Baby Leotax
The Baby Leotax is a Japanese 3×4cm folding camera made before or during the war by Shōwa Kōgaku.
Contents
Sources
It is said that the Baby Leotax was released in 1941 but very few is known.[1] In particular this camera does not appear in Kokusan kamera no rekishi and no advertisement has yet been observed. The camera was mentioned in the government inquiry listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943, as made by Shōwa and distributed by Misuzu Shōkai.[2]
NEWER SOURCE FOUND!!!
Here is the pictures I was able to take concerning the importance of this particular camera.
 
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Description of the body
The body looks like the Baby Ikonta but has plain diagonal struts: the folding struts are exactly identical to that of the Baby Lyra, this might be a matter of copy, of common subcontractors or of cooperation between the two companies. (The folding Baby Germa also has an identical body.) There is a folding optical finder and a body release on the left of the top plate. The advance knob is at the bottom right, opposite the tripod screw thread. The back is hinged to the left and film advance is controlled by red window. The name BABY-LEOTAX is embossed in the front leather and there is some logo engraved in the folding struts.
Lens and shutter equipment
The camera has a Yamato Rapid shutter giving B, 1–500 speeds and engraved YAMATO-RAPID on the speed rim. This shutter was made by Yamato Kōki Seisakusho.[3] The lens is a front-cell focusing Rieze Anastigmat 5cm f/3.5. It has three elements and was made by Fujita Kōgaku Kikai.[4] At least two types of lens engravings exist: a black lens bezel with the lens name in lower letters and a silver lens bezel with the lens name in capital letters.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Date: Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p. 26; McKeown, p. 891; Sugiyama, item 1158.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 166.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), shutter item 18-R-10.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Jb6.
- ↑ Black bezel: example pictured in McKeown, p. 891, and in Sugiyama, item 1158 (it is perhaps the same camera, with lens no.14xx). Silver bezel: example pictured in Fujishima, p.23 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 (lens no.1737), and example pictured in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p. 26 (lens no.1856).
Bibliography
- Fujishima Kōichi (藤島広一). "Shattā ni yoru nendai shibetsu" (シャッターによる年代識別, Dating a camera from its shutter). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.8, September 1986. No ISBN number. Supuringu kamera (スプリングカメラ, special issue on spring cameras). Pp.21–4.
- "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Item 166.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 891.
- Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 26.
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 1158.
The Baby Leotax is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
