Condor Camera

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This page traces the history of a Japanese company which took many different names from Motodori to Condor Camera.

Prewar history

The company's first records are advertisements dated 1937, showing the name Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho (本鳥写真機械工業所). The company was based in Tokyo and made the Semi Lester and the Victor, both 4.5×6 Baldax copies.[1]

In 1938, the company was using the name Victor Camera Works (ビクターカメラ・ウオークス) and continued producing cameras called Victor.[2]

In 1939, it was known as Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha (日産光学工業社) and made the Semi Victor and Victor Six, that became the Condor folders at the middle of the year.[3]. ("Nissan" is the same as that in Nissan Motor; it is an acronym meaning "manufactured in Japan".)

In 1940 and 1941, it was using the name Condor Camera Works, written in Roman letters in the advertisements.[4] The production of the Condor line continued until at least 1942.[5]

It is suspected that the English-styled names Victor Camera Works and Condor Camera Works only appeared for commercial purposes and that the official names of the company were first Motodori and later Nissan Kōgaku.

Between 1939 and 1943, two 3×4 cameras called Doris and Baby Doris were distributed by Fukada Shōkai. McKeown attributes them to Prince Camera Works[6], but it seems more likely that they are related to Nissan Kōgaku. The company used the name Doris again after the war (see below), and it is said that this name comes from a Mr Motodori (本鳥): "Dori's camera", thus "Doris".[7] The original name Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho strongly suggests that this Mr Motodori was the founder of the company. It is not impossible that the prewar Doris are completely unrelated and that the etymology given for the Doris name is only valid for the postwar cameras, but this seems quite unlikely.

The Zeitax is also perhaps related to the company, see the discussion in the corresponding page. This would mean that the company Tokiwa Kōgaku that made the Zeitax II and III is also related to Nissan Kōgaku.

Postwar history

The Centre Six 6×6 folder released in 1951 is attributed to Nissan Kōgaku and has NISSAN KOGAKU markings. It is unknown if this is the same company or another one with the same name.

The company appears again in 1951 as Tōkyō Seiki K.K. (東京精機株式会社).[8] It announced the Semi Rocket 4.5×6 folder in 1951 and 1952 and made the New Rocket hit-type camera at an unknown date.[9] From 1952, it made another 4.5×6 folder called Doris.

By 1955, the company had been renamed Doris Camera K.K. (ドリスカメラ株式会社), keeping the same address.[10] The range of models was extended with the Dorisflex TLR and the Doris Six 6×6 folder.

In 1957, the company had changed its name again to Condor Camera K.K. (コンドルカメラ株式会社), using the Condor name again. The address was still the same.[11] It made a 35mm rangefinder camera called Condor[12], externally a close copy of the Nikon S2. The internals of the two cameras are very different: the Condor has a leaf-shutter and a fixed lens while the Nikon has a focal plane shutter and a bayonet mount. It seems that this camera soon caused a controversy with Nippon Kōgaku and that the company was forced to alter the design, that became the Condor 2S, V2 and IIIS. The last reference found to the Condor is dated 1959.

120 film

4.5×6 rigid

4.5×6 folders

The attribution of the Zeitax is unsure.

6×6 folders

6×6 TLR

127 film

The attribution of these two models is unsure:

35mm film

35mm rangefinder

35mm viewfinder

Hit camera

  • New Rocket

Notes

  1. ↑ Advertisements dated 1937, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 84 for the Victor, p. 104 for the Semi Lester. The exact address was not mentioned.
  2. ↑ Advertisement dated June 1938 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 85. The address was Tōkyō, Toshima office, PO box n°2 (東京豊島局私書函第2號).
  3. ↑ Advertisements dated 1939, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 84 for the Victor folders, p. 73 for the Condor folders. The address was Tōkyō-shi Hongō-ku Yushima-Tenjin-chō 1-chōme 105 (東京市本郷区湯島天神町一丁目一〇五).
  4. ↑ Advertisements dated 1940 and 1941, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 72. The address was again Tōkyō, Toshima office, PO box n°2 (東京豊島局私書函第2號), the same postal box that was associated with the name Victor Camera Works.
  5. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 336–7.
  6. ↑ McKeown, p. 803.
  7. ↑ Niimi, p. 92.
  8. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 374, about the Semi Rocket, confirms that it is the same company that made the Condor folders.
  9. ↑ Semi Rocket: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 374. New Rocket: McKeown, p. 844.
  10. ↑ The address was Tōkyō-to Itabashi-ku Tokiwadai 1, 16 (東京都板橋区常盤台1の16). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 153, marked Tōkyō Seiki in 1952 and Doris Camera in 1955.
  11. ↑ Advertisement dated 1957, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
  12. ↑ The brand names Delta and Deller used on the lenses and shutters also remind the ones used by the company before the war on the Condor folders (デルター lens name).

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.
  • 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). Pp. 211, 250, 738, 803, 844, 927–8.
  • Niimi Kahee (新見嘉兵衛). Kamera-mei no gogen sanpo (カメラ名の語源散歩, Strolls in the etymology of camera names). 2nd ed. Tokyo: Shashin Kōgyō Shuppansha, 2002. ISBN 4-87956-060-X

Links

In English:

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