Mascot

From Camera-wiki.org
Revision as of 17:19, 27 January 2010 by Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) (added a document)
Jump to: navigation, search
Japanese subminiature
on paper-backed roll film and round film (edit)
17.5mm film Arrow | Baby Flex | Baby-Max | Barlux | Beauty 14 | Bell 14 | Blondy | Baby Colon | Comex | Corona | Croma Color 16 | Epochs | Fuji Kozet | Gamma | Gem 16 | Gemflex | Glico Lighter | Halmat | Hit | Hit-II | Hit-type | Hobby 16 | Homer No.1 | Homer 16 | Honey | Hope | Jenic | Kiku 16 | Kent | Kolt | Kute | Lovely | Mascot | Meteor | Micky | Midget | Mighty | Mini | Moment | Mycro | Myracle | Nikkobaby | Peace | Peace Baby Flex | Peace Small Lef | Pet | Petit | Petty | Prince 16-A | Prince Ruby | Robin | New Rocket | Rubina | Rubix | Saga 16 | Saica | Septon Pen | Sholy-Flex | Snappy | Spy-14 | Sun | Sun B | Sun 16 | Sweet 16 | Tacker | Takka | Tone | Top Camera | Toyoca 16 | Toyoca Ace | Tsubame | Vesta | Vista | Vestkam
20mm film Guzzi | Mycroflex | Top
round film Evarax | Petal | Sakura Petal | Star
unknown Hallow | Lyravit | Tsubasa
cine film see Japanese cine film subminiature
110 film see Japanese 110 film

The Mascot is a Japanese subminiature taking 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm, made around 1950 by Shimura.

Description

The Mascot has a vertical shape, somewhat similar to a lighter. There is a tubular finder sunken at the top. The film is advanced by a knob on the photographer's right. The shutter is tripped by a button at the top, on the right of the viewfinder. It is said that the mechanism provides double exposure prevention.[1]

The lens is a fixed-focus Mascot Anastigmat 25mm f/4.5. The speed is selected by a pivoting index on the front plate, above the lens, with 100, 50, 25, B positions. The aperture is selected by a symmetrical index placed below the lens, with 8 and 4.5 positions.[2]

Commercial life

The Mascot was announced in Japanese magazines dated January 1950.[3] It was still featured in the January 1951 issue of Photo Art, in an article on Japanese camera production.[4]

The sources disagree on the maker's name, saying either "Shimura Kōgaku", "Shimura Koki" or "Shimura Seiki Co."[5] It is said that the camera was developed on behalf of Tōkyō Kōgaku, of which Shimura was perhaps an offshoot or a subcontractor.[6] It was certainly not made in large quantities, and the only surviving example known so far, belonging to the Pentax Gallery, is pictured in Sugiyama and in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.[7]

Notes

  1. Double exposure prevention: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.365.
  2. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.365, mentions f/4.5, f/8 and f/11, but the latter does not appear on the pictured camera.
  3. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.365.
  4. Column in Photo Art January 1951, p.40.
  5. "Shimura Kōgaku": Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.365 (surely the most reliable). "Shimura Koki": McKeown, p.890. "Shimura Seiki Co.": Sugiyama, item 5062.
  6. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.432: "Tōkyō Kōgaku had it made by the separate company Shimura Kōgaku" (東京光学は志村光学という別会社でやっていた).
  7. Sugiyama, item 5062; Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.365 and 432.

Bibliography

Original documents

  • Photo Art no.20, January 1951. "Kokusan kamera no kentō" (国産カメラの検討, Inquiry on Japanese cameras). Pp.36–40.

Recent sources

Links

In English: