Nifca-Dox
The Nifca-Dox (ニフカドックス) is a Japanese strut folding camera taking 6.5×9cm film plates or pack film. It was made in 1930 and 1931 by Nichidoku Shashinki Shōten (predecessor of Minolta).[1]
Contents
Name
"Nifca" comes from Nichidoku Foto Camera.[2] Nichi in Nichidoku means Japan, and it is certainly not coincidental that "Nifca" can also be read as Nippon Foto Camera.
Many sources say that "Dox" refers to the giant flying boat Dornier Do X (see for example this Wikipedia page) which first flew in 1929 and made a transatlantic flight, leaving Friedrichshafen in November 1930 and reaching New York in August 1931.[3]
Description of the body
The Nifca-Dox has a metal body. There is no folding bed but a rectangular front plate supported by straight struts in the four corners. This construction is similar to the Goerz Pocket Tenax. (Nichidoku also copied the Roll-Tenax, another Goerz product, for the focusing device of the Nifcarette A.) Unlike the Tenax, the bellows is of the classical type, with multiple creases.
The Newton finder is to the left end, as seen by the photographer. The front part of the finder is attached to the front plate and can be swivelled to gain size. The rear part is a simple eyepiece attached to the back, presumably retractible. A handle is attached to the right end of the body.
The name NIFCA-DOX is marked on the bottom right of the front plate. The serial number Nr xxxx is written on the bottom left and there is a logo on the top left. The logo is made of letters inside a circle. The top row reads N PH D, perhaps for Nichi Photo Doku. The bottom part perhaps reads CO for Company. The ground glass back seems have the same round logo embossed in the leather hood.[4]
Lens and shutter
The shutter is a Koilos, mounted in a black octogonal housing protruding from the front plate. The 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds are set by a wheel at the top. This wheel is covered by a metal plate inscribed KOILOS and Nifca Photo. The shutter is everset and the release lever is attached to the front of the octogon. There is a distant release connector protruding from the left edge.
The lens is a front-cell focusing Nifca Anastigmat 105mm f/6.8,[5] obviously an imported German lens that was rebranded. The aperture is set by a wheel protruding from the bottom right edge of the octogon and the selected f-number is read in a small window on the right of the lens.
Advertising
The Nifca-Dox appears in an advertisement dated February 1931.[6] The price was ¥29.[7] It is said that 2–3,000 were made;[8] in his autobiography, Tashima Kazuo mentioned that the camera "sold like hot cakes" (free translation of 飛ぶように売れ).[9]
Actual examples
Only four surviving examples have been observed so far. One has Nr 6650 and belongs to the Minolta company, another has Nr 6671, the third has Nr 6798 and the fourth has an unknown number.[10] The four cameras look exactly identical.
Notes
- ↑ Year 1930 given by all the sources cited below. The camera was still advertised in 1931.
- ↑ See Francesch, p.17, and the Nifcarette page of the Konica Minolta website.
- ↑ Baird, p.40; Francesch, p.19; Lewis, p.45; Scheibel, p.11; Sugiyama, item 1182; Tanimura in Camera Collectors' News no.116.
- ↑ Picture of the ground glass back visible in this page of the Nagoya Club website.
- ↑ McKeown, p.672, also mentions an f/6.3 lens but this is unconfirmed.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera February 1931, reproduced in Hagiya, p.9 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
- ↑ Francesch, p.18; Lewis, p.45; Scheibel, p.11.
- ↑ According to Tashima Gizō (son of Tashima Kazuo, founder of the company), interviewed by Saeki Kakugorō on p.77 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
- ↑ Tashima Kazuo, Watakushi no rirekisho, reproduced in Andō, p.2 of Camera Collectors' News no.127.
- ↑ No.6650 pictured in Francesch, p.70 and Sugiyama, item 1182. No.6671 pictured in Baird, p.40, Lewis, p.45, McKeown, p.672, Scheibel, p.10, this page of the Manual Minolta website and this Chinese webpage. Sugiyama says that no.6671 belongs to the Minolta Gallery. 6798 pictured in Awano, p.14 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12. Third example pictured in this page of the Nagoya Club website.
Bibliography
- Andō Yoshinobu (安藤嘉信). "Arukadia no nazo" (アルカデリアの謎, Arcadia mystery). In Camera Collectors' News no.127 (January 1988). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. (Brief mention of the Nifca-Dox in a quote from Tashima Kazuo's book Watakushi no rirekisho.)
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Senzen no Minolta kamera" (戦前のミノルタカメラ, "Prewar Minolta cameras"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.13–17.
- Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. P.40.
- Francesch, Dominique and Jean-Paul. Histoire de l'appareil photographique Minolta de 1929 à 1985. Paris: Dessain et Tolra, 1985. ISBN 2-249-27685-4.
- Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kōkoku ni miru Minolta kamera no rekishi" (広告に見るミノルタカメラの歴史, "Minolta camera history seen through the advertisements"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.9–12.
- 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). P.45.
- 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). P.672.
- Saeki Kakugorō (佐伯恪五郎). "Tashima Gizō-shi ni kiku" (田嶋義三氏に聞く, "Asking Tashima Gizō"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.76–9.
- Scheibel, Anni Rita and Joseph. 70 Jahre Minolta Kameratechnik — Von der Nifcalette bis zur Dynax 9. Stuttgart: Lindemanns Verlag, 3rd edition, 1999. ISBN 3-89506-191-3. Pp.10–1.
- 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. Item 1182.
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Minolta I-gata to II-gata." (セミミノルタⅠ型とⅡ型, "Semi Minolta I and II") In Camera Collectors' News no. 116 (February 1987). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
Links
In English:
In French:
In Japanese:
- Nifca-Dox in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
- Nifca-Dox at Nagoya's Camera Club
In Chinese:
- Nifca-Dox in a Chinese webpage
| Nifca, Molta and Chiyoda prewar and wartime cameras () | |
|---|---|
| folding plate cameras | |
| Nifcaklapp | Nifcasport | Sirius | Arcadia | Lomax | Eaton | Happy | |
| folding rollfilm cameras | telescopic bakelite cameras |
| Nifcarette | Sirius Bebe | Semi Minolta | Auto Semi Minolta | Minolta Vest | Baby Minolta | Minolta Six |
| strut-folding cameras | TLR cameras |
| Nifca-Dox | Minolta | Auto Minolta | Auto Press Minolta | Minoltaflex | Minoltaflex Automat | Minoltaflex military prototype |
