Japanese 3×4 and 4×4 pseudo TLR

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Template:127 Japan

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. 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]. The company name that appears in an advertisement dated August 1937[3] is Hagi Kōgyō Bōeki.

The Clover Baby Ref cost ¥18.50. It has a Clover Baby Ref nameplate, the lens is named Argus and the shutter too, engraved ARGUS in capital letters.

The Alma Baby Ref

The Alma Baby Ref (アルマ・ベビーレフ) appears in advertisements dated 1937 and 1938.[4] The company name that appears in an advertisement dated May 1938[5] is Banno Bōeki, that 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 Alma Baby Ref cost ¥23.50 in 1938. The lens and shutter are said to be called Argus.[6] It is thus identical to the Clover Baby Ref, except for its Alma nameplate.

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.[7] The company name that appears in the advertisements is Tachibana Shōkai.

The price varies between ¥16 and ¥23 depending on the date and model. The advertising pictures show no external difference between the two models, maybe they only display the 3×4 model. There are two nameplate variants, one marked Pilott Ref in lowercase letters (with two "t"), the other marked PILOT REF in uppercase letters (normal orthography). In the advertisements, the lens is called Clear[8] Anastigmat and the shutter plate is written Perfection.

A 3×4 example has been sold in a 2006 auction, with the Pilott Ref nameplate.[9] The lens is a Simpu Anastigmat 50/6.3. (The "Simpu" lens name is also found on the Semi-Tex 4.5×6 folder.) The shutter has a 70 setting instead of 75, the shutter plate is marked Rapid at the top, Shutter at the bottom and at the right it has a logo with N.S in a circle.

The Chukon Ref

The Chukon Ref (チューコンレフ)[10] appears in the new products column of the August 1939 issue of Asahi Camera[11]. It was sold by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (today Ricoh) but it was not made by this company[12].

The lens is said to be a Chukon Anastigmat[13] 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.[14] Its price was ¥21 in October 1939[15], April 1940[16] and August 1940[17]. It is said to have an Argus lens and shutter, like the Alma Baby Ref anc Clover Baby Ref.[18]

The company name that appears in the advertisements 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 Baby Roll Ref

The Baby Roll Ref appears in McKeown and is attributed to Yuzawa Mfg. Co. (probably a translation of Yuzawa Seisakusho, 湯沢製作所). The nameplate and the plate above the hood are both marked Baby Roll Ref. The shutter speeds are B, 25, 50, 100 and the shutter plate is marked Special Shutter at the top and perhaps Baby Roll Ref at the bottom. The lens is reported as a Soft Anastigmat 50/6.3, a name that probably faithfully describes its picture-taking capacities.[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ According to this page about the Chukon Ref in the Ricoh official website.
  2. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 336.
  3. ↑ Advertisement published in the August 1937 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 69.
  4. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
  5. ↑ Advertisement published in the August 1937 issue of Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 59.
  6. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
  7. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338–9.
  8. ↑ Inferred from the katakana クリアー.
  9. ↑ Example sold in the 30 September 2006 auction by Auction Team Köln, for €390. The same example appears in this page of the Auction Team Köln website.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  12. ↑ According to this page of the Ricoh official website.
  13. ↑ In this page of the Ricoh official website.
  14. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340.
  15. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 91.
  16. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 80.
  17. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 80.
  18. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340.
  19. ↑ McKeown, p. 1032.

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, 175–6, 231. (See also the advertisements for items 155 and 177.)
  • Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). Pp. 54–5.
  • 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). P. 1032.

Links

In English:

In Japanese:

Asahi Bussan and Riken prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
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
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