Komamura

From Camera-wiki.org
Revision as of 16:13, 9 August 2015 by Camerahistorian (talk | contribs) (Updated with dates from japanese wikipedia.)
Jump to: navigation, search

Komamura is a Japanese company, maker of the Horseman cameras and distributor of other products.

History

The company was founded in 1933 in Kyoto, under the name Komamura Keitei Kaisha (駒村兄弟会社), based in Kyoto.[1] It took its present name K.K. Komamura Shōkai (㈱駒村商会) in 1947, and opened a branch in Kanda, Tokyo, in 1950.[1]

The company made its first camera in 1948.[1] It was a wooden kabine-size field camera called PC-101, for the Japanese police.[1] In 1950, it developed the Horseman 102, also for the Japanese police; in 1958 this camera evolved into the Horseman 104, made in cooperation with Tōkyō Kōgaku.[1] This was the predecessor of the Topcon Horseman camera series, which started in 1960 with the model 960.[1]

Nowadays (2010), the company still makes Horseman cameras, and also distributes Minox and Rollei products as well as German and US photo accessories, and US and Australian video equipment.

Horseman products

This list is incomplete:

Topcon Horseman Press / VH-series

  • PC-101 (1948)
  • Horseman 102 (1950)
  • Horseman Press 104 (1958)
  • Topcon Horseman 960 (1956)
  • Horseman 970 (1963)
  • Horseman 760 (1965 or 1966)
  • Horseman 980 (1969)
  • Horseman 985 (1973)
  • Horseman VH-R (1977)
  • Horseman VH (1977)
  • Horseman ER-1 (1984)

4x5" field cameras

  • Horseman Woodman (1994)
  • Topcon Horseman 45HF (May 1983)
  • Horseman 45FA (October 1985)
  • Horseman 45HD (September 1995)

4x5" monorail cameras

  • Horseman 450
  • Horseman 450 B
  • Horseman 450 EM II
  • Horseman 450 LX
  • Horseman 450 LX-C
  • Horseman LS45 (December 1990)
  • Horseman LE45 (1997) (simplified LS45)
  • Horseman LX45 (June 1989)
  • Horseman LX-C45 (June 1989)
  • Horseman L45 (monorail camera)(August 1978)
  • Horseman L45EM (September 1983)
  • Horseman L45 Pro

5x7" monorail cameras

  • Horseman 570
  • Horseman L57 (June 1983)
  • Horseman LS57 (December 1990)
  • Horseman LX57 (March 1991)
  • Horseman LX-C57 (March 1991)

8x10" monorail cameras

  • Horseman 810
  • Horseman L810 (June 1983)
  • Horseman LS810 (December 1990)
  • Horseman LX810 (March 1991)
  • Horseman LX-C810 (March 1991)

Medium format panorama cameras

Digital

  • Horseman DigiFlex
  • Horseman DigiFlex II
  • Horseman DigiWide
  • Horseman LD (monorail camera for DSLR) (2005)
  • Horseman LD Pro (monorail camera for digital back) (2007)
  • Horseman SW-D Pro (2005)
  • Horseman SW-D II Pro (2007)
  • Horseman Axella
  • Horseman VCC Pro
  • Horseman X-Act-D

Misc

Other distributed products

  • Doryu 2-16 pistol-shaped camera, distributor for the Kansai area (Western Japan) in 1955[2]

Later it took over Horseman. Nowadays it also distributes Minox and Rollei products as well as German and US-American photo accessories as well as US-American and Australian video equipment.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Company history in Japanese.
  2. ↑ Advertisement in Sankei Camera September 1955.

Links

In English:

In French:

In Japanese:

Retrieved from "http://camera-wiki.org/index.php?title=Komamura&oldid=167197"