Lord (Tōkyō Kōgaku)
The Lord was the first model made by Tōkyō Kōgaku (later Topcon). It is a coupled rangefinder 4.5×6 camera. The lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a two-part telescopic tube with a focusing helical and a focusing tab. The combined range and viewfinder is enclosed in a top housing, with a LORD logo at the front. There is a big advance knob at the left, with an exposure counter . It is necessary to set it to S for "start" after loading[1].
It is said only 50 examples of the Lord were built in 1937 and 1938[2]. It is advertised in the March 1938 issue of Asahi Camera[3] for ¥180, with a Toko Anastigmat (トーコー・アナスチグマット) 7.5cm f:3.5 lens and an S Seiko (Sセイコー) shutter by Seikosha with T, B, 1–250 speeds[4] . The shutter plate is marked SEIKOSHA-TOKYO at the top and SEIKOSHA at the bottom. There is some sort of bar linked to the shutter, acting as a shutter release. Kokusan kamera no rekishi says that it is also advertised in the two previous issues of Asahi Camera, and that it is featured in the new products column of the March 1938 issue.
At least one example has survived and is presented in collectors books[5]. It is equipped with a Simlar 7.5cm f:3.5 lens, said to be a four element Tessar type while Toko lenses have three elements. Two other changes are visible when compared with the camera illustrated in the advertisement. The latter one has a small button between the advance knob and the top housing, absent in the surviving example, and whose function is unknown. It also has a different helical: the distance scale is black with white engravings and needs half a turn to go from infinity to the closest distance (1 probably for one meter), while on the surviving example the distance scale is chrome with black engravings and only turns a quarter of a turn.
Notes
- ↑ Jason Schneider, p.109
- ↑ Antonetto, p. 23.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Lord, published in the March 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 332.
- ↑ Antonetto and Russo say that it is a "Seikosha type S" and that the top speed is 1/200. The latter point is contradicted by the pictures.
- ↑ Antonetto and Russo, p. 23, Schneider, p. 109. The camera illustrated is probably the same, but the picture is better in Schneider's book.
Printed bibliography
In English:
- Marco Antonetto and Claudio Russo, Topcon Story. Lugano: Nassa Watch Gallery, 1997. ISBN 88-87161-00-3. P. 22 3.
- Jason Schneider, Jason Schneider on Camera Collecting, Book Two. Des Moines, Iowa: Wallace-Homestead, 1982. ISBN 0-87069-419-7. P. 109.
In Japanese:
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Item 332.
Links
In Japanese:
- Lord in a page of the Topcon Club website (the mention of a 75/6.3 lens is contradicted by all the pictures)
