Adler
The Adler was a series of folding cameras sold by Riken from 1938. According to the Ricoh corporate site, they were not made by Riken itself but bought to other manufacturers (probably Proud).
The 4.5x6 models
Most Adler models were vertically folding 4.5x6 format cameras. The Adler A and Adler B had scissor struts. They both had a rigid optical finder and a 75/3.5 triplet lens, called Adler or Ukas (like the lens of the Olympic). The Adler A had a Peerless T-B-5-200 everset shutter and the Adler B a Fiscus T-B-25-50-100 everset shutter according to Ricoh's site. A page at Japan Family Camera presents what they call an Adler B with a Neumann & Heilemann Rulex shutter T-B-5-200.
The Adler III is said to be a copy of the Balda Baldax, with a 75/4.5 Adler triplet lens and an everset Peerless shutter #0 size, with speeds T-B-5-150. It had a folding optical finder on the left of the body. However the picture at Ricoh's site does not show the typical Baldax struts but other flimsier struts, looking like the struts on the Kuribayashi Semi First. McKeown cites the Adler III with 75/4.5 Ukas Anastigmat lens and Heil shutter T-B-5-200.
The Adler CII had better specs, with a body release, a Peerless T-B-5-200 cocking shutter and a 75/3.5 Adler triplet lens. The folding optical finder was on the other side of the body, and the struts are typical of the Baldax.
An Adler CII with a lens named Solar is presented at the photoethnography site. In a 1938 ad in the British Photography Journal Almanac, a Semi Adler is advertised, looking the same as the Adler CII but with finder on the left, with a Ukas Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and a 25-50-100-150-T-B shutter marked New Olympic, as on the Olympic models. The ad does not mention Riken, only Asahi Bussan, the sales company of the Olympic cameras.
McKeown illustrates the Adler with a picture of yet another body, looking very much like an Ikonta 4.5x6, with a Neumann & Heilemann Perfekt shutter. It is maybe related to the Fujimoto Ikonta copies, like the Semi Prince or Semi Sport.
The 4x4 model
The Adler IV was a 4x4 format camera, using 127 film. It was a folding bed camera with scissor struts. It had an Adler Anastigmat 50/4.5 triplet lens and a T-B-5-250 everset shutter. It had a folding optical finder, and an exposure counter. The film advance was not by red window because the film paper was not marked for 4x4 pictures. Ricoh's site says it was a modified German design, and it was probably based on the Zeh Goldi. Ricoh's site also says, as for the other Adler models, that it was not made by Riken itself. In McKeown, there is a Proud Rosen Four, Japanese copy of the Zeh Goldi with 4x4 format, and the Adler IV is probably the same camera under another name.
Links
Ricoh corporate site:
Other:
