Baby Semi First
The Baby Semi First is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, made by First Camera Works from 1937 to 1940 and maybe later.[1] It was sold as a more compact alternative to the Semi First made by the same company.
General description
The Baby Semi First is a copy of the German Baldax 4.5×6 folder. Two versions of the 4.5×6 Baldax exist, a large one for #0 size shutters and a small one for #00 size shutters, and the Baby Semi First is a copy of the latter.
All the models have a Licht shutter made by Seikōsha, giving 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds and equipped with a self-timer. The shutter plate is marked LICHT at the top and SEIKOSHA at the bottom.
On all models, the back is hinged to the left and the advance knob is at the bottom right.
Folding finder
The first models have a folding optical finder, with the front part folding over the rear one. They also have a leather handle and the back is opened by a button placed behind the latch cover. There are two red windows to control film advance. The body edges have a bright chrome finish. The front leather is embossed Semi First in cursive style and the leather of the folding bed is embossed FIRST in capital letters.
It seems that two versions were available from the start, the Baby Semi First I and the Baby Semi First II with an added brilliant finder on the lens standard. None has a body release. These models were featured in the new products column of the July 1937 issue of Asahi Camera.[2] An advertisement dated August 1937[3] pictures the Baby Semi First II and offers both models with a Toko 7.5cm f/4.5 lens made by Tōkyō Kōgaku. The price was ¥49.50 for model I and ¥53 for model II.
No actual example of the Baby Semi First II has yet been observed. The model I has been observed in two variants differing in their red window covers. The early variant has a common cover for the two red windows, contained under a black plate and actuated by a lever vertically sliding in the middle. The late variant has independent covers actuated by vertically sliding levers that are sunk inside the back itself.
It seems that both variants also differ by details of the shutter. On the early one, the release lever is attached to the front, the speeds are set by an index, the speed settings are written on the shutter plate in the T, B, 100, 50, 25 order and there is an SKS logo on the right. On the late one, the release lever is attached to the top left of the shutter housing itself, the speeds are set by turning the rim, the speed settings are engraved on the rim itself in the 25, 50, 100, B, T order and there is no logo.
The Baby Semi First III was introduced in 1938.[4] It only differs by the addition of a body release. An advertisement dated April 1938 offers the camera with a Toko f/4.5 lens for ¥62. The shutter is said to be a New Licht (新型リヒト). It seems to correspond to the late shutter variant described above and was perhaps introduced at that date to allow the fitting of a body release.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: advertisements mentioned in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 87.
- ↑ Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
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. Items 203–5. (See also the advertisement for item 214.)
Links
In Japanese:
- Baby Semi First and lens specs at ksmt.com
