Herlight
The Herlight is a Japanese camera taking 4×4cm pictures on 127 film, made by Ōfuna Kōgaku from 1947.[1]
Contents
Description
The Herlight is a box-shaped metal camera, and can be described as a box or a pseudo TLR. The whole body is painted in a chocolate colour, and has no covering at all. The camera is held by a handle attached to the left-hand side.
There is a large brilliant finder at the top, above the lens. The name Herlight is written above the camera behind the finder eyepiece. The film is advanced by a knob on the photographer's right. The removable back contains a single red window and is locked in place by a latch under the body.
The shutter has two blades behind the lens.[2] It is controlled by a square selector on the right-hand side, with B and I indications for Bulb and Instant.[3] There is a thread for a cable release just below the speed selector, and the main release lever is further below.
The lens is a fixed focus 5cm f/6 called Triplet Ofunar. The aperture is selected by a knob under the lens. The aperture scale, with 6, 9, 12, 16 settings, is inscribed on a riveted metal plate with a hexagonal OFUNA logo.
 
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| Herlight, 4×4cm pictures on 127 film. (Image rights) |
Notes
Bibliography
- Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Ōfuna Kōgaku no kamera: Kamera kara kōgaku heiki e" (大船光学のカメラ：カメラから光学兵器へ, The cameras of Ōfuna Kōgaku: From cameras to military optics). Chapter 8 of Zunō kamera tanjō: Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari (ズノーカメラ誕生：戦後国産カメラ10物語, The birth of the Zunow camera: Ten stories of postwar Japanese camera makers). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1999. ISBN 4-257-12023-1. Originally published in 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.39, September 1996. ISBN 4-257-13007-5. Modan kurashikku renzu-hen (特集：モダンクラシックレンズ編, Modern classic lenses)..
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 4147.
- Watakushi no ni-gan-refu kamera-ten (私の二眼レフカメラ展, Exhibition of twin lens reflex cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.28.
This camera is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
Links
In Japanese:
- Herlight in the Rieki-juku camera blog (text only)
