Arco lenses

The Arco company, manufacturer of the Arco 35 and Arco 35 Automat, made some interchangeable lenses for third-party cameras from 1952 to 1957.

Leica screw mount

Colinar, Tele-Colinar and Tele-Snowva 13.5cm f/3.8

The first lens released by Arco was the Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 in Leica screw mount (product code TZ-3) in January 1952. It has all chrome finish, a continuous aperture ring from 3.8 to 22 and a focus knob engraved in feet from ∞ down to 5ft. The base of the barrel is engraved MADE IN JAPAN. The serial number normally has five digits, and examples have been observed in the 27xxx, 28xxx and 30xxx ranges, where the first two digits probably indicate the year in the Shōwa calendar, from Shōwa 27 (1952) to Shōwa 30 (1955).

Left: Arco Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 no.27668, Leica screw mount, chromed brass barrel. Right: Tele-Snowva 13.5cm f/3.8 no.27668, Leica screw mount, chromed brass barrel. Pictures courtesy of Scott at www.collectiblecameras.com. (Image rights)

The early lenses are engraved Arco. COLINAR 1:3.8 f=13.5cm No.27xxx and are made of chrome-plated brass. The Tele-Snowva 13.5cm f/3.8 is a name variant, also found in the 27xxx range.

Left: Arco Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 no.28xxx, Leica screw mount, aluminium barrel, old lens head. Picture courtesy of Scott at www.collectiblecameras.com. (Image rights) Right: Arco Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 no.130142, Leica screw mount, aluminium barrel, new lens head, six-digit number. Picture courtesy of Pacific Rim Camera. (Image rights)

The later lenses, called Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8, were made of aluminium, except for the base of the barrel. The engraving became Tele-Colinar 1:3.8 f=13.5cm C. Arco Tokyo No.xxxxx, with a red C. At some point in the 28xxx range, the shape of the lens head was slightly altered. At least one example is known with the six-digit serial no.130142, perhaps belonging to a lot inserted in the number sequence of the Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.5 lens in Exakta or M42 mount.

Colinar 8.5cm f/2

The Colinar 8.5cm f/2 (product code LE-3) was released in February 1954. It is much scarcer and only two examples have been observed so far, one of which has a five-digit number in the 29xxx range.

Exakta mount and 42mm screw mount

Arco Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.5 no.1252xx, Exakta mount, preset. Picture courtesy of Scott at www.collectiblecameras.com. (Image rights)

The Colinar or Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 lens made in Leica screw mount was perhaps offered in Exakta mount and Contax S (M42) mount too, with manual diaphragm. It is mentioned under product code TZ-10 with f/3.8 maximal aperture in a list owned by Abe Masao, Arco's former camera designer. This list says that the production began in June 1952. No f/3.8 lens has yet been observed in Exakta or M42 mount, and it is not in Ihagee.org's list of Exakta lenses. However at least one example of the Tele-Snowva 13.5cm f/3.8 name variant is known.

The most common Arco lens in Exakta mount is the preset Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.5, also available in M42 mount, curiously not mentioned in Abe Masao's list. It has an alloy barrel, heavy aperture and preset rings and depth-of-field indications placed in front of the focus ring, the reverse of the usual configuration. It is engraved MADE IN JAPAN under the lens head. The examples observed have a six-digit serial number in the 12xxxx or 13xxxx range. The number sequence might be shared with the Colinar 5cm f/2.8 and 5cm f/3.5 of the Arco 35 and Arco 35 Junior but this is unsure.

Arco also made a Colinar 105/4 lens head in Exakta mount for use on bellows, with manual diaphragm. It is mentioned in Abe Masao's list under product code Tr105-23, with production beginning in August 1953, and in Ihagee.org's list of Exakta lenses. At the same time, Arco was also manufacturing a bellows called Bellowscope, in Exakta, Contax S (M42) and Leica screw mount (product codes AC-3, 4 and 5).

Abe Masao's list also contains two other Exakta lenses which did not make it. The first one is a Colinar 50/2.8, with product code G-5028, designed in August 1953, probably a version of the lens of the Arco 35. The second one is a Colinar 8.5cm f/2, with product code LE-4, designed in October 1953, certainly similar to the lens produced from February 1954 in Leica screw mount.

Miranda mount

The Arco 5cm f/2.4 lens of the Arco 35 Automat D, with five elements in four groups, was also offered as a standard lens for the Miranda TII body.

Bibliography

• Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Aruko 35: Shashin-yōhin kara kamera soshite 8mm" (アルコ35:写真用品からカメラそして8mmへ, Arco 35: From photo supply to cameras to 8mm). Chapter 3 of Zunō kamera tanjō: Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari (ズノーカメラ誕生：戦後国産カメラ10物語, The birth of the Zunow camera: Ten stories of postwar Japanese camera makers). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1999. ISBN 4-257-12023-1. First published as an article in Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.16. This history of Arco is based on Hagiya's interviews with four people who had been key figures in the company.

Links

In English:

• Picture of an Arco Tele-Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 in Clickr100's Flickr space
• Arco Colinar 13.5cm f/3.8 repair notes at Rangefinderforum.com
• Miranda 50mm lenses and Orion / Miranda T at mirandacamera.com, with pictures of the Arco 5cm f/2.4 in Miranda mount