Letix
The Riken Letix was a 4x4cm format camera sold around 1940. It had a bakelite body with opening back, like the Olympic, but the lens and shutter assembly was mounted on a metal telescopic tube. The Letix had a tubular optical finder and an accessory shoe. At the time, the rollfilm paperback was not marked for 4x4 pictures, so the film advance was not by red window but there was an exposure counter.
The lens was a Ukas Anastigmat 50/4.5 front cell focusing triplet. Ricoh's corporate site says the lens name later became Helios Anastigmat. The T-B-25-50-100-150 shutter was probably the same as on the Olympic. The shutter plate was marked Letix, with an AKK logo, probably for Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō (旭光学工業, Asahi Optical Industries, see Riken and Olympic for a discussion of the companies involved). The body was also embossed Letix, but McKeown shows a picture with the body embossed Retix. This funny mistake can be explained because the Japanese language does not distinguish between the "l" and "r" letters.
McKeown lists the Letix under the Asahi Bussan entry.
Links
Ricoh's corporate website:
Other:
