photo Service, 1991. ISBN 0-931838-16-9. Pp.15–6 and 54–6.
- Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. P.69 (picture only).
- 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.575.
- 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. Item 1077.
Kuribayashi prewar and wartime cameras ( ) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
rollfilm folders | ||||
Eagle | Speed Pocket | First Roll | First Center | Semi First | First Six | Baby Semi First | Semi Rotte | Hokoku | Mizuho | ||||
plate folders | rigid | SLR | TLR | unknown |
Mikuni | First | First Etui | Kokka | Romax | Tokiwa | Molby | Speed Reflex | First Reflex | Baby First |