Kolt
The Kolt is a Japanese subminiature camera made by Okada in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Description
The Kolt takes ten 14×14mm exposures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm. From a distance, it looks very similar to other Hit-type cameras, but it actually has a much better finish. There is a top housing covering the whole length of the camera and containing the viewfinder in the middle. The advance knob is on the left, as seen by the photographer, and has a red arrow inscribed at the top. The right part of the top housing has a KOLT CAMERA logo. The back is hinged to the right and is locked by a spring-loaded latch on the left. It contains a single red window, protected by a sliding cover. The bottom plate has no tripod thread; on at least some examples, it is engraved MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN.
The shutter is everset and has 100, 50, 25, B speeds set by an index at the top. The shutter plate has a silver background and is inscribed KOLT at the top and OKAKO at the bottom. The lens is a Kolt Anastigmat f/4.5, and the aperture can be set from 4.5 to 11.[1]
Paraphernalia
The Kolt was sold with a brown leather case, embossed Kolt at the front, in a blue box marked KOLT MINIATURE CAMERA and OKAKO.[2] The user manual, curiously titled "Explanatory note for Kolt camera",[3] says that the film is "16mm without side holes", an inaccurate description of the 17.5mm film introduced on the Midget and Mycro cameras. The maker's name is given as "Okada Optical Industrial Co., Ltd.", a translation of Okada Kōgaku Seiki K.K. (whose name was often abbreviated to Okako); the document also mentions the Waltax as a higher class product made by the same company.
Notes
Bibliography
- 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 5048.
Links
In English:
- Kolt at Submin.com, with a reproduction of the English user manual
- Kolt at Subclub.org
In German:
- Kolt among miniature cameras at www.oldcameras.at