Doryu 1

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This is a work in progress.

The Doryu 1 is a pistol-shaped camera taking 9.5mm film, completed in 1952 by the Doryu company, and made at prototype level only.

History and documents

The Doryu cameras were developed for police and surveillance tasks,[1] mainly to catch photographic proof of criminal behaviour in the act. The first camera was developed from 1949, with some degree of official support, and was completed in 1952 as the Doryu 1, taking 9.5mm film.[2] It never went into production because of durability problems and of the low availability of 9.5mm film in Japan.[3] The same year 1952, the Doryū company began to develop the newer Doryu 2-16 instead.[4]

The Doryu 1 is mentioned in the March 1955 issue of Shashin Kōgyō, in an article about the Doryu 2-16 written by Andō Katsuyasu, an employee of the Doryu company. This is the only contemporary public appearance of the camera known so far.[5] In this article, the camera is consistently described as the "Doryu 1", whereas the pictured camera has markings identifying it as a "Doryu 3", for an unknown reason.

The single surviving example known so far is pictured in Sugiyama's book, with serial number 1109.[6] This camera has the same "Doryu 3" markings as mentioned above, and this is why it is called that way in the book.

Description

The device is shaped as an automatic pistol, with a handgrip and a trigger. It has a predominantly black finish. The top part seems to contain a long tubular viewfinder, whose front glass is at the gun nozzle, and whose eyepiece is at the rear end of the breechblock. It also has an aperture on the right, holding a magnesium cartridge for flash photography. There are inscriptions on both sides: certainly MADE IN JAPAN on the right, and something ending in PISTOL CAMERA on the left.

The handgrip has some sort of logo made of various intertwined letters, in the middle of a cross-shaped structure visible on both sides. The name DORYU 3 is embossed at the bottom, on the left side only. It seems that the bottom lid is hinged to the rear and has an opening key. It probably gives access to a magazine containing various magnesium cartridges, just as on the Doryu 2-16. It is not known if the Doryu 1 has a mechanism relying on the explosion of the magnesium charge to automatically eject the flash cartridge and reload another, as found on the later model.

The trigger both trips the shutter and fires the magnesium cartridge. It is perhaps locked by one of the levers visible immediately to the rear.

The camera part is placed at the front end, in front of the trigger and below the viewfinder window. The camera takes 8×8mm exposures on 9.5mm film, certainly contained in specific cassettes, about which nothing is known.[7] Film is loaded through the left-hand side plate, which is hinged to the bottom and contains a small window for an exposure counter. The details of the film advance mechanism are unknown.

The film door is engraved PATENTS at the top and Doryu3 at the bottom. The right side is engraved DORYU CAMERA CO. LTD. at the bottom and has a serial number at the top. There is an accessory shoe on the same side, towards the rear, which is vertically oriented and whose purpose is completely unknown. There is a round part on the underside, certainly containing a tripod socket.

The shutter is said to give Bulb and 1/30 settings.[8] The lens is a fixed 23/3.3, apparently engraved "Doryu 3" around the front barrel. It is said that it is mounted on a focusing helix and that the aperture is adjustable to f/16.[9]

Notes

  1. Andō, p.214: 防犯警備用を目的として設計されている.
  2. Andō, p.214.
  3. Andō, p.214: このカメラは耐久力とフィルムの入手困難のため、発売するに至らず.
  4. Andō, p.214: 同年新たにドリウ2-16型を設計[...]しました.
  5. This article is notably the only source listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.356.
  6. Sugiyama, item 5030.
  7. Exposure size: Sugiyama, item 5030.
  8. Sugiyama, item 5030.
  9. Sugiyama, item 5030.

Bibliography

  • Andō Katsuyasu (安藤勝康). "Doriu 2–16 gata kamera" (ドリウ2–16型カメラ, Doryu 2-16 camera). In Shashin Kōgyō no.33 (March 1955). Pp.214–7.
  • 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 632.
  • 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 5030.

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