Gotex and Poppy Six

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Japanese SLR, TLR, pseudo TLR and stereo models ->
Japanese 3×4 and 4×4, 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6 and older 6×9 ->
This is a work in progress.

The Gotex (ゴーテックス) is a Japanese 6×6 folder made by Kigawa from 1941 to the end of the war, and later by Shin Nippon Kōgyō.

General description

The Gotex is a horizontal folder, with three-part folding struts similar to those of the Ikonta. The top housing contains both an eye-level finder in the middle and a brilliant finder offset to the right, as seen by the photographer. The body release is to the right of the brilliant finder, and the accessory shoe and folding bed release are to the left of the eye-level finder. There are strap lugs at both extremities of the top plate, and the film is advanced by a key at the left end. The back is hinged to the right and the back latch consists of a long sliding bar. There is a single red window in the middle of the back, protected by a horizontally sliding cover.

Unit-focusing Gotex

The early Gotex have helical unit focusing, moving the lens and shutter assembly together. The camera was advertised in Japanese magazines from December 1941.[1] The January 1942 advertisement in Shashin Bunka says that the lens is an Erinar Anastigmat 75/3.5 and the shutter a Kiko Compur (キコー・コンパー) giving T, B, 1–300 speeds.[2] The price is given as ¥187. The picture shows a plain circular lens standard. The October 1942 advertisement in the same magazine shows a square chrome-plated lens standard, perhaps adopted to protect the focusing lever.[3] The price and features are the same.

An advertisement dated February 1944 shows the Gotex with unit focusing, together with the Kiko Semi.[4] The main picture again shows a camera with a circular lens standard. The lens is the Erinar Anastigmat f/3.5, and another picture shows lens no.60693, probably on a Gotex. It seems that the shutter is still the Kiko Compur (1–300), and that the price is ¥214.42.[5]

One early example of the unit focusing Gotex has been observed with the square chrome-plated lens standard.[6] The full lens marking is Kikō Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=7.5cm No62XXX. The word RAPID is visible at the bottom of the speed setting rim, and the shutter is perhaps a Rapid-Kiko. The name GOTEX is embossed on the front leather, perhaps with a macron on the "O". The top housing has a large KSK logo engraved above the eye-level finder, presumably for Kigawa Seimitsu Kōgaku. Smaller illegible markings are inscribed above, perhaps the same TOKYO JAPAN KIGAWA KŌGAKU 2601 as on the Semi Kulax and early Kiko Semi.

Another unit-focusing Gotex is known with a black painted square lens standard.[7] It reportedly has an SNK engraving at the top.

Front-cell focusing Gotex or SNK

Unit focusing was abandoned at some point, and the late Gotex have a front-cell focusing lens. This move was certainly caused by a shortage of materials. The February 1944 advertisement mentioning unit focusing tends to indicate that the change occurred in the immediate postwar period.

An example of the Gotex has been observed in an online auction with front-cell focusing. The lens marking is Erinar Anastigmat 1:3.5 f=75mm N°101995. The shutter speeds are not fully legible but the range is probably T, B, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 or 300. The front leather has no marking, and the top housing has a big SNK marking (looking very similar to the marking mentioned above), with TOKYO JAPAN and SHIN NIPPON written underneath. The auction's description says that the folding struts and the back are marked KIKO TSUBASA. This camera is mentioned by McKeown as a "folding rollfilm camera" by "SNK Camera Works".[8]

Possible name variants

The official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941 has various 6×6 cameras obviously made by Kigawa, perhaps related to the Gotex: the "Tsubasa Six I" (¥79), plain "Tsubasa Six" (¥89), "Tsubasa Six II" (¥94) and "Tsubasa Six IV" (¥110).[9]

McKeown has various entries which presumably correspond to name variants of the Gotex. The "Kiko 6", attributed to no particular company, is described as having helical focusing and a Rapid Kiko shutter (1–500), but its format is not mentioned.[10] The "Tsubasa 6×6", attributed to Kigawa has a Kiko Erinar 75mm f/3.5 lens and dual finders under a polished-chrome top housing.[11] This model is surely similar to the Gotex, and is perhaps related to the Tsubasa Six listed in the January 1941 price list.

The "Grace Six" is a 6×6 folder attributed to Daitoh, surely by mistake.[12] The description mentions dual eye level and waist level finders, a chrome top plate and a unit focusing Erinar Anastigmat 75/3.5. No picture is provided but the camera is surely a name variant or an evolution of the Gotex or SNK. The name "Grace" was also used by Kigawa on the Graceflex.

The Gotex was probably succeeded by the similar looking Poppy Six made by the Shin Nippon company.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336.
  2. ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.68.
  3. ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.71.
  4. ↑ Advertisement on the third cover of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, February 15, 1944, reproduced on p.77 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  5. ↑ The columns listing the features of the Kiko Semi and Gotex are probably mismatched, as is indicated by the given format, and the Kiko Rapid (1–500) shutter certainly applies to the Kiko Semi. The prices are probably at the right place, and the Gotex is presumably more expensive than the Kiko Semi.
  6. ↑ Example observed in an online auction.
  7. ↑ Example observed in an online auction.
  8. ↑ McKeown, p.897.
  9. ↑ "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 4, sections 3, 4, 5A, 6A.
  10. ↑ McKeown, p.465.
  11. ↑ McKeown, p.464.
  12. ↑ McKeown, p.240. Daitoh made inexpensive cameras including one called Grace, a name variant of the Ponix. This is probably the source of the confusion.

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. Item 75. (See also the advertisement for item 101.)
  • "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 4, sections 3, 4, 5A, 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). Pp.240, 464–5 and 897.
  • Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.77, corresponding to the third cover of the February 15, 1944 issue.

The Gotex is not listed in Sugiyama.

Links

In Japanese:

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