Lord (Tōkyō Kōgaku)
The Lord was the first camera model made by Tōkyō Kōgaku (later Topcon).
The Lord 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 that the project of the Lord was initiated in 1936, that the first prototypes were made in February 1937 and that the production began in July 1937.[2] It is estimated that only 50 examples of the Lord were built in 1937 and 1938[3].
The Lord is advertised in the January 1938 to March 1938 issues of Asahi Camera, and featured in the new products column of the March 1938 issue.[4] The March 1938 advertisement[5] offers the Lord 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 and a self-timer, a shutter that is usually called simply Seikosha. 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.[6]
At least one example has survived and is presented in collectors books[7]. 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
- ↑ Baird, p. 71.
- ↑ Baird, p. 71; Antonetto, p. 23.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 343.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 105.
- ↑ Antonetto and Russo say that the top speed is 1/200 and that the shutter is connected to the release button by rods running inside the telescopic tube, but both features are contradicted by all the pictures observed. Either it is a mistake, or their description applies to an unknown variant.
- ↑ 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. Pp. 22–3.
- Jason Schneider, Jason Schneider on Camera Collecting, Book Two. Des Moines, Iowa: Wallace-Homestead, 1982. ISBN 0-87069-419-7. P. 109.
- Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. P. 71.
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)
