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. The Poppy Six is an evolution of the Gotex.

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.

The Tsubasa Six, a possible predecessor

The official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941 has various 6×6 cameras called "Tsubasa Six I" (¥79), "Tsubasa Six" (¥89), "Tsubasa Six II" (¥94) and "Tsubasa Six IV" (¥110).[1] These were obviously made by Kigawa, and were perhaps related to the 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The price and features are the same.

An advertisement dated February 1944 shows the Gotex with unit focusing, together with the Kiko Semi.[5] 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.[6]

One early example of the unit focusing Gotex has been observed with the square chrome-plated lens standard.[7] 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 reported as 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. The folding struts and red window cover have a logo, certainly reading KIKO TSUBASA.

The Kigawa company became Shin Nippon Kōgyō, certainly when it was refounded after 1945. An advertisement dated April 1948 presents the Gotex as made by Shin Nippon Kōgyō.[8] The features are the same as in the wartime advertisements: Erinar Anastigmat lens and Kiko Compur (キコーコンパー) shutter.[9]

On the camera, the markings on the top housing were replaced by a large SNK logo and the words TOKYO JAPAN and SHIN NIPPON written underneath. The lens marking became Erinar Anastigmat 1:3.5 f=75mm, eliminating the word "Kiko", and the GOTEX embossing disappeared from the front leather around the same time. It however seems that the logo on the folding struts and red window cover remained KIKO TSUBASA for some time. Nothing on the camera itself identifies it as a Gotex, but the commercial name was unchanged, as is demonstrated by the April 1948 advertisement. Today, some sources refer to the camera as the "SNK".[10]

One example of the unit-focusing Gotex reportedly has an SNK engraving on the top housing.[11] It has a black painted square lens standard. It certainly has the Erinar Anastigmat lens marking and the KIKO TSUBASA logos.

Unit focusing was abandoned at some point, and most of the Gotex made by Shin Nippon Kōgyō have a front-cell focusing lens and a plain circular lens standard. This move was perhaps caused by a shortage of materials. Two examples are known with a six-digit lens number in the 101xxx range and an unmarked shutter certainly giving T, B, 5–200 speeds.[12] They reportedly have KIKO TSUBASA logos.

One example, pictured in this page, is known with an NKS shutter (B, 1–200), engraved NKS at the bottom of the speed rim, and an Erinar Anastigmat lens with four-digit no.1066. It has SNK TOKYO logos on the folding struts and red window cover. This example is presumably a very late Gotex, before the switch to the Poppy Six.

Possible name variants

McKeown has various entries which might 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.[13] 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.[14] These models might be misidentified postwar Gotex with the KIKO TSUBASA logos, or might be 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.[15] 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. The name "Grace" was also used by Kigawa on the Graceflex.

The Poppy Six

The camera pictured in McKeown as a Poppy Six is indistinguishable from the front-cell focusing Gotex.[16] It has an Erinar Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 lens with six-digit number 103421. It is attributed to "Shin Nippon", presumably because of the markings on the top housing.

Another Poppy Six has been observed in an online auction. There are a number of differences. It has an advance knob instead of a key, the top housing is a little higher, the accessory shoe is heavier, the window of the brilliant finder is round instead of square, there is a square plate behind the shutter housing, with a small wheel on the top right, engaging another wheel whose function is unclear (maybe setting the aperture).

On this example, the shutter seems to be synchronized, with two plugs at the bottom left, and the lens is a front-cell focusing Eria Anastigmat 75mm f:3.5 with red Eria marking and number 2696.

With all these modifications, the camera looks a bit like a Welmy Six E. The rest of the body is similar to the late Gotex and to the camera pictured in McKeown. There is a SNK TOKYO logo engraved in the folding struts, POPPY is engraved above the top housing and embossed in the leather of the folding bed, while the words POPPY and SIX are embossed in the back leather on both sides of the red window.

Notes

  1. "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.
  2. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336.
  3. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.68.
  4. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.71.
  5. Advertisement on the third cover of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, February 15, 1944, reproduced on p.77 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  6. 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.
  7. Example observed in an online auction.
  8. Advertisement on the third cover of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.85 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  9. The shutter speeds are given as 1–130, obviously a misprint for 1–300.
  10. McKeown, p.897, lists the camera as a "folding rollfilm camera" by "SNK Camera Works".
  11. Example observed in an online auction.
  12. Example pictured in this page (lens no.101611), and example observed in an online auction (lens no.101995).
  13. McKeown, p.465.
  14. McKeown, p.464.
  15. 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.
  16. McKeown, p.890.

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, 890 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: