Meteor, Vestkam, Epochs and Beauty 14
The Meteor, Vestkam, Epochs and Beauty 14 are subminiature cameras taking 17.5mm film, made by Taiyōdō in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Description
All the models take ten 14×14mm exposures on 17.5mm film. They are better finished than the average Hit-type cameras, and have a much sleeker design. The viewfinder is contained in a clean top housing, covering the whole length of the camera. The advance knob is integrated at the left end (as seen by the photographer).
The back is hinged to the left for film loading, and is locked by a sliding bar on the right. It contains a single red window, protected by a sliding cover. The film plane is incurved to compensate the lens aberrations.
All the models have a fixed focus and aperture. The details of the lens engraving and shutter unit vary according to the models.
Single finder models
Meteor
The Meteor (メテオール) was announced in the January 1948 issue of Kohga Gekkan and in the March 1948 issue of Ars Camera.[1] Advertisements appear in Japanese magazines from March 1948 to June 1949.[2] The name "Meteor" is spelled correctly in advertisements until late 1948, but all later advertisements have the name "Meteall" instead.[3] No actual camera has been observed with "Meteall" markings, and the newer spelling is thought to be a misprint, because "Meteall" and "Meteor" would be pronounced the same by a Japanese speaker. However the fact that this misprint lasted for six months and displaced the correct spelling (instead of the reverse) remains unexplained.[4]
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| Advertisement in Ars Camera February 1949. (Image rights) |
The camera is identified by the name Meteor engraved on the top housing. The shutter plate reads Meteor at the top and T.K.K at the bottom, with metal stripes on both sides. The self-cocking shutter is tripped by a lever on the right. It gives B, 1/25, 1/50 speeds, selected by a sliding button on the side of the casing, with B, 1, 2 positions (position 1 is 1/25, position 2 is 1/50).
Variations are known in the lens rim. The regular examples have a plain bezel with no marking,[5] as appears in all the advertising pictures observed so far. Some examples have a lens rim engraved Vestkam 1:4.5 F=25mm or Vestkam 1:3.5 F=20mm, the same as on the later Vestkam.[6] The mention of f/4.5 or f/3.5 aperture, either in the advertisements or on the lens markings, is misleading, and the actual aperture is reportedly close to f/9.[7]
It is said that early examples of the Meteor have no pressure plate, whereas later cameras have both a pressure plate and a U-shaped metal insert to hold the supply spool.[8] At least some examples of the Meteor are engraved MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN on the bottom plate.[9]
Notes
- ↑ Columns reproduced in Awano, pp.4–5 of Camera Collectors' News no.239. These are the earliest articles featuring the camera according to Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.370. The column in Kohga Gekkan mentions an earlier US-made camera of the same name, and Awano speculates (on p.1) that this is a confusion with an earlier announcement of the Japanese camera in a US magazine, but this is most probably an allusion to the Universal Meteor. The column in Ars Camera says that the camera takes 16mm film, but that in Kohga Gekkan confirms the use of 17.5mm film, and this is merely a mistake.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.370; Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
- ↑ The advertisement on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.84 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku, and those in Kohga Gekkan May and December 1948, reproduced in Awano, pp.5–6 of Camera Collectors' News no.239, have "Meteor". The advertisements in Ars Camera October 1948, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.200, in Kohga Gekkan January 1949, reproduced in Awano, p.6 of Camera Collectors' News no.239, and in Ars Camera February 1949, reproduced in this page, have "Meteall". Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.239, says that the name appears as "Meteor" in Ars Camera until September 1948 and in Kohga Gekkan until December 1948, and as "Meteall" after that date.
- ↑ This is commented in Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
- ↑ Examples pictured in this page at Submin.com.
- ↑ Examples pictured in Awano, Camera Collectors' News no.239.
- ↑ Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
- ↑ Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.239. This is certainly based on the observation of the two examples pictured in the article, which have non-standard lens rims.
- ↑ Example pictured in this page at Submin.com.
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. Items 727, 802 and 959.
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Meteōru, Besutokamu, Epokkusu" (メテオール、ベストカム、エポックス, Meteor, Vestkam, Epochs). In Camera Collectors' News no.239 (May 1997). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
- 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). Pp.113 and 911–2.
- 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. Advertisement on p.84, corresponding to p.6 of the April 20, 1948 issue.
- Pritchard, Michael and St. Denny, Douglas. Spy Cameras — A century of detective and subminiature cameras. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-874485-00-3. Pp.77–9.
- 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. Items 5014, 5034, 5063 and 5155.
Links
In English:
- Epochs, Meteor and Vestkam at Submin.com (the page on the Beauty shows a Beauty 16)
- Beauty 14, Epochs, Meteor and Vestkam among 17.5mm film cameras at Subclub.org
- Vestkam, lot no.255 of sale no.9837 (May 7, 2004) by Christies
- Vestkam in Moshe Bar-El's camera collection
- Vestkam in Nigel Richards' website
- Vestkam among other subminiature cameras at the Subminiature site of Gary Sivertsen
