Maruso Camera
The Maruso Camera are Japanese cameras using the no-need-darkroom process, made in the late 1940s by Marusō Kōgaku and about which very little is known.
History and documents
The company Marusō Kōgaku placed two advertisements in the April 20, 1948 issue of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, which are partly redundant. The first one[1] mentions a "Maruso patented twin-lens reflex" (マルソー特許二眼レフ), equipped with an "automatic one-second device"[2] — presumably a self-timer — and offered for ¥280, and specifies that the camera was "even sold abroad".[3]
The other advertisement[4] mentions a "Maruso Camera" or "Maruso patented homemade reflex" (マルソー特許国産レフ), presumably the same camera. It mentions the "automatic one-second device" too, and says that the camera takes Leica-size single exposures.[5] The advertisement says nothing of the actual film stock used, but it can be presumed that the camera takes daylight loading no-need-darkroom film sheets, measuring about 2.5×4cm. Various prices are given: ¥150, ¥280, ¥380 and ¥850. These certainly correspond to different versions of the camera, but no further explanation is provided.
Surviving example
One example of a Maruso Camera is pictured in Sugiyama.[6] It is a simple box camera with no viewfinder, reportedly taking 2.5×4cm no-need-darkroom film stock. The shutter plate is inscribed MARUSO CAMERA at the bottom, and MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN above the lens. The shutter has B and 1/25 settings, and is tripped by a lever on the right of the lens. This model is certainly one of the cheaper versions advertised in 1948, along with the pseudo TLR models.
Notes
- ↑ Advertisement on p.4 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.82 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
- ↑ "Equipped with an automatic one-second device": 自動一秒付.
- ↑ 海外迄も売れる.
- ↑ Advertisement on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.84 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
- ↑ 特許ライカ判一枚撮り.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 4154.
Bibliography
- Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisements on pp.82 and 84, corresponding to pp.4 and 6 of the April 20, 1948 issue.
- 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 4154.
