Japanese 3×4 and 4×4 pseudo TLR
Contents
The concept
Some pseudo TLR cameras taking 3×4cm pictures on 127 film were sold between 1937 and 1942 by Japanese companies. Their shape imitates a twin lens reflex but the finder is nothing more than a big brilliant finder, and they are fixed-focus.
There is a variety of names, but all are in fact the same camera, except probably the Hansa Rollette Ref. They have a black bakelite body[1], a 50/6.3 lens and B, 25, 50, 75, 100 shutter speeds. They seem to differ only by the nameplate, attached by two screws and easily interchanged, and by the lens and shutter markings. It is probable that these cameras were all produced in the same sub-contracting factories.
The Clover Baby Ref
The Clover Baby Ref (クロバー・ベビーレフ) appears in advertisements dated 1937[2]. Its price was ¥18.50. It has a Clover Baby Ref nameplate, the lens is named Argus and the shutter too: it is engraved ARGUS in capital letters.
The company name that appears in the August 1937 advertisement is Hagi Kōgyō Bōeki.
The Alma Baby Ref
The Alma Baby Ref (アルマ・ベビーレフ) appears in advertisements dated 1937 and 1938[3]. Its price was ¥23.50 in 1938. The lens and the shutter are said to be called Argus.[4] It is thus identical to the Clover Baby Ref, except for its Alma nameplate.
The company name that appears in the May 1938 advertisement is Banno Bōeki, it was probably only the distributor. Kokusan kamera no rekishi attributes the camera to Miyoshi Kōgaku, like the other Alma cameras. That does not mean much for this model, because the actual maker was probably some other company, common to all the cameras described in this page.
The Pilot Ref 3×4 and 4×4
The Pilot Ref (パイロットレフ) exists in two versions. The 3×4 model appears in advertisements dated between 1938 and 1942, alongside the 4×4 modelin 1941 and 1942. The price varies between ¥16 and ¥23 depending on the date and model. The pictures displayed in the advertisements show no external difference between the two models, or maybe they only show the 3×4 model. There are two nameplate variants, one is marked Pilott Ref in lowercase letters (with two "t"), the other is marked PILOT REF in uppercase letters (normal orthography). The lens is called Clear[5] Anastigmat and the shutter plate is written Perfection.
The company name that appears in the advertisements is Tachibana Shōkai.
The Chukon Ref
The Chukon Ref (チューコンレフ)[6] appears in the new products column of the August 1939 issue of Asahi Camera[7]. It was sold by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (today Ricoh) but it was not made by this company[8].
The lens is said to be a Chukon Anastigmat[9] and the shutter plate is marked Chukon Ref at the top and R.K.K. at the bottom (for Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō).
The Prince Baby Ref
The Prince Baby Ref (プリンスベビーレフ) appears in advertisements dated 1939 and 1940. Its price was ¥21 in 1939[10]. It is said to have an Argus lens and shutter, like the Alma Baby Ref anc Clover Baby Ref.[11]
The company name that appears in the October 1939 advertisement is the distributor Fukada Shōkai. Kokusan kamera no rekishi attributes the Prince Baby Ref to Prince Camera Works, again this does not mean much for this camera.
The Hansa Rollette Ref
The Hansa Rollette Ref (ハンザ・ローレット・レフ) has a different shape, squarer than the models described above. It is also slightly earlier: it appears in the catalogue of Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten dated April 1937[12]. Its price was ¥16. It is said to have a Tribar[13] 50/8 lens and a T, B, 25–100 shutter.[14]
Kokusan kamera no rekishi attributes this camera to Ōmiya Shashin-yōhin K.K. (近江屋写真用品株式会社), the owner of the Hansa brand, but it is certainly only the distributor.
Notes
- ↑ According to this page about the Chukon Ref in the Ricoh official website.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Alma Four and Alma Baby Ref, published in the May 1938 issue of Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 15.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Alma Four and Alma Baby Ref, published in the May 1938 issue of Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 15.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
- ↑ Inferred from the katakana クリアー.
- ↑ The name Chūkon can be written 忠魂 and then it means "faithful spirit", sometimes in the sense of "loyal dead" or "war dead". Riken used such weird "patriotic" names during the war.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
- ↑ According to this page of the Ricoh official website.
- ↑ In this page of the Ricoh official website.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Doris, Pocket Prince, Semi Prince, Semi Prux, Prince Baby Ref and Prince rangefinder, published in the October 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 231.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340.
- ↑ Reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, items 182 and 183.
- ↑ Inferred from the katakana トリバー.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
Printed 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. Items 15, 78, 142, 175–7, 183, 231.
Links
In Japanese:
- Clover Baby Ref and Hansa Rollette Ref in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
- Ricoh camera list at the Ricoh official website, with:
| 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 |
