Difference between revisions of "Gaica"
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== Name == | == Name == | ||
| − | Gaica can be written 凱歌 and then it means "victory song", but in the advertisements observed it is written ガイカ in katakana writing | + | Gaica can be written 凱歌 and then it means "victory song", but in the advertisements observed it is written ガイカ in katakana writing. During the war period, Riken used such "patriotic" names, as well as names reminding Japan's alliance with Germany. The [[Leica]] was also well known and highly regarded in Japan at the time, and the similarity in pronunciation would have been obvious. |
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
Revision as of 20:50, 9 January 2010
The Gaica (ガイカ) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folder made and sold from 1940 by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (today Ricoh), in the Ōji plant.[1]
Contents
Description
The Gaica is a vertical folder, copy of the Nettar with straight folding struts. There is a folding optical finder in the middle of the top plate, and a button on the right to release the folding bed. The advance key is at the bottom right. The back is hinged to the left and contains two red windows at the top, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. The name Gaica is embossed in calligraphic letters in the front leather.
Evolution
Original Gaica
The Gaica was first announced in advertisements by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō for the Olympic Four, dated March, April and June 1940,[2] with a Prontor II shutter giving T, B, 1–175 speeds and a 75/4.5 lens. There was no picture and no price was indicated. It seems that this version was never sold.
The original Gaica (ガイカ)[3] has a Vario shutter. The shutter plate is inscribed VARIO at the top and has the AGC logo (for Gauthier) at the bottom. The 25, 50, 100, B, T speed settings are selected by an index at the top, and the release lever is located on the shutter housing itself. The lens is a Gaica Anastigmat 7.5cm f/4.5.
This model of the Gaica was offered in an advertisement dated August 1940,[4] for ¥98 — case ¥7 extra. It was listed in the official price list compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, for ¥80,[5] and it was pictured in an advertisement dated March 1941.[6] It was still in the official price list dated November 1941.[7]
An actual example is pictured in Tanaka.[8]
Gaica II
The Gaica II (ガイカⅡ型)[9] has an added body release and a Gaica shutter made by Riken, giving T, B, 1–175 speeds.[10] The shutter plate is marked GAICA at the bottom and has an RKK logo on the right (for Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō). The 175–1, B, T speed settings are inscribed on the shutter plate in that order.
It was listed in the January 1941 official price list cited above, for ¥88,[11] and in the November 1941 price list too.[12] It was offered in advertisements dated January and March 1941 together with other Riken models,[13] and pictured in an advertisement dated February 1941 for the Riken range.[14] The March advertisement was by the distributor Doi Shōten and mentioned the price of ¥88. The shutter was advertised as "of the Prontor II type" (プロンターⅡ型).[15]
The camera was mentioned as the "Semi Gaica" in the government inquiry compiled in April 1943.[16] In this document, the lens is given as a three-element Gaica 75/4.5 made by Riken.[17]
An actual example of the Gaica II has been observed with a K.O.L. Gaica Anastigmat 7.5cm f/4.5, certainly made by Kajiro Kōgaku or its successors Gojō or Kokusaku.[18]
Name
Gaica can be written 凱歌 and then it means "victory song", but in the advertisements observed it is written ガイカ in katakana writing. During the war period, Riken used such "patriotic" names, as well as names reminding Japan's alliance with Germany. The Leica was also well known and highly regarded in Japan at the time, and the similarity in pronunciation would have been obvious.
Notes
- ↑ Made by Riken: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 61. Ōji plant: Arimura, p.6 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14. This page of the Ricoh official website says that the camera was supplied by a subcontractor, perhaps by mistake.
- ↑ Advertisements in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.64 and 104.
- ↑ This model is called "Semi Gaica" in Tanaka, pp.9 and 17 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14, and in this page of the Ricoh official website, but it is simply called "Gaica" in the original advertisements.
- ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.65.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 3, section 3B.
- ↑ Advertisement in Gakusei no Kagaku, reproduced in Gochamaze.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 3, section 3B.
- ↑ Tanaka, p.17 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14. A small copy of the picture is reproduced in this page of the Ricoh official website.
- ↑ This model is called "Gaica Semi" in McKeown, p.333.
- ↑ Made by Riken: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), shutter item 18-P-11.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 3, section 6A.
- ↑ "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō", November 1941, type 3, section 6A.
- ↑ January 1941: advertisement in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.65. March 1941: advertisement in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.104.
- ↑ February 1941: advertisement published in Gakusei no Kagaku, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
- ↑ January 1941 advertisement cited above.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 61.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Lc14.
- ↑ Example pictured in this page of Gillman's blog. On this particular example the shutter plate is rotated 90° to the left, surely because it has been dismantled and badly remounted.
Bibliography
- Arimura Katsumi (有村克巳). "Rikō Ryakushi" (リコー略史, Ricoh short history). 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.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.6–7.
- 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. Items 47–8, 52–3 and 323–4.
- "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō" (カメラの公定価格官報発表, Official announcement of the set prices of the cameras), November 1941. Extract of a table listing Japanese camera production and setting the retail prices, reproduced in "Bebī Semi Fāsuto 'Kore ha bebī wo nanotta semi-ki da'" (ベビーセミファースト"これはベビーを名乗ったセミ機だ", Baby Semi First, 'this is a Semi camera called Baby'), an article by Furukawa Yasuo (古川保男) in Camera Collectors' News no. 277 (July 2000). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. P. 27. Type 3, sections 3B and 6A.
- "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. Item 61.
- "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 3, sections 3B and 6A.
- 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). Page 333.
- Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). 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.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.8–11.
- Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Senzen no kamera 2: Supuringu kamera" (戦前のカメラ2・スプリングカメラ, Prewar cameras 2: folding cameras). 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.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.16–9.
The Gaica is not listed in Sugiyama.
Links
In Japanese:
- Pages of the Ricoh official website:
- Gaica in the Ricoh camera list (the given shutter speeds are erroneous), the page is copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum
- article about Riken wartime camera names
- Gaica II at Gillman's blog
- Advertisements reproduced in the camera company page of the Gochamaze website:
- Advertisement for the Riken cameras picturing the Gaica (fourth camera from the top), published in the February 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
- Advertisement for the Riken cameras picturing the Gaica, published in the March 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
| Asahi Bussan and Riken prewar and wartime cameras () | ||
|---|---|---|
| rigid or collapsible | ||
| Vest Adler | Gokoku | Semi Kinsi | Letix | Olympic | New Olympic | Regal Olympic | Semi Olympic | Super Olympic | Vest Olympic | Riken No.1 | Ricohl | Roico | Seica | Zessan | ||
| folders | pseudo TLR | TLR |
| Semi Adler | Adler III | Adler A | Adler B | Adler C | Adler Four | Adler Six | Gaica | Heil | Kinsi | Chukon Ref | Ricohflex | Ricohflex B |
