Comet (3×4)
The Comet (コメット) is a Japanese camera taking 3×4cm exposures on 127 film. It was distributed by Ueda Shashinki-ten in 1940 and 1941.
Description of the body
The Comet has a rounded metal body. There is a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The top plate is removed for film loading, in a style made popular by the Picny and Gelto. It supports the advance knob at the right end, a knob used to open and close the camera, the tubular finder in the middle, a nameplate that is certainly engraved COMET and the accessory shoe at the left end.
Advertising, lens and shutter equipment
An advertisement dated August 1940[1] lists the Comet for ¥55 with a front-cell focusing Lucomar Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and a Comet shutter giving 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds. The shutter plate is written COMET in the advertising picture.
In advertisements dated December 1940 and January 1941[2], the lens name is no more given but the rest of the features is similar, except that the price has risen to ¥65 in December 1940.
The only known surviving example is pictured in Sugiyama. It has a front-cell focusing 5cm f/4.5 lens reportedly called Helios Anastigmat and an unmarked shutter giving T, B, 5–200 speeds.
Notes
- ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 76.
- ↑ Both advertisements published in Asahi Camera, reproduced by Kokusan kamera no rekishi on pp. 72 and 77.
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 108. (See also the advertisements for items 129 and 136.)
- 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 3015.
