Kongo Press
The Kongo Press Camera (コンゴープレスカメラ) is a Japanese strut-folding camera taking 10×15cm plates. It is only known from one single example, pictured in Sugiyama.[1]
This camera has a wooden body, and is inspired from the Goerz Ango. The rectangular front standard is mounted on four flat struts hinged at the middle, and it seems that the bellows is single-pleated. The lens is mounted on a focusing helical with a focus tab. It seems that the front standard offers at least some vertical movement ability, and a screw is visible at the bottom to lock the lens plate in a definite position.
The rear part of the camera contains a vertically traveling focal-plane shutter, wound by a small key on the photographer's right. This shutter is said to give T, B, 15–1000 speeds.[2] The position of the controls and of the release button is unclear. There is perhaps a nameplate screwed to the right end of the top plate.
The viewfinder consists of a wireframe hinged to the top of the front standard, and a bead hinged above the middle of the top plate.[3]
The lens is reported as a Congo Anastigmat 21cm f/4.5 made by Yamasaki. The name "Kongo" is certainly another writing for "Congo", coming from the same word kongō (金剛), name of a Japanese battleship and of a Japanese mountain, conveying the idea of indestructibility and found as a compound in the word meaning "diamond". The brand Congo was owned by Yamasaki; the same company perhaps also owned the variant Kongo, and was perhaps the maker of the Kongo Press Camera.
Notes
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1078.
- ↑ Speeds: Sugiyama, item 1078.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1078, says that the camera has a "patent sports-finder" in the English text, but only says that the finder is "peculiar" (特徴がある) in the Japanese text. The translator perhaps confused the word tokuchō (特徴, peculiarity) with tokkyo (特許, patent).
Bibliography
- 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.85.
- 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 1078.
