Baby Lyra

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The Baby Lyra (ベビーライラ) is a Japanese 3×4 folder that was made by Fuji Kōgaku between 1936 and 1938.[1]

Description

The Baby Lyra is a vertical folding camera inspired by the Baby Ikonta. It has a folding frame finder. The advance knob is at the bottom right, as seen by a photographer holding the camera horizontally. The back is hinged to the left and contains two uncovered red windows to control the film advance. The name LYRA is embossed in the front leather. The FUJI KOGAKU logo is engraved in the folding struts and embossed in the back leather.

The shutter is an everset Picco giving T, B, 25, 50, 100 speeds. The aperture scale is at the bottom of the shutter plate and the Picco name is at the top, with an FK logo on the right. There is no body release and the lens is front-cell focusing.

Evolution

Three variants of the Baby Lyra were listed in advertisements dated December 1936[2], September 1937[3] and September 1938[4]:

  • Pionar f/6.3 lens (¥25 in 1936 and 1937, ¥28 in 1938);
  • Terionar f/4.5 lens (¥32 in 1936 and 1937, ¥36 in 1938);
  • Terionar f/3.5 lens (¥42 in 1936 and 1937, ¥46 in 1938).

The focal length is certainly 50mm in all cases.[5]

The Baby Balnet is possibly the successor of the Baby Lyra.

Notes

  1. Dates of the advertisements mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
  2. Advertisement by the distributor Yamamoto Shashinki-ten published in the 13 December 1936 issue of Sunday Mainichi, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
  3. Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi in two parts, p. 100.
  4. Advertisement published in Asahi Camera. Scans observed in an online auction.
  5. The lens names are only mentioned in the September 1937 advertisement, not in the ones dated December 1936 and September 1938, but we can probably assume that they were unchanged.

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 291. (See also the advertisement for item 164.)
  • 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. 328.
  • 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. 15.
  • 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 1166.

Links

In Japanese: