Difference between revisions of "Fuji Kōgaku"
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Revision as of 17:26, 26 July 2006
Fuji Kōgaku is a Japanese camera maker that was active before the war, and is unrelated to the other well known Fuji company. Its full name was Fuji Kōgaku Kikai Seisakusho (富士光学器械製作所) between 1936 and 1938, then Fuji Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (富士光学工業株式会社, Fuji Optical Industries Co Ltd) between 1939 and 1944. The company sometimes used the short name Fujikō (富士光). The distributor of the Fujikō cameras was Fuji Kōgaku Shōji K.K. (富士光学商事株式会社), at least in 1941 and 1942[1]. The company made a range of cameras called with the "Lyra" (ライラ) name. This name was certainly meant to recall "Leica" (ライカ in Japanese).
The company logo was FUJI KŌGAKU written in a cemented doublet lens scheme (a type of logo used by many other optical companies). There was a protuberance on top of the logo, maybe an allusion to the Mount Fuji.
Various Japanese websites[2] say that the company became Taisei Kōki after the war, but this page at Japan Family Camera more precisely says that the company was split in two parts: Taisei Kōki and Katsuma Kōgaku, with the latter one keeping the Lyra brand name. Indeed the logo used by both companies on their cameras is similar to the one used by Fuji Kōgaku. However there are records of Katsuma Kōgaku dated as early as 1932 (it contributed to found the Tōkyō Kōgaku company, later Topcon). It is more probable that Katsuma Kōgaku bought the brand names, such as Lyra and Terionar, to what remained of Fuji Kōgaku after the war, maybe with some designs, while the company itself was reformed as Taisei Kōki.
Contents
120 film
4.5×6 rangefinder, collapsible
4.5×6 folding
- Semi Lyra (prewar models)
McKeown mentions a Bakyna strut-folding camera, with a bakelite body.
6×6 folding
6×6 TLR
- Lyra Flex (prewar camera)
127 film
3×4 folding
McKeown mentions a Baby Balnet 3×4 folder, copy of the Baby Ikonta.
4×6.5 folding
Notes
- ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 100–1.
- ↑ This page of the Mediajoy Guide to Classic Cameras, this page at Minosan's blog and this page at Puppy's Island.
Printed 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. 328–9.
