Mulber (3×4)
The Mulber (マルバカメラ) is a 3×4 Japanese camera, that was 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.
It seems that the Mulber has a bakelite body. The lens and shutter assembly are mounted on a telescopic tube. There is a tubular optical finder centred on the top plate and an advance knob on the left. There is a button on the right of the viewfinder that looks like a body release but it is probably the release of the telescopic tube.
In an advertisement dated March 1936[2], the Mulber is offered for ¥15 with a Mulber 50mm f/6.3 lens and a B, 25, 50 shutter. The front of the body is marked MULBER in capital letters and the shutter plate is marked MULBER in fancy letters at the top and MULBER CAMERA WORKS at the bottom, with a hexagonal logo on the right that might read MKS.
In an advertisement dated September 1938[3], the camera is offered for ¥10. The marking on the body is Mulber in fancy letters.
No example of the Mulber seems to have surfaced since.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 95.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, scans observed in an eBay 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.
