Ōmiya

Ōmiya Shashin-yōhin K.K. (近江屋写真用品株式会社) is a Japanese company. It was already active in 1921, and its address at the time was Honjo-ku Matsuzaka-chō 2–7 in Tokyo (東京市本所区松坂町二ノ七). Ōmiya has been the owner of the "Hansa" (ハンザ) brand name for many years, and was already using it in 1932. It sold some cameras under that name in the 1930s and 1940s, the best known being the Hansa Canon.

In 2004, a company called Hansa K.K. (ハンザ株式会社) was detached from Ōmiya, and today (2008) it manufactures photo accessories, among which are tripod heads and an extensive range of lens adapters.

Cameras

Distributed cameras

120 film

• Hansa Semi Rollette (4.5×6 folder, 1936–7)
• Hansa Rollette Ref (4.5×6 pseudo TLR, 1936–7)
• Kadera (4.5×6 folder, 1939)
• Bonny Six I and II (6×6 folder, 1941–2)

127 film

• Bonny Four (4×4, 1941–2)

35mm film

• Hansa Canon
• Hansa Jupiter (1948–9)

Cameras sold as authorized dealer

• Romax (6×6) (1942)

Camera accessories

Announcement of a Hansa electrical exposure meter in Asahi Camera November 1936. (Image rights)

Advertisement for Hansa tripods in Ars Camera February 1949. (Image rights)

• Hansa electrical exposure meter (made in Germany, same as the Amato), sold ¥45 in 1936
• Hansa rangefinder, sold ¥15 in 1939
• Correct Super Flash Synchronizer, flashgun synchronized by an external cable release, sold for ¥20 in 1939, jointly distributed by Ōmiya and by Konishiroku
• Hansa flashgun
• Hansa tripod
• Hansa roll holder
• Hansa self-timer (at least one model was supplied by Kobayashi Seiki, which sold the same device under its own Kopil brand)

Films, papers and enlargers

In the early 1930s, Ōmiya was the distributor of the film and paper made by Asahi Shashin Kōgyō, and imported the British Apem film. It also sold the Hansa enlargers.

Advertisements for Asahi Shashin Kōgyō films and papers in Asahi Camera February 1930. (Image rights)

Advertisement for Apem film in Asahi Camera February 1930. (Image rights)	Advertisement for ASK Kiku film in Asahi Camera June 1932. (Image rights)

Advertisement for Hansa enlargers in Asahi Camera June 1932. (Image rights)

Bibliography

Original documents

• Ars Camera. Advertisements by Ōmiya Shashin-yōhin:
  • September 1921, no page number;
  • February 1922, no page number;
  • February 1949, p.2.
• Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Ōmiya Shashin-yōhin:
  • February 1930, pp.A5 and A10;
  • June 1932, pp.A9 and A10.
• Asahi Camera November 1936. "Atarashii kikai to zairyō" (新しい機械と材料, New equipment and machinery). P.861.
• Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number.
  • advertisement on p.36, corresponding to p.2 of the December 15, 1939 issue;
  • column on p.56, corresponding to p.22 of the December 15, 1939 issue;
  • advertisement on p.85, corresponding to the third cover of the April 20, 1948 issue;
  • advertisements on pp.92 and 97, corresponding to pp.6 and 11 of the January 10, 1951 issue.

Recent sources

• 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 54, 182–3, 698.
• Dechert, Peter. Canon Rangefinder Cameras 1933–68. Hove, East Sussex: Hove Foto Books, 1985. ISBN 0-906447-30-5. P.34.
• Takeda Shigeru (武田茂). "Serufutaimā korekushon" (セルフタイマーコレクション, Self-timer collection). 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.53, December 1999. ISBN 4-257-13026-1. Tokushū: 50-nin no korekutā ni kiku watakushi no ichi-dai (特集:50人のコレクターに聞く私の1題, 50 stories told by camera collectors). Pp.110–1. (On the Hansa self-timer.)