Mamiya Pistol
The Mamiya Pistol (マミヤピストル) or Fast-action camera (速写カメラ) is a pistol-shaped half-frame camera made by Mamiya in 1954, for the Japanese police.
History
The Mamiya Pistol was developed after the "bloody May Day incident" (血のメーデー事件), a clash between protesters and policemen on May Day 1952, where two people were killed and more than 740 were injured.[1] It is said that various policemen were injured while taking photographs of the protesters: with their eye on the viewfinder they could not see their opponents.[2] After these events, the Japanese police felt the need for a camera which would be easy to use without putting the eye to a viewfinder.[2] The policemen are supposedly good at gun handling, and the idea of a pistol-shaped camera naturally emerged,[2] probably under the influence of previous pistol-shaped cameras, such as Okada's Gemmy. It is said that the device was invented at the Osaka police headquarters.[3]
The camera's actual development was assigned to the Mamiya company. It was officially named "Fast-action camera" [速写カメラ] or "Fast-action camera (pistol shaped)" [速写カメラ(拳銃型)], and it seems that the name "Mamiya Pistol" is a later invention.[4] It was designed without a viewfinder, and with a simple exposure control, consisting of a single number scale (see below). On actual use, the exposure number was decided beforehand, according to the predicted weather or other factors.[2]
The development took half a year, and the first units were supplied just in time for May Day 1954, but they saw no action on that day.[2] As of April 20, 1954, the Osaka police headquarters had received thirty units and was experimenting with them. As of July 1954, the camera was said to be part of the inventory of the police headquarters in all the Japanese prefectures.[2]
Description
The camera is shaped as a pistol, with a handgrip and a trigger. The lens is placed at the front end, at the gun nozzle. Most of the camera is black, except for the two side plates, the trigger and usually the lens barrel. There is a single strap lug at the bottom, under the handgrip. The camera has Mamiya's SM logo on the left side plate, and a five-pointed logo on the rear, immediately above the serial number.
The left-hand side plate is removable for film loading, and is locked by a latch at the rear. The camera takes 35mm perforated film, but it is not clear whether it accepts the regular film cassettes or takes its own specific cartridge.
The right-hand side plate is fixed and has the advance and rewind controls. The film is advanced by a lever on the rear, running vertically along the edge of the side plate. The shutter is cocked in the same movement. The user can actuate this lever with the thumb, so that successive pictures can be taken with a single hand. An exposure counter is visible in a crescent-shaped window next to the take-up spool axis. The rewind unlock button is on the axis centre, concealed in a slot to prevent unwanted activation. The rewind knob itself is on the same side, on the supply spool axis. Closer to the lens, there is a small window showing a red or white dot, indicating if the camera is ready to shoot or not.
The shutter, from 1/50 to 1/150, is released by the trigger. The lens is a no-name 50/5.6,[2] giving a slight telephoto effect on half-frame exposures.[5] The fixed focus is set so that subjects are sharp from 3 to 20m at minimum aperture.[2] The diaphragm has only two blades, forming a square hole. The aperture and shutter settings are controlled by a single ring around the lens barrel, graduated from 1 to 6. This is an early form of programmed exposure, where the light level is input by hand (instead of an exposure meter). The position of the ring translates into actual exposure settings as follows:[6]
| position | speed | aperture |
| 1 | 1/50 | 5.6 |
| 2 | 1/100 | 5.6 |
| 3 | 1/150 | 5.6 |
| 4 | 1/150 | 8 |
| 5 | 1/150 | 11 |
| 6 | 1/150 | 16 |
Variations
Notes
- ↑ See the Japanese Wikipedia page on the incident.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Column in Asahi Camera July 1954, reproduced in Watanabe, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.31.
- ↑ Column in Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1954, reproduced in Watanabe, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.31.
- ↑ The column in Asahi Camera July 1954, reproduced in Watanabe, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.31, says that the official name was "Fast-action camera". Awano, p.17 of the same magazine, says that he owns an original box inscribed 速写カメラ(拳銃型), which translates as "Fast-action camera (pistol shaped)". The name "Mamiya Pistol" only appeared later, after the device attracted the interest of camera collectors.
- ↑ The lens is called Sekor 45/5.6 in Sugiyama, item 3401, but the column in Asahi Camera July 1954, reproduced in Watanabe, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.31, says 50/5.6, and the name "Sekor" appears nowhere on the camera itself.
- ↑ Watabe, p.16 of Camera Collectors' News no.31.
Bibliography
- 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. P.19.
- Inoue Mitsuo (井上光朗). "Kokkei tokubetsu shiyō no hāfusaizu — Mamiya Pisutoru [Sokusha Kamera]" (国警特別使用のハーフサイズ・マミヤピストルカメラ[速写カメラ], The Mamiya Pistol [Fast-action camera], a half-frame camera for special use by the national police). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.35, November 1995. Nihon no kamera 50nen (日本のカメラ50年, special issue on 50 years of Japanese cameras). P.136.
- 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.648.
- 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 3401.
- Watanabe Katsumi (渡辺勝美) and Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Mamiya Pistol" (マミヤピストル). In Camera Collectors' News no.31 (January 1980). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.15–7.
Links
In English:
- Past auctions by Westlicht Photographica Auction:
- Mamiya Pistol, lot no.504 of auction no.5 (May 29, 2004)
- Mamiya Pistol, lot no.663 of auction no.11 (26 May 2007)
- Mamiya Pistol, lot no.610 of auction no.13 (June 7, 2008)
- Mamiya Pistol among other 35mm Mamiya cameras at Ron Herron's Collecting Mamiya 35mm website
- Mamiya Pistol at Subclub.org
In Japanese:
- Mamiya Pistol among Japanese pistol-shaped cameras at Sepia World
- Mamiya Pistol among pistol-shaped cameras at the JCII Camera Museum
- Mamiya Pistol in the Mamiya page of the Japanese Wikipedia
