Heliostar
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| Heliostar Anastigmat München 105mm f/6.3 lens no.96185 in a Lidex C shutter, on a Tokiwa No.3. Picture courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights) |
The lens name Heliostar is found on various Japanese cameras of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The full engraving is Heliostar Anastigmat München and is easily mistaken for Hellostar. The maker's name is not indicated, and the exact origin of this lens is unknown.
Contents
List of cameras equipped
This list is incomplete, and not all the versions have a Heliostar lens:
- Arcadia: 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Eaton: 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Happy: 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Lomax: 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- National (4×6.5): f/6.3 (advertised)
- Nifcarette: 75mm f/6.3 (observed)
- Sirius: 105mm f/6.3 and 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Super and Special Super: f/4.5 (advertised)
- Tokiwa: 105mm f/6.3 and 105mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Weha: 105mm f/6.3, 105mm f/4.5 and 130mm f/4.5 (observed)
- Weha Idea: f/6.3 and f/4.5 (advertised)
Enlarging lenses
 
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| Left: Heliostar Anastigmat München 105mm f/6.3 enlarging lens no.94093. Picture courtesy of Jay Tepper. (Image rights) Right: Asanuma catalogue dated October 1941, listing the Heliostar 105mm f/6.3 enlarging lens. (Image rights) |
The Heliostar 105mm f/6.3 lens was also supplied for enlargers.[1] It was listed in an Asanuma catalogue as late as October 1941, for ¥33.43.[2]
Table of known lenses
Lens numbers are known in a wide range: lowest is 48086 and highest is 96185. Here is a list of the Heliostar lenses observed so far:
| lens number | lens type | shutter | camera |
| 48086 | 105mm f/6.3 | Neuheil | Weha |
| 73230 | 105mm f/6.3 | Koilos | Sirius |
| 7427x | 105mm f/4.5 | Koilos | Sirius |
| 75004 | 75mm f/6.3 | Koilos | Nifcarette |
| 75739 | 105mm f/4.5 | Neuheil | Arcadia |
| 75791 | 130mm f/4.5 | Ibsor | Weha |
| 78237 | 130mm f/4.5 | Neuheil | Weha |
| 79355 | 105mm f/4.5 | Koilos | Lomax |
| 84311 | 105mm f/6.3 | Koilos | Tokiwa |
| 8758x | 105mm f/4.5 | Lidex | Weha |
| 94093 | 105mm f/6.3 | _ | enlarger |
| 96185 | 105mm f/6.3 | Lidex C | Tokiwa |
Notes
- ↑ Examples pictured in this article, in this page at Takasaki Motohiro's website, and observed in an online auction on a CH enlarger.
- ↑ Catalogue by Asanuma Shōkai dated October 1941, p.16.
Bibliography
- Asanuma Shōkai. Shashinki to zairyō (写真機と材料, Cameras and supplies). Catalogue dated October 1941. Pp.7 and 9. Document partly reproduced in this Flickr album by Rebollo_fr.
- Kamera no mekanizumu sono I: "Hai! Chīzu" Shunkan o torae-tsuzukeru shattā-ten (カメラのメカニズム・そのⅠ・「ハイ！チーズ」瞬間をとらえ続けるシャッター展, Camera mechanism, part 1 "Cheese!" Exhibition of instant taking shutters). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2002. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number) P.21. (Has a picture of a Heliostar 105mm f/4.5 lens in a Lidex shutter.)
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Shashin renzu hattatsu-shi dai-12-kai: Kokusan renzu no rekishi (zenpen)" (写真レンズ発達史第12回・国産レンズの歴史[前編], History of the development of photographic lenses no.12: History of the Japanese lenses [first part]). In Camera Collectors' News no.56 (February 1982). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.11–6. (Shows a picture of a Heliostar lens.)
Links
In Japanese:
- Unknown plate folder with a Koilos shutter and a Heliostar lens, at the Monomono blog
- Plate folder (certainly a Happy) with a Heliostar 105mm f/4.5 lens and a Lidex shutter at takemovies
- Heliostar 105mm f/6.3 enlarging lens at Takasaki Motohiro's camera site
