Auto Victor
The Auto Victor (オートビクター) is a Japanese 4.5×6 camera, made in 1937 and 1938 by the company Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho, that was later called Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha and sometimes used the name Victor Camera Works.[1]
The Auto Victor is based on the body of the Victor folders, but the lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a telescopic tube. The folding optical finder is offset to the left end of the top plate. There is an accessory shoe on the right, meant to receive an external rangefinder. The front leather is embossed AUTO VICTOR.
The Auto Victor was featured in the new products column of the December 1937 issue of Asahi Camera.[2] An advertisement dated June 1938[3] lists the following variants:
- Delter[4] Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens, Rulex A shutter (about ¥86[5]);
- Delter Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens, Rulex A shutter (about ¥93).
The camera is pictured with an attached rangefinder, that is offered for about ¥15.
No example of the Auto Victor has been observed yet, and it is not sure that it was effectively sold.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 85.
- ↑ Name inferred from the katakana デルター and reported in McKeown, p. 945.
- ↑ The prices in this advertisement are barely legible.
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. Item 190.
