Neumann & Heilemann

Neumann & Heilemann was a company founded in the 1930s by Billy Neumann and Willy Heilemann, two Germans living in Japan. Billy Neumann had previously worked for Krauss in Paris, and Willy Heilemann for Kenngott, then they had helped Kazuo Tashima to found the Nichi-Doku company that would become Minolta, before founding their own company.

Neumann & Heilemann made the Rulex and Perfekt shutters and they also made cameras and lenses. Their logo was NH inside a circle.

There is a possible relationship with Fujimoto, maker of the Semi Prince 4.5x6 folding, some of them having Neumann & Heilemann lenses or shutters. Both firms used the Prince name on some cameras, but they also shared the same distributor Fukada Shōkai, and maybe the name was theirs. This is discussed in the Prince page.

Neumann & Heilemann cameras:

• Condor (4.5x6 folding according to McKeown)
• Prince Flex, the first Japanese TLR

Cameras equipped with Neumann & Heilemann shutters:

• Riken Adler, some variants
• Semi Prince, some

Lenses by Neumann & Heilemann:

• Tritar 105/4.5, camera unknown, shown here
• Radionar 75/4.5, probably under license from Schneider

Bibliography

• The Japanese camera by John Baird, ed. HCP