Difference between revisions of "Ehira"
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== Bibliography == | == Bibliography == | ||
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| − | * Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). | + | * Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Weha Chrome Six" (ウエハークロームシックス). In {{CCN}} no.42 (December 1980, the cover wrongly has "no.41"). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. |
* {{Inquiry1943}} | * {{Inquiry1943}} | ||
* {{Lewis}} | * {{Lewis}} | ||
Revision as of 22:12, 12 March 2008
Ehira was a Japanese camera maker before and after World War II, founded by Ehira Shinjirō and based in Yao, in the suburbs of Osaka.[1] (Most Japanese camera companies were in Tokyo, with the notable exception of Molta, then Chiyoda Kōgaku, predecessor of Minolta, in Osaka.)
History
Before founding his own company, Ehira Shinjirō worked for Molta. There he drew plans for a metal focal plane shutter, patented by the firm in November 1932.[2] It is said that he was also largely responsible of the innovative design of the Minolta Vest, a collapsible camera made of bakelite.[3]
Ehira Shinjirō founded Ehira Kōki (江平光機) in 1936.[4] The first product of the company was an accessory rangefinder, distributed by Yamamoto Shashinki-ten under its own Weha brand.[5] The earlier Weha products, such as the Weha plate folders, were not made by Ehira.[6]
The first camera made by Ehira was the Weha Chrome Six, notable for its coupled rangefinder device, inspired by the Super Ikonta and other Zeiss Ikon cameras. The earliest examples were perhaps made in Yamamoto's own workshop.[7] Ehira also made the Weha Six 6×6 folder and the Auto Rapid Ehira and Kōki TTSH shutters mounted on the two camera models. The last examples of the Weha Chrome Six have no mention of Weha and are called Ehira Chrome Six.
The full name of the company in the early period is not certain; in 1943 it was called Ehira Kōgaku Kikai Kōjō (江平光学精機工場, meaning Ehira Optics and Precision Plant).[8] The logo was Ehira KSK inside a doublet lens scheme.
During the war, Ehira worked as a subcontractor of Chiyoda Kōgaku on the Type 100 small aerial camera and on a film feeding device for a gun camera.
The company survived the war: in 1946, Ehira was one of the 17 founding members of the Kōgaku Seiki Kōgyō Kyōkai (光学精機工業協会, Optical and Precision Products Industries Association).[9] It produced a small number of Weha Chrome Six and Ehira Chrome Six from the remaining stocks of parts.
In 1949, the company released the Ehira Six and Astoria Super Six coupled-rangefinder 6×6 folders, more directly copied from the Super Ikonta. At the time, its full name as appears in the advertisements was Ehira Kōki Seisakusho (江平光機製作所, meaning Ehira Optical Works).[10]
Camera list
- Weha Six I and II
- Weha Chrome Six I, II, III
- Weha Chrome Six III New and Ehira Chrome Six
- Enon Six
- Ehira Six IIIA and Astoria Super Six IIIB
Other
- Weha accessory rangefinder, chrome, long base, available in metres or in feet (sold ¥15 in 1936)[11]
Notes
- ↑ The address in 1943 was Ōsaka-fu Nakakawachi-gun Yao-chō Kozakai 148 (大阪府中河内郡八尾町小阪合148) and in 1949 it was Ōsaka-fu Yao-shi Kozakai 148 (大阪府八尾市小阪合一四八), the same address in the new administrative system. Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras") and advertisement dated November 1949 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.121.
- ↑ Nakagawa, p.120. The patent number is S8-3457.
- ↑ Tanimura, p.32.
- ↑ Date: Tanimura, p.33.
- ↑ Weha rangefinder made by Ehira: Tanimura, p.33.
- ↑ McKeown, p.255, mistakenly attributes the Weha Light plate folder to Ehira.
- ↑ An October 1937 advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.59, mentions Yamamoto as the maker and distributor (製造発売元) of the Weha Chrome Six. Tanimura, p.33, however says that the Ehira plant was set up in 1936 and that the Ehira company produced the Weha Chrome Six from the start.
- ↑ Full name in 1943: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras").
- ↑ Lewis, p.60; Tanimura, p.36.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.121.
- ↑ Metres or feet: Tanimura, p.33. Price: advertisement published in Sunday Mainichi (December 13, 1936), reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
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.
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Weha Chrome Six" (ウエハークロームシックス). In Camera Collectors' News no.42 (December 1980, the cover wrongly has "no.41"). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
- "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.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard).
- 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). P.255.
- Nakagawa Chū (中川忠). "Metaru fōkaru purēn shattā no hensen (dai-ikkai)" (メタルフォーカルプレーンシャッターの変遷[第１回], Evolution of the metal focal-plane shutter [part 1]). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.51, June 1999. ISBN 4-257-13024-5. Kurashikku kamera supesharu (クラシックカメラスペシャル, issue about miscellaneous classic cameras). Pp.118–22.
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Ehira Shinjirō no kamera: Ehira Kōki, Uehā kara Eruchina made" (江平信次郎のカメラ・江平光機、ウエハーからエルチナまで, The cameras of Ehira Shinjirō, from the Weha to the Eltina). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.51, June 1999. ISBN 4-257-13024-5. Kurashikku kamera supesharu (クラシックカメラスペシャル, issue about miscellaneous classic cameras). Pp.32–9.
Links
In Japanese:
- Advertisement showing the Weha rangefinder, published in the December 13, 1936 issue of Sunday Mainichi, reproduced in the camera company page of the Gochamaze website
