Difference between revisions of "Adler"
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|image=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/99204584@N00/294109897/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/105/294109897_83e470c4dc_m_d.jpg]<br>''Picture courtesy of Dave Metcalfe. {{with permission}}'' | |image=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/99204584@N00/294109897/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/105/294109897_83e470c4dc_m_d.jpg]<br>''Picture courtesy of Dave Metcalfe. {{with permission}}'' | ||
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| − | ''This page only deals with the 4.5×6 models. See also the [[Adler IV]] (4×4 model), the [[Adler Six]] (6×6 model) and the [[Olympic]] | + | ''This page only deals with the 4.5×6 models. See also the [[Adler IV]] (4×4 model), the [[Adler Six]] (6×6 model) and the [[Vest Alex and Vest Olympic|Vest Adler]], a possible name variant of the 4×6.5 Vest Olympic.'' |
The '''Adler'''<REF> The name "Adler" was clearly used to demonstrate Japan's alliance with Germany. During the war period, Riken often used such names (they also sold a [[Heil]] camera), or other "patriotic" names. </REF> (アドラー) is a series of folding cameras sold from 1938 by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now [[Ricoh]]), or by its depending company Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō. They were not made by Riken itself but bought to other manufacturers<REF> According to the corresponding pages of the Ricoh corporate site, see the links. </REF>. Most Adler models are vertical 4.5×6 folders. | The '''Adler'''<REF> The name "Adler" was clearly used to demonstrate Japan's alliance with Germany. During the war period, Riken often used such names (they also sold a [[Heil]] camera), or other "patriotic" names. </REF> (アドラー) is a series of folding cameras sold from 1938 by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now [[Ricoh]]), or by its depending company Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō. They were not made by Riken itself but bought to other manufacturers<REF> According to the corresponding pages of the Ricoh corporate site, see the links. </REF>. Most Adler models are vertical 4.5×6 folders. | ||
Revision as of 23:42, 19 November 2006
This page only deals with the 4.5×6 models. See also the Adler IV (4×4 model), the Adler Six (6×6 model) and the Vest Adler, a possible name variant of the 4×6.5 Vest Olympic.
The Adler[1] (アドラー) is a series of folding cameras sold from 1938 by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now Ricoh), or by its depending company Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō. They were not made by Riken itself but bought to other manufacturers[2]. Most Adler models are vertical 4.5×6 folders.
Contents
The Adler A and B, name variants of the Collex
The Adler A and perhaps the Adler B have a body exactly similar to the Collex. They have scissor struts inspired by the Zeh Goldi 3×4 camera, a tubular optical finder and two red windows in the back, protected by sliding covers, to control the film advance. Kokusan kamera no rekishi says that they are featured in the new products column of the October 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, together with the Adler III.
According to Kokusan kamera no rekishi, they were made by Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō, and the Adler A has an Ukas 75/3.5 lens and a Peerless shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds, while the Adler B has an Ukas 75/4.5 lens and a Fiskus shutter with T, B, 25–150 speeds.
This page of the Ricoh official website disagrees on various points. It says that both versions have a 75/3.5 triplet lens, named Adler on the A and Ukas on the B. This is not very plausible, and the lens name was more likely switched at some time from Ukas (the same lens name as the Olympic cameras) to Adler. The same source also says that the shutters are both everset, the Peerless with three blades and the Fiskus with two. It gives 1/100 as the top speed of the Fiskus, but the Fiskus shutters observed on Olympic cameras have T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds.
One such camera is displayed in a page of the Japan Family Camera website, with an Adler Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens and a Rulex shutter by Neumann & Heilemann giving 5–200, B, T speeds. It is presented as an Adler B but is most probably a late Adler A.
Despite the sources saying that the Adler B is just a variant of the Adler A, a camera appearing to be an Ikonta copy and wearing an Adler B marking in the front leather has been observed and is pictured at the top of this page.
Copies of the Baldax
The Adler III
The Adler III is a Baldax copy according to the picture shown in Kokusan kamera no rekishi and to the text of this page of the Ricoh official website. However the picture displayed on the latter page does not show a Baldax copy but a copy of the Welta Perle (early 4.5×6 model), like the Semi First by Kuribayashi. This is probably a mistake. Both cameras pictured have a folding optical finder. Kokusan kamera no rekishi attribute the Adler III to Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō, and says that it is featured in the new products column of the October 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, like the Adler A and B, and that it is also advertised in the April 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, apparently by Ueno Shōten.
There is some confusion about the lens and shutter equipment. Kokusan kamera no rekishi mentions an Adler 75/4.5 lens and a Peerless shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds, but also says that it appears in the book Kamera Zukan by Sugiyama and Naoi with an Ukas 75/4.5 and a Rulex B shutter with 1/5 slower speed setting. The page of the Ricoh official website mentions an Adler 75/4.5 triplet lens and a Rulex shutter in #0 size, with three blades and T, B, 5–150 speeds, while McKeown mentions an Ukas Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens and a Heil shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds. To add to the confusion, the example pictured in Kokusan kamera no rekishi has a shutter plate marked HEIL.
In conclusion, it is probable that all the Adler III variants have a 75/4.5 lens, first called Ukas and later Adler. They have a shutter with T, B, 5–150 or 5–200 speeds, sometimes the Rulex by Neumann & Heilemann and sometimes called Peerless or Heil. Maybe they are only rebadged variants of the Rulex.
It is probably the Adler III that is advertised in Britain in 1938[3] as the Semi Adler, together with various Olympic cameras. The advertisement is inserted by Asahi Bussan, the distributor of the Olympic, and it does not mention Riken. The camera is a Baldax copy with no body release and a folding optical finder on the right of the body, similar to the Adler III pictured by Kokusan kamera no rekishi. It is embossed Adler in the front leather and has an Ukas Anastigmat f:4.5 lens and a T, B, 150-100-50-25 shutter marked New Olympic with the AB logo for Asahi Bussan, as on some Olympic models. The same advertisement says that shutters with T, B, 1–250 speeds and f:3.5 lenses can be supplied on request.
The Adler CII
The Adler CII is advertised in January 1941[4] by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō, together with the Gaica II and the Roico II. It is offered with a four-element 75/3.5 lens and a T, B, 5–150 shutter, both with unspecified name, but it is not pictured and no price is mentioned. The advertisement says that the shutter release automatically retracts into the body when folding the bed.
This page of the Ricoh official website says that the Adler CII is like the Adler III with a body release, the finder on the opposite side of the body, an Adler 75/3.5 triplet lens and a Peerless T, B, 5–200 shutter. It shows a picture of a Baldax copy with both the folding optical finder and the body release on the left side of the body, the same side as the winding knob. The same source gives the year 1938, and the original price of ¥58.
A camera identified as an Adler CII has also been reported with the Peerless T, B, 5–200 shutter and a 75/3.5 Solar lens in this page of the Photoethnography website.
Maybe an Ikonta copy
McKeown shows a picture of a very different Adler Semi, copy of the Ikonta 4.5×6 with a folding optical finder, a body release and a Neumann & Heilemann Perfekt shutter. The lens name is hard to read, but it could be an Adler Anastigmat 75mm f:4.5. There is no visible marking on the body.
Notes
- ↑ The name "Adler" was clearly used to demonstrate Japan's alliance with Germany. During the war period, Riken often used such names (they also sold a Heil camera), or other "patriotic" names.
- ↑ According to the corresponding pages of the Ricoh corporate site, see the links.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Olympic and Semi Adler, published in the 1938 edition of the British Photography Journal Almanac.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Gaica II, Roico II and Adler CII, published in the January 1941 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 53.
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 4–7. (See also the advertisement for item 53.)
- 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. 828.
- The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, edited by Arthur J. Dalladay, published by Henri Greenwood & Co., Ltd., London. Advertisement on pp. 694–5.
Links
In English:
In Japanese:
- Ricoh camera list at the Ricoh official website, with:
- Adler B page and repair notes at Japan Family Camera
| Asahi Bussan and Riken prewar and wartime cameras () | ||
|---|---|---|
| rigid or collapsible | ||
| Vest Adler | Gokoku | Semi Kinsi | Letix | Olympic | New Olympic | Regal Olympic | Semi Olympic | Super Olympic | Vest Olympic | Riken No.1 | Ricohl | Roico | Seica | Zessan | ||
| folders | pseudo TLR | TLR |
| Semi Adler | Adler III | Adler A | Adler B | Adler C | Adler Four | Adler Six | Gaica | Heil | Kinsi | Chukon Ref | Ricohflex | Ricohflex B |
