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

Template:127 Japan The Adler IV was a 4x4 format camera, using 127 film. As the other models, it was introduced in 1938. 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. At the time, the rollfilm paperback was not marked for 4x4 pictures, so the film advance was not by red window but there was an exposure counter. 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.

The 6x6 models

Later, around 1942, Riken sold a 6x6 folding camera, called the Adler Six, essentially a copy of the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 6x6. It had a horizontal folding bed, a folding optical finder and a body release. Like the other Adler cameras, it was not made by Riken. The shutter was T-B-5-200 according to a 1942 ad (shown here, from 15/7/1942 issue of Asahi Graph), Ricoh's corporate site says Roico II B-10-200 shutter. This ad showed two variants:

• the Adler Six I with a Ricoh Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens (93 yen)
• the Adler Six II with a Ricoh Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens (111 yen) (Ricoh's corporate site only gives this one and says the lens was four element)

Links

Ricoh corporate site:

• Ricoh camera list, with:
  • Adler A & B
  • Adler CII
  • Adler III
  • Adler IV
  • Adler Six II
• Riken wartime camera names: featured article

Other:

• Adler C at photoethnography
• Adler B at Japan Family Camera
• Adler B repair notes at Japan Family Camera
• Old Japanese ads, including the Adler Six