Middl 120
The Middl 120[1] (ミドル・120) is a series of Japanese folders, made by Otowa around 1952–3. The first models are horizontal folders for 4.5×6 pictures, with straight diagonal struts and a back hinged to the left. The last model is for both 6×6 and 4.5×6, but no picture has been found of it yet.
Contents
Probable early model
There is a record of a presumably early model with a folding optical finder.[2] It has a flat top plate, in chrome finish, with an accessory shoe on the left end and the advance knob on the right end. The finder in centered, the bed opening button is slightly to the left and there seems to be a body release above the right strut.
The Middl 120-A
The Middl 120-A[3] has a top housing, that contains the finder, slightly offset to the right, and supports an accessory shoe. The latter is offset to the left, with the bed opening button just in front of it. The body release and the advance knob are on the right end and a decorative round plate on the left end[4]. The film advance is controlled by one red window at the bottom of the back, protected by a horizontally sliding cover.
The camera is engraved Middl and 120-A above the viewfinder, with the OKS logo in front of the top housing. It is also embossed Middl 120 in the back leather. It is reported that the piece of leather covering the back latch is embossed Middl Optical Works.[5]
This model is advertised in the December 1952 issue of Ars Camera[6], with Otowa mentioned as the maker and Mizuno Shashinki-ten (水野写真機店) as the authorized dealer. The lens announced as a Seriter 75/3.5, but this focal length has not yet been observed and is maybe a mistake. The shutter gives B, 1–200 speeds, has a self-timer and is synchronized via an ASA bayonet connector. No marking is visible on the shutter but it is certainly an NKS.
Two examples have been observed[7] with a Seriter Anastigmat 80mm f:3.5 and an B, 1–200 shutter identified as NKS on the speed rim. The shutter plate of these examples has a logo and a small NKS marking at the top, that seems to be absent from the one pictured in the advertisement.
An example has also been observed[8] with a lens marked MiddL.
A Middl 120-A2 is reported but no detail is available.[9]
The Middl 120-Z
The Middl 120-Z is a dual format model, for both 6×6 and 4.5×6. It is offered in an advertisement from the January 1953 issue of Ars Camera[10], with a Seriter 75/3.5 and an NKS shutter having the same features as the one mounted on the previous model. Curiously, this advertisement illustrates the description of the new model with a picture of the Middl 120-A. It also employs the name Middl Six (ミドルシックス) together with Middl 120-Z.
Notes
- ↑ The name is consistently written this way, with a missing "e". In Lewis, it is called "Middle 120" by mistake.
- ↑ The only document found is the picture in this page of the AJCC, where it is called both "Middl" and "Middl 120".
- ↑ McKeown lists this model both under the companies "Middl Optical Works Ltd" (p. 670) and "Otowa Kogaku" (p. 770), with a duplicate description.
- ↑ The decorative round plate has fallen from the example pictured in McKeown, p. 770.
- ↑ McKeown, p. 670.
- ↑ Reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 192.
- ↑ One in this page at Japan Family Camera and one pictured in McKeown, p. 770.
- ↑ In this page at je2luz.
- ↑ Lewis, p. 83.
- ↑ Reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 192.
Printed 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 903 and 905.
- 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. 670 and 770.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). Pp. 79 and 83 (brief mentions only).
Links
In Japanese:
- Middl 120 with a folding optical finder at a page of the AJCC, it is the folder pictured on the right
- Middl 120-A with sample pictures at je2luz
- Middl 120-A at Japan Family Camera