Semi Blond
The Semi Blond (セミ・ブロンド) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, offered for sale in 1951 by Endō Kamera-ten. It is a vertical folder, with straight diagonal struts. The viewfinder is contained in a top housing, that also supports the advance knob and the shutter release at the left, an accessory shoe, the bed opening button and another knob on the right. The front leather is embossed BLOND.
An advertisement in the April 1951 issue of Asahi Camera[1] offers the Semi Blond for ¥8,000 — case included. The lens is a Seriter[2] f/3.5 and the shutter has B, 1–200 speeds, is synchronized and equipped with a self-timer. Endō is mentioned as the distributor, and the name of the manufacturer is not given.
Notes
- ↑ Reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 178.
- ↑ Inferred from the katakana セリター and from the occurrence of a Seriter lens name on other camera models.
Printed 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. Item 800.
- 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. 75 (brief mention only).