Difference between revisions of "Baby Chrome"
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (→Links: link mistake fixed) |
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (→Links: cat) |
||
| Line 27: | Line 27: | ||
[[Category: Bakelite]] | [[Category: Bakelite]] | ||
[[Category: B]] | [[Category: B]] | ||
| + | [[Category: C|Chrome, Baby]] | ||
Revision as of 19:33, 8 July 2006
Template:127 Japan The Baby Chrome[1] (ベビー・クローム) is a 3×4 camera made from 1936[2] by the Japanese company Optochrom.
It has a black bakelite body, embossed BABY CHROME on the front, and a big helical ring, probably used for focusing, with the serial number engraved at the bottom. There is a tubular optical finder, centered on the top. On the right of the viewfinder there is something that looks like a body release, but is probably some sort of accessory shoe. The shutter is surely everset, with only one lever acting as a release. The aperture is set at the bottom of the shutter plate. The advance knob is at the left end of the top plate. The latter is detached together with the back, which has only one red window, uncovered, at the bottom right.
The Baby Chrome is advertised in 1937[3] in two variants:
- Optochrom B, 25, 50, 100 shutter and New Gold f:6.3 lens (¥15);
- Optochrom T, B, 25, 50, 100 shutter and New Gold f:4.5 lens (¥28) — case ¥3.50 extra.
The shutter plate is marked OPTOCHROM SHUTTER at the top with a logo between both words, and NEW GOLD at the bottom. It is the version pictured in this page at Asacame.
In 1938[4] and 1939[5], the shutter is now called Tsubasa, always with B, 25, 50, 100 speeds. The two lens variants are the same, respectively at ¥18 and ¥33.50 — case ¥4.50 extra. The shutter plate is now marked TSUBASA at the top and NEW GOLD at the bottom, with a NE logo on the right. These markings have been observed in eBay and Yahoo Japan auctions, but no Baby Chrome has yet been observed with an f:4.5 lens.
The Baby Chrome was maybe produced until 1941[6].
Notes
- ↑ McKeown calls it "Tsubasa Baby Chrome", surely by mistake.
- ↑ The earliest advertisement mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi is dated October 1936.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Baby Chrome and Baby Oso, published in the February 1937 issue of Camera Art, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 34 and item 91.
- ↑ Template:Gochamaze
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Super Semi, Tsubasa Chrome New, Tsubasa Spring Camera and Baby Chrome, published in the February 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 144. This advertisement is looking the same as the one dated September 1938 cited above, but there are some detail differences. — Advertisement for the Tsubasa Super Semi, Tsubasa A Chrome and Tsubasa Chrome, published in the April 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 147.
- ↑ All the advertisements mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi are dated between 1936 and 1938, except one dated September 1941.
Printed 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 91.
Links
- A-Z 127 film cameras at Asacame, with the Baby Chrome on this page, mistakenly presented as an Olympic. The 1/150 top shutter speed is very likely a mistake too.
- Template:Gochamaze
