Camel, Comex 35, Kikuca 35 and Rolex 35 III

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The Camel, Comex, Kikuca 35 and Rolex 35 are Japanese 35mm viewfinder cameras with a leaf shutter, made in the first half of the 1950s.

Common features

All the models share the same octogonal body. The back is removed together with the bottom plate for film loading. The viewfinder is contained in a short top housing, which also supports an accessory shoe on the right. The advance and rewind knob, exposure counter, shutter release and rewind unlock lever are shaped as on the early Leica or Canon rangefinder cameras. There is a thin metal casing around the lens, with a characteristic shape and a 24X36 engraving at the top. The body release linkage probably runs through this casing, and an axis protrudes at the bottom to connect it with the shutter itself.

The Camel

The Camel has a focusing helical with a focusing tab at the base of the lens barrel. The distance is visible in a window placed above the barrel.

It was ostensibly made by a company called Tōhōkōken: the top housing is engraved Camel mode II and Tōhōkōken camera in smaller letters. There is a typo, and it is not known if the intended engraving was "model I" or "model II".

The lens is a Camel Anastigmat 50mm f/3.5, with a "C" for coating. The shutter is engraved NIPPOL at the base of the speed rim. It has B, 1–200 speeds, a self-timer and an ASA bayonet synch post.

The only actual example observed so far is pictured in Sugiyama.[1]

The Comex

The Comex is a name variant of the Camel. It was announced in the April 1953 issue of Ars Camera as the Sanon 35 (サノン35) by the distributor Takasago Shōkai.[2] It seems that the June 1953 issue of the same magazine says that the name was changed to Comex 35 (コメックス35), and the camera was advertised as such until October of the same year.[3] In an advertisement dated June 1953,[4] the camera was offered for ¥12,000 with a Comex 45/3.5 lens and a synchronized Purax shutter (B, 1–200, self-timer): the name PURAX is engraved at the base of the speed rim.

The only actual example observed so far is pictured in Sugiyama, where it is attributed to Akimoto Co., Ltd. for an unknown reason.[5] Its body shows no apparent difference. The top housing is engraved Comex and mode II or model II.[6] The lens is a Comex Anastigmat 45mm f/3.5. The shutter is engraved WACO at the base of the speed rim, it has the same features as the Nippol mounted on the Camel.

Notes

  1. Sugiyama, item 3137.
  2. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 352.
  3. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 352.
  4. Advertisement published in Photo Art, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 138.
  5. Sugiyama, item 3224.
  6. The picture in Sugiyama, item 3224, is not legible enough.

Bibliography

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