Difference between revisions of "Japanese aerial cameras"

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Machine-gun training cameras are shaped as a machine gun, and are used to train the gunners. [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] made various such cameras from the mid-1920s onwards, and [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]] made at least one model in the late 1930s.
 
Machine-gun training cameras are shaped as a machine gun, and are used to train the gunners. [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] made various such cameras from the mid-1920s onwards, and [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]] made at least one model in the late 1930s.
  
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The '''Type 15 Gun Camera with Watch''' (一五式写真銃時計附)<REF name="SUG 6014"> {{SUG}}, item 6014. </REF><REF> Nakayama and Imai, pp.126–7 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan''. </REF> was made by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] for the Navy, and the '''Type 15 Gun Camera Modified 1''' (一五式写真銃改一)<REF name="hexar0"> [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/hexar0.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha]. </REF> was certainly an evolution. This machine-gun camera was ordered by Yamada Kōgorō (山田幸五郎) of the Japanese Navy, was produced from 1926 under the supervision of Mōri Hirō (毛利広雄), and delivered from 1927; it would be produced until 1942.<REF name="hexar0" /> It was based on the Hythe gun camera made by [[Thornton-Pickard]] in Great-Britain from 1915,<REF name="SUG 6014" /><REF name="hexar0" /> and it was initially equipped with [[Wollensak]] or [[Zeiss]] [[Tessar]] lenses.<REF name="hexar0" /> The camera takes 120 size rollfilm, and makes 4×4.5cm exposures.<REF name="SUG 6014" /> The time was printed on the rest of the 6×6cm frame, and target rings were also superimposed on the image.<REF name="SUG 6014" />
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=== Type 15 Gun Camera, for the Navy ===
 +
The '''Type 15 Gun Camera with Watch''' (一五式写真銃時計附)<REF name="SUG 6014"> {{SUG}}, item 6014. </REF><REF name="nakayama type 15"> Nakayama and Imai, pp.126–7 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan''. </REF> was made by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] for the Navy, and the '''Type 15 Gun Camera Modified 1''' (一五式写真銃改一)<REF name="hexar0"> [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/hexar0.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha]. </REF> was certainly an evolution.
  
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The '''Rotational Target-checking Camera''' (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機) was a similar camera made by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] for the Army.<REF name="SUG 6018"> {{SUG}}, item 6018. </REF><REF name="hexar0" /> (In the name, the word "rotational" or "rotating" is perhaps an allusion to the drum magazines of the original Lewis machine gun from which it is inspired.) The original label inside the box has the subtitle "Hythe type" (ハイス型),<REF> Picture observed in an online forum. </REF> plainly saying that the camera was inspired by Thornton-Pickard's Hythe gun camera. This model was perhaps released around 1926, at the same time as the Type 15 for the Navy, also with [[Wollensak]] or [[Zeiss]] [[Tessar]] lenses.<REF name="hexar0" /> Later versions have an [[Zion and Optor|Optor]] 28.5cm f/11 lens.<REF name="SUG 6018" /> The image size is 4.5×6cm on [[120 film]].<REF name="SUG 6018" />
+
This machine-gun camera was ordered in May 1925 by Yamada Kōgorō (山田幸五郎) of the Japanese Navy, was produced from 1926 under the supervision of Mōri Hirō (毛利広雄), and delivered from 1927.<REF name="hexar0" /> It was inspired by the Hythe gun camera made by [[Thornton-Pickard]] in Great-Britain from 1915,<REF name="SUG 6014" /><REF name="hexar0" /> itself based on the Lewis machine gun. The Japanese copy was initially equipped with [[Wollensak]] or [[Zeiss]] [[Tessar]] lenses.<REF name="hexar0" /> It is said that it was produced until 1942,<REF name="hexar0" /> certainly switching to Japanese lenses at some point.
  
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The '''Rotational Target-checking Camera Model 17''' (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機第十七号) was made by [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]], after the same [[Thornton-Pickard]] model.<REF name="SUG 6016"> {{SUG}}, item 6016. </REF><REF> The camera is also mentioned in Antonetto and Russo, p.25, who say that it was a "rapid-firing camera capable of shooting a burst of 4.5×6cm frames". The actual camera does not seem to have a motor drive, and this description is perhaps misleading. </REF> It takes 4.5×6cm exposures on [[120 film]],<REF name="SUG 6016" /> and is generally quite similar to [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]]'s own Rotating Target-checking Camera. It is said that 605 units were supplied to the Japanese Army.<REF name="SUG 6016" />
+
The camera takes [[120 film|120 size]] rollfilm, and reportedly makes 4×4.5cm exposures, with target rings superimposed on the image.<REF name="SUG 6014" /> The time is recorded on the rest of the 6×6cm frame<REF name="SUG 6014" /> via a secondary lens on the side, taking pictures of a watch placed under the front bead. The camera has no sequential firing ability, and the frames are advanced by a spring motor one by one.<REF name="nakayama type 15" /> The gun camera normally has a drum magazine at the top, only used to enhance the similarity with the Lewis machine gun.<REF name="nakayama type 15" />
  
 +
=== Revolving Target-checking Camera, for the Army ===
 +
The '''Revolving Target-checking Camera''' (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機) was a similar camera made by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] for the Army.<REF name="SUG 6018"> {{SUG}}, item 6018. </REF><REF name="hexar0" /> (In the name, the word "revolving" either refers to the drum magazine mounted at the top or to the fact that the camera was mounted on a turret.) The camera was also called "Hythe model" (ハイス型),<REF> Label inside the original box, observed in a picture posted at a forum. </REF> after the original Hythe gun camera of which it was a copy.<REF> Iwama, p.54 of {{KKS}} no.10, mentions a "Hythe model Target-checking Camera" (ハイス型射撃鑑査写真機) for the Navy. This is probably a confusion between the Army's Revolving Target-checking Camera and the Navy's Type 15 Gun Camera. </REF>
 +
 +
This model was perhaps released around 1926, at the same time as the Type 15 for the Navy. The image size is 4.5×6cm on [[120 film]],<REF name="SUG 6018" /> and there is no time recording device. It is said that the early cameras have [[Wollensak]] or [[Zeiss]] [[Tessar]] lenses.<REF name="hexar0" /> Later ones have an [[Zion and Optor|Optor]] 28.5cm f/11 lens.<REF name="SUG 6018" /><REF> Example pictured in [http://www.seawood.com/classic-camera-corner/004-machine_gun_cameras/index.html this page] at Seawood Photo. </REF>
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 +
=== Revolving Target-checking Camera No.17, for the Army ===
 +
The '''Revolving Target-checking Camera No.17''' (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機第十七号) was another copy of the Hythe machine-gun camera, made by [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]].<REF name="SUG 6016"> {{SUG}}, item 6016. </REF> It takes 4.5×6cm exposures on [[120 film]],<REF name="SUG 6016" /> and is generally quite similar to [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]]'s own Rotating Target-checking Camera.<REF> Antonetto and Russo, p.25, say that the Target-checking Camera No.17 was a "rapid-firing camera capable of shooting a burst of 4.5×6cm frames", but the sequential firing ability is otherwise unconfirmed. </REF> It is said that 605 units were supplied to the Japanese Army.<REF name="SUG 6016" />
 +
 +
=== Type 89 Machine-gun Camera ===
 
The '''Type 89 Machine-gun Camera''' (八九式活動写真銃) was an all new model by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]], taking 18×24mm pictures on 35mm cine film. It is driven by a spring motor, taking 10 frames per second.<REF name="SUG 6015"> {{SUG}}, item 6015. </REF> It is said that four experimental cameras were made in 1929.<REF name="hexar0" /> (In the name, "Type 89" stands for year 2589 in the Japanese mythological calendar, i.e. 1929.) Four examples of the '''Modified 1''' (改一) version were made in 1931, followed by another batch of ten.<REF name="hexar0" /> This version adopted a [[Hexar lenses|Hexar Ser.1]] 7.5cm f/4.5 taking lens and another Hexar Ser.1 4cm f/4.5 auxiliary lens to reproduce the dial of a stop watch to register the firing time.<REF> [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/hexar0.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha]. The auxiliary lens is also described in {{SUG}}, item 6015, and in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan'', for the Modified 2 version. </REF> The '''Modified 2''' (改二) was made from 1933 to about 1944.<REF name="hexar0" /> All the cameras observed so far correspond to the latter version.<REF> This includes the camera pictured in {{SUG}}, item 6015, and that in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan''. </REF> Variations are known, notably differing by the presence or absence of a handgrip and attachment lugs.
 
The '''Type 89 Machine-gun Camera''' (八九式活動写真銃) was an all new model by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]], taking 18×24mm pictures on 35mm cine film. It is driven by a spring motor, taking 10 frames per second.<REF name="SUG 6015"> {{SUG}}, item 6015. </REF> It is said that four experimental cameras were made in 1929.<REF name="hexar0" /> (In the name, "Type 89" stands for year 2589 in the Japanese mythological calendar, i.e. 1929.) Four examples of the '''Modified 1''' (改一) version were made in 1931, followed by another batch of ten.<REF name="hexar0" /> This version adopted a [[Hexar lenses|Hexar Ser.1]] 7.5cm f/4.5 taking lens and another Hexar Ser.1 4cm f/4.5 auxiliary lens to reproduce the dial of a stop watch to register the firing time.<REF> [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/hexar0.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha]. The auxiliary lens is also described in {{SUG}}, item 6015, and in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan'', for the Modified 2 version. </REF> The '''Modified 2''' (改二) was made from 1933 to about 1944.<REF name="hexar0" /> All the cameras observed so far correspond to the latter version.<REF> This includes the camera pictured in {{SUG}}, item 6015, and that in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan''. </REF> Variations are known, notably differing by the presence or absence of a handgrip and attachment lugs.
  
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== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
 
* {{Antonetto Russo}} P.25.
 
* {{Antonetto Russo}} P.25.
 +
* Iwama Tomohisa (岩間倶久). "Konica history 8. Konishiroku no gun'yō kamera." (Konica history 8. 小西六の軍用カメラ. Konishiroku military cameras.) {{KKS010}} Pp.54–5.
 
* {{McKeown12}} Pp.538, 545 and 673–4.
 
* {{McKeown12}} Pp.538, 545 and 673–4.
 
* Nakayama Kaeru (中山蛙) and Imai Kesaharu (今井今朝春). ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan'' (ミリタリー軍用カメラ大図鑑, Album of military cameras). Tokyo: Green Arrow, 1997. ISBN 4-7663-3192-3.
 
* Nakayama Kaeru (中山蛙) and Imai Kesaharu (今井今朝春). ''Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan'' (ミリタリー軍用カメラ大図鑑, Album of military cameras). Tokyo: Green Arrow, 1997. ISBN 4-7663-3192-3.

Revision as of 12:37, 24 July 2009

Various Japanese companies manufactured aerial cameras. Most were made for the Japanese military forces before and during World War II. Further cameras, such as the Konica Type G, were made after 1945 for Japan's Self-Defense Forces or for other countries.

Handheld reconnaissance cameras

To be done.

Fixed reconnaissance cameras

To be done.

Machine-gun training cameras

Machine-gun training cameras are shaped as a machine gun, and are used to train the gunners. Rokuoh-sha made various such cameras from the mid-1920s onwards, and Tōkyō Kōgaku made at least one model in the late 1930s.

Type 15 Gun Camera, for the Navy

The Type 15 Gun Camera with Watch (一五式写真銃時計附)[1][2] was made by Rokuoh-sha for the Navy, and the Type 15 Gun Camera Modified 1 (一五式写真銃改一)[3] was certainly an evolution.

This machine-gun camera was ordered in May 1925 by Yamada Kōgorō (山田幸五郎) of the Japanese Navy, was produced from 1926 under the supervision of Mōri Hirō (毛利広雄), and delivered from 1927.[3] It was inspired by the Hythe gun camera made by Thornton-Pickard in Great-Britain from 1915,[1][3] itself based on the Lewis machine gun. The Japanese copy was initially equipped with Wollensak or Zeiss Tessar lenses.[3] It is said that it was produced until 1942,[3] certainly switching to Japanese lenses at some point.

The camera takes 120 size rollfilm, and reportedly makes 4×4.5cm exposures, with target rings superimposed on the image.[1] The time is recorded on the rest of the 6×6cm frame[1] via a secondary lens on the side, taking pictures of a watch placed under the front bead. The camera has no sequential firing ability, and the frames are advanced by a spring motor one by one.[2] The gun camera normally has a drum magazine at the top, only used to enhance the similarity with the Lewis machine gun.[2]

Revolving Target-checking Camera, for the Army

The Revolving Target-checking Camera (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機) was a similar camera made by Rokuoh-sha for the Army.[4][3] (In the name, the word "revolving" either refers to the drum magazine mounted at the top or to the fact that the camera was mounted on a turret.) The camera was also called "Hythe model" (ハイス型),[5] after the original Hythe gun camera of which it was a copy.[6]

This model was perhaps released around 1926, at the same time as the Type 15 for the Navy. The image size is 4.5×6cm on 120 film,[4] and there is no time recording device. It is said that the early cameras have Wollensak or Zeiss Tessar lenses.[3] Later ones have an Optor 28.5cm f/11 lens.[4][7]

Revolving Target-checking Camera No.17, for the Army

The Revolving Target-checking Camera No.17 (廻転式射撃鑑査写真機第十七号) was another copy of the Hythe machine-gun camera, made by Tōkyō Kōgaku.[8] It takes 4.5×6cm exposures on 120 film,[8] and is generally quite similar to Rokuoh-sha's own Rotating Target-checking Camera.[9] It is said that 605 units were supplied to the Japanese Army.[8]

Type 89 Machine-gun Camera

The Type 89 Machine-gun Camera (八九式活動写真銃) was an all new model by Rokuoh-sha, taking 18×24mm pictures on 35mm cine film. It is driven by a spring motor, taking 10 frames per second.[10] It is said that four experimental cameras were made in 1929.[3] (In the name, "Type 89" stands for year 2589 in the Japanese mythological calendar, i.e. 1929.) Four examples of the Modified 1 (改一) version were made in 1931, followed by another batch of ten.[3] This version adopted a Hexar Ser.1 7.5cm f/4.5 taking lens and another Hexar Ser.1 4cm f/4.5 auxiliary lens to reproduce the dial of a stop watch to register the firing time.[11] The Modified 2 (改二) was made from 1933 to about 1944.[3] All the cameras observed so far correspond to the latter version.[12] Variations are known, notably differing by the presence or absence of a handgrip and attachment lugs.

Target cameras

Target cameras are attached inside or outside the aircraft, and are able to shoot a rapid sequence of images to document the result of a combat action or for training purpose.

Tōkyō Kōgaku made at least one such camera, sometimes called "Zero Fighter Target-checking Camera", perhaps officially called Fixed Target-checking Gun Camera (固定射撃鑑査銃), issued in 1941 and used on the Zero fighter.[13] The latter was contained in an aerodynamic fairing, attached under the aircraft fusealge. It also takes 4.5×6cm on 120 film, and it has a Toko 35.6cm f/4.5 fixed-focus lens, and a single shutter speed.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sugiyama, item 6014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nakayama and Imai, pp.126–7 of Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sugiyama, item 6018.
  5. ↑ Label inside the original box, observed in a picture posted at a forum.
  6. ↑ Iwama, p.54 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, mentions a "Hythe model Target-checking Camera" (ハイス型射撃鑑査写真機) for the Navy. This is probably a confusion between the Army's Revolving Target-checking Camera and the Navy's Type 15 Gun Camera.
  7. ↑ Example pictured in this page at Seawood Photo.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sugiyama, item 6016.
  9. ↑ Antonetto and Russo, p.25, say that the Target-checking Camera No.17 was a "rapid-firing camera capable of shooting a burst of 4.5×6cm frames", but the sequential firing ability is otherwise unconfirmed.
  10. ↑ Sugiyama, item 6015.
  11. ↑ this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha. The auxiliary lens is also described in Sugiyama, item 6015, and in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan, for the Modified 2 version.
  12. ↑ This includes the camera pictured in Sugiyama, item 6015, and that in Nakayama and Imai, pp.124–5 of Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan.
  13. ↑ Sugiyama, item 6017. This is repeated in Antonetto and Russo, p.25. The latter says that it was relatively similar to the preceding "Model 17" machine-gun target-checking camera, but this is wrong.
  14. ↑ Sugiyama, item 6017.

Bibliography

  • Antonetto, M. and Russo, C. Topcon Story. Lugano: Nassa Watch Gallery, 1997. ISBN 88-87161-00-3. P.25.
  • Iwama Tomohisa (岩間倶久). "Konica history 8. Konishiroku no gun'yō kamera." (Konica history 8. 小西六の軍用カメラ. Konishiroku military cameras.) 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). 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). Pp.538, 545 and 673–4.
  • Nakayama Kaeru (中山蛙) and Imai Kesaharu (今井今朝春). Militarī gun'yō kamera daizukan (ミリタリー軍用カメラ大図鑑, Album of military cameras). Tokyo: Green Arrow, 1997. ISBN 4-7663-3192-3.
  • 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. Items 6010–18.

Links

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