Boltax

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The Boltax (ボルタックス) is a Japanese camera taking 25×25mm pictures[1] on Bolta film, made from 1938 by Miyagawa Seisakusho, the maker of the 3×4 Picny, and distributed by Mitsukoshi and by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten.

Context

The German company Bolta-Werk released the Boltavit camera in 1936, soon renamed Photavit, using paper-backed unperforated 35mm film wound on specific spools. Miyagawa released the Boltax around this film type two years later. This would be the origin of the success of Bolta film in Japan, which would last until well after the war. The name "Boltax" was obviously forged after "Bolta" and "Contax".

Description

The Boltax uses some of the solutions already adopted by Miyagawa on the Picny. The body is made out of a metal tube (like the body of the Leica screw models up to the IIIb). The dimensions are 7.8×4.3×2.3cm.[2] The lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a collapsible helical, which is also used for focusing. The distance scale is engraved in metres down to 2/3m. On all the Boltax models, the lens is a Picner Anastigmat 40mm f/4.5 with no serial number, the shutter speeds are B, 25, 50, 100, the shutter is wound by a lever on one side and tripped by another lever on the opposite side.

The torpedo-shaped optical finder is offset to the right, as seen by the photographer. The film is advanced by a knob at the top left, surrounded by a manual frame counter: the user has to stop winding when the next frame number is facing an index. The top plate is removed for film loading, and is locked in place by a key offset to the left, with O and L indications (for Open and Locked).

The back has a hinged door showing the exposure chamber and supporting the pressure plate. It makes film loading easier and allows to set the position of the first exposure, before setting the frame counter to 1. The bottom plate is attached to the body by four screws, has a tripod thread and two film flanges; the serial number is engraved on the film flange of the supply side. The name Boltax is embossed in the leather on the front side and on the rear door.

The Boltax I

The original Boltax, called Boltax I in retrospect, has nickel-plated metal parts. The frame counter, aperture scale and shutter plate are black with silver markings. The speeds are selected by turning the shutter rim, and the scale is inscribed on the shutter plate in the order 100, 50, 25, B. There are silver stripes on both sides of the lens, and the name PICNY D at the bottom is certainly the shutter name.

The serial number at the bottom is inscribed as NO.xxxx on the early cameras, and as N°xxxx on later ones. Observed body numbers range from 1983 to 5401. It is not known if the number sequence was shared with the Picny or not.

The original Boltax was advertised in Japanese magazines from August 1938.[3] It appears as a new model in an advertisement dated October 1938 by the Mitsukoshi department store.[4] The picture shows the camera sitting over a cigarette pack, emphasizing its small size. The camera is priced at ¥39 and one roll of 12 exposures costs ¥0.85. Advertisements dated January 1939 give the same price for the camera and film roll, and list various accessories: ever-ready case (¥5), filter (¥1.60) and lens hood (¥0.70).[5] The advertisement in Asahi Camera, placed by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten, makes constant reference to the Leica, and says that Yoshikawa Hayao recommends the camera with those words: "when put side by side with a Leica, they look like father and child". It also says that the camera can take regular 35mm film. It is certainly possible to spool perforated 35mm film onto Bolta spools and to load the camera in a darkroom, but this is probably inconvenient, and the frame counter perhaps gives wrong indications because of the different thickness of the film without the paper backing.

Advertisements dated November and December 1939 mention the same price of ¥39 for the camera body, and give a more complete list of accessories:[6]

  • ever-ready case (¥5)
  • soft case (¥2.80)
  • lens hood (¥0.70)
  • reflex finder (¥3)
  • filter (¥1.60)
  • film processing tank (¥3)
  • contact printing frame (¥0.50)

To attach the reflex finder, the camera needs to be modified by the addition of an accessory shoe, which will become standard on the next Boltax II model.

The Boltax II

The Boltax II was advertised in Japanese photographic magazines in August 1940 and was featured in the November 1940 issue of Asahi Camera.[7] The August advertisement in Shashin Salon gives a list of the new features:[8]

  • all the knobs and scales are chrome finished with easier to read black numbers;
  • a sound spring is added inside the camera to control the advance with perforated film, producing a sound on each perforation and enabling the user to count the number of perforations;
  • a retractible "snap hood" is provided, which fits inside the ever-ready case;
  • an accessory shoe is added to attach the accessory reflex finder.

The picture shows a camera with an attached lens hood. The shutter speeds are inscribed in black on a clear background in the order 100, 50, etc. The price of ¥47 certainly includes the "snap hood".

An advertisement dated September 1940 shows another picture of the camera with a lens hood and an accessory shoe, certainly corresponding to the Boltax II, but the camera name is given as "Boltax" with no model number.[9]

The actual examples of the Boltax II have the additional accessory shoe at the right end of the top plate, and have a chrome frame counter, aperture and speed scale. The speeds are engraved at the top of the shutter rim, which also has the name BOLTAX II at the bottom, and there is no more mention of the "Picny D" shutter name. No surviving example of the retractible "snap hood" has been observed yet, and it is not known if the cameras actually have the internal sound spring or not.

The example pictured in this page at pbase has the speeds engraved in the order 100, 50, 25, B, the same as in the advertising picture. The example pictured in Sugiyama has the speeds engraved in the reverse order B, 25, 50, 100, the same as on the Boltax III, and it is presumably later.[10]

The Boltax III

Notes

  1. ↑ Recent sources often say 24×24mm, but the advertisements say 25×25mm, which was the official picture size of the Boltax: advertisements dated January 1939, August 1940 and January 1942 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.89 and 92–3, and advertisement in Asahi Graph, September 4, 1940, reproduced at Gochamaze.
  2. ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Graph, October 5, 1938, reproduced at Gochamaze.
  3. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.341.
  4. ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Graph, October 5, 1938, reproduced at Gochamaze.
  5. ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Camera January 1939, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.92, and advertisement in Asahi Graph, January 18, 1939, reproduced at Gochamaze.
  6. ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Camera November 1939, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.92. Advertisement on p.26 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.60 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  7. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.341.
  8. ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.93.
  9. ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Graph, September 4, 1940, reproduced at Gochamaze.
  10. ↑ Sugiyama, item 4108.

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 243–5. (See also the advertisements for items 220 and 341.)
  • Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.55.
  • 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.692.
  • Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisements on pp.54 and 60, corresponding to pp.20 and 26 of the December 15, 1939 issue.
  • 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. Items 4107–10.
  • Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (159) Shisaku Borutakkusu" (レンズの話[159]試作ボルタックス, Lens story [159] Boltax prototype). In Camera Collectors' News no.249 (March 1998). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.9–11.

Links

General links

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Original documents

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