Difference between revisions of "Mulber (3×4)"
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (ultra minor) |
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (ultra minor) |
||
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
|| [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/2146288671/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/2146288671_c5ac5b6850_m_d.jpg] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/2146288677/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2159/2146288677_3de3a87142_m_d.jpg] | || [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/2146288671/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/2146288671_c5ac5b6850_m_d.jpg] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/2146288677/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2159/2146288677_3de3a87142_m_d.jpg] | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | || ''Leaflet for the Mulber, | + | || ''Leaflet for the Mulber, c.1936. {{public domain Japan old}}'' |
|} | |} | ||
The September 1938 advertisement in {{ACA}}<REF> Advertisement observed in an online auction. </REF> was placed by [[Kuwata|Kuwata Shōkai]], the distributor of other Mulber cameras and the probable owner of the ''KKS'' logo. The price was lowered to {{yen|10|1938}}. In the pictured camera, the ''Mulber'' name molded at the front of the body appears in fancy letters, with the same shape as was already used at some places on the previous documents; this shape was probably used from the start on all the examples of the camera. | The September 1938 advertisement in {{ACA}}<REF> Advertisement observed in an online auction. </REF> was placed by [[Kuwata|Kuwata Shōkai]], the distributor of other Mulber cameras and the probable owner of the ''KKS'' logo. The price was lowered to {{yen|10|1938}}. In the pictured camera, the ''Mulber'' name molded at the front of the body appears in fancy letters, with the same shape as was already used at some places on the previous documents; this shape was probably used from the start on all the examples of the camera. | ||
Revision as of 17:28, 27 September 2010
The Mulber (マルバカメラ) is a 3×4 Japanese camera, distributed by Kuwata Shōkai from 1936 to 1939.[1] Some advertisements also mention "Mulber Camera Works", but it is unknown if it was really the name of a company.
Description
The Mulber has a bakelite body and a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly.[2] The name "Mulber" is molded in the bakelite at the front of the body. There is a tubular optical finder in the middle of the top plate, and the advance knob is at the left end, as seen by the photographer. There is a button on the right of the viewfinder, which looks like a body release but is probably the release of the telescopic tube. The latter is perhaps spring-loaded, and a patent was filed for it.[3]
The lens is a fixed-focus Mulber 50mm f/6.3, specially designed for the camera.[4] The shutter is everset and gives B, 25, 50 speeds. The release lever is directly attached to the shutter casing, and there is a thread on the side for a cable release. The shutter plate has the name MULBER in fancy letters at the top, MULBER CAMERA WORKS above the aperture scale at the bottom, and a hexagonal KKS logo on the right, initials which are found on later products of Kuwata.
Commercial life
The Mulber was featured in the April 1936 issue of Asahi Camera and was advertised in the same magazine from March to September 1936 and from August 1938 to March 1939. The March 1936 advertisement[5] gives the price of ¥15 (case extra ¥3.50) and the name "Murber Camera Works", obviously a typo for "Mulber Camera Works". An undated leaflet, shown in this page, also has "Mulber Camera Works". No address is provided for this, and it is probably only a dummy name (see Camera Works). In the picture, which is the same for both documents, the name MULBER at the front of the body is in capital letters, and the lens has no.1021. However this picture is heavily retouched, to the point that the 6.3 setting on the aperture scale was erased, only leaving 8, 10, 12, 15. The MULBER marking in capital letters perhaps does not reflect the actual marking on the camera.
 
|
| Leaflet for the Mulber, c.1936. (Image rights) |
The September 1938 advertisement in Asahi Camera[6] was placed by Kuwata Shōkai, the distributor of other Mulber cameras and the probable owner of the KKS logo. The price was lowered to ¥10. In the pictured camera, the Mulber name molded at the front of the body appears in fancy letters, with the same shape as was already used at some places on the previous documents; this shape was probably used from the start on all the examples of the camera.
No surviving example of the Mulber seems to have surfaced so far.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.341.
- ↑ Bakelite body: leaflet reproduced in this page.
- ↑ Patent filed for the telescopic tube: leaflet reproduced in this page.
- ↑ Specially designed: leaflet reproduced in this page.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.95.
- ↑ Advertisement observed in an online auction.
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. Item 257.
- "Mulber Camera Works". Leaflet for the Mulber camera. Date not indicated. Document reproduced in this Flickr album by Rebollo_fr.
This camera is not listed in Sugiyama.
