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 continued producing cameras called Victor and used the name "Victor Camera Works" (ビクターカメラ・ウオークス) in the advertisements.[2] It is very probable that this English-sounding name was only used for commercial and advertising purposes, like most other prewar names ending in "Camera Works", and that the official name of the company was Motodori or Nissan Kōgaku. (See the discussion in Camera Works.)

In 1939, the company 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] This was probably a commercial name again. The production of the Condor line continued until at least 1942.[5]

The "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943, mentions the companies Motodori Kōgaku Kikai Kōgyō-sho (本鳥光学機械工業所) and Tokiwa Kōgaku at the same address.[6]

Tokiwa Kōgaku appeared in some advertisements as the maker of the Zeitax II and III. The earlier Zeitax were certainly related to the Condor folders (see the discussion in the corresponding page), and Tokiwa Kōgaku was obvious closely connected to Motodori. It was perhaps just another name used by the company.

Postwar history

The company appeared again in 1951 as Tōkyō Seiki K.K. (東京精機株式会社).[7] 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.[8] From 1952, it made another 4.5×6 folder called Doris. It is said that this name comes from a Mr Motodori (本鳥): "Dori's camera", thus "Doris".[9] The original name Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho strongly suggests that this Mr Motodori was the founder of the company. (Between 1939 and 1943, two 3×4 cameras called Doris and Baby Doris were distributed by Fukada Shōkai. It is not known if they were related with the postwar camera. It seems that the Baby Doris was made by Shinkō.)

The Centre Six 6×6 folder released at the end of 1951 is attributed to Nissan Kōgaku and has NISSAN KOGAKU markings. It is unknown if this is a different company or if Tōkyō Seiki was still using the name Nissan Kōgaku on some occasions.

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 Condor IIIS and perhaps the V2 have a nameplate marked Sanyo Kōgaku-Kikai Co., Ltd. It is not known if Condor Camera was bought by this company or if it voluntarily changed its name once more. It is not known either if this Sanyo is related to the well-known company Sanyō Denki (三洋電気). An 8mm movie camera called Azomax Model 8A displays the same logo and company name, it was perhaps one of the last products of the company.[13]

The last reference found to the Condor is dated 1959, and it seems that the remaining stocks were cleared under retailer brands such as Avigo or Rafuray.

120 film

4.5×6 rigid

4.5×6 folders

The attribution of the Zeitax is unsure.

6×6 folders

The Centre Six was perhaps made by another unrelated Nissan Kōgaku company.

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. See also the advertisement for the Semi Lester reproduced in the Gochamaze website. The address was in Tokyo but it is not legible.
  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. ↑ The address was Tōkyō-shi Toshima-ku Ikebukuro 1–606 (東京市豊島区池袋１の606). Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"). The same address appears for Tokiwa Kōgaku in an advertisement dated September 1942, reproduced in the Gochamaze website, and in an advertisement dated February 1943, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 73.
  7. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 374, about the Semi Rocket, confirms that it is the same company that made the Condor folders.
  8. ↑ Semi Rocket: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 374. New Rocket: McKeown, p. 844.
  9. ↑ Niimi, p. 92.
  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).
  13. ↑ See this page at Eyescoffee.com.

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.
  • "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.
  • 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

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In Japanese:

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