Semi Miss
The Miss (ミース) or Semi Miss (セミミース)[1] is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera about which little is known. The spelling "Miss" is unsure and it could be "Mees", "Misu", "Mies", etc., instead.[2] It was perhaps distributed by Mizuno Shashinki-ten or by Sanwa Shōkai.[3]
Contents
Semi Miss
The original Semi Miss has a folding optical finder and a body release.[4] It was mentioned in the new products column of the March 1939 issue of Asahi Camera and was advertised in the February 1941 issues of Asahi Camera and Shashin Bunka.[5] The following lens and shutter combinations are reported:[6]
- Hitonar 75/3.5 lens, Tokyo Compur shutter, T, B, 1–300 speeds;
- Hitonar 75/4.5 lens, T, B, 5–200 speeds.
This lens and shutter equipment is the same as on the Semi Konter and Rollekonter. The Hitonar lenses were certainly made by Kajiro Kōgaku, later Gojō then Kokusaku.[7] The Tokyo Compur shutter was certainly made by Bikōdō.[8]
The list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, mentions a "Miss I" (¥74) and a "Miss II" (¥98), probably corresponding to the above versions.[9] The same models are in a similar price list date November 1941, where they are attributed to Mizuno Shashinki-ten.[10]
New Semi Miss
The New Semi Miss (新型セミミース) was featured in a column of the February 1942 issue of Asahi Camera. It is said to have a smaller body.[11] The lens is reported as a Grimmel 75/4.5,[12] a lens made by Fujita Kōgaku Kikai and also mounted on the Semi Gelto. The shutter is said to give T, B, 1–300 speeds.[13]
The "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943, mentioned a "Semi Miss".[14] In this document, the maker's name is unfortunately missing but the lens is mentioned as a three-element Miss 75/3.5 and the shutter as a Patent Mars made by Mars and giving T, B, 1–250 speeds.[15]
Notes
- ↑ The camera is called ミース (Mīsu) in official price lists, and セミミース (Semi Mīsu) in the April 1943 government inquiry and in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341, gives the spelling "Mees". Roman-letter spellings in this work are not completely reliable and "Miss" is more plausible.
- ↑ The camera is attributed to Mizuno in the official price list dated November 1941 and to Sanwa in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ The "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Lb32, attributes the U Hitonar 75/3.5 lens to Kokusaku.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), shutter item 18-Q-4, for the Tokyo Compur shutter of the Rollekonter.
- ↑ Template:Kakaku1940 short, type 3, sections 4A and 7A.
- ↑ "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō", November 1941, type 3, sections 4A and 7A.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 57.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Lb9 and shutter item 18-U-12.
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 262–3. (No advertisement is reproduced for this camera.)
- "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō" (カメラの公定価格官報発表, Official announcement of the set prices of the cameras), November 1941. Extract of a table listing Japanese camera production and setting the retail prices, reproduced in "Bebī Semi Fāsuto 'Kore ha bebī wo nanotta semi-ki da'" (ベビーセミファースト"これはベビーを名乗ったセミ機だ", Baby Semi First, 'this is a Semi camera called Baby'), an article by Furukawa Yasuo (古川保男) in Camera Collectors' News no. 277 (July 2000). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. P. 27. Type 3, sections 4A and 7A.
- "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Item 57.
- Template:Kakaku1940 Type 3, sections 4A and 7A.
The Semi Miss is not listed in Sugiyama