Nippon Kōgaku lenses before 1945

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Acht designs

Two years after its foundation in 1917, Nippon Kōgaku invited eight German advisers, who arrived in 1921.[1] They were specialists in optics and lens design and manufacture, among which were Heinrich Acht, Hermann Dillmann and Max Lange.[2] Most of them returned to Germany in 1926 at the end of their contract, and only Heinrich Acht remained until 1928.[3] From 1925 to 1928 he designed a number of lenses, from 7.5cm to 50cm focal length and from f/2 to f/6.8 maximal aperture.[4] Among them were three-element Flieger Objektiv 50cm lenses in f/5.4 and f/4.8 aperture, probably for aerial cameras.[5] The other reported designs were a six-element Doppel Anastigmat f/6.8 (in 7.5cm, 10.5cm, 12cm, 15cm and 18cm), a four-element Dialyt Anastigmat f/6.3 (in 7.5cm, 10.5cm and 12cm) and f/4.5 (in 12cm), a three-element Porträt Objektiv 24cm f/3.0 and 30cm f/3.5 and a Projektions Objektiv 7.5cm f/2.0 projection lens.[6] It is not known if these lenses were actually manufactured or not, and it seems that none was mounted on a civilian camera.

Anytar lenses

The Anytar lenses have a Tessar formula, and were first drawn by Hermann Acht or the other German engineers, then recomputed by Japanese engineers.[7] It is said that a total of seven focal lengths were studied: 7.5cm, 10.5cm, 10.7cm, 12cm, 15cm, 18cm and 36cm.[8] Four of these designs: 10.5cm f/4.5, 10.7cm f/4.5, 15cm f/4.5 and 18cm f/4.5, appear in a notebook by the engineer Yoshihashi Kagorō (吉橋嘉五郎), dated May 1930 and kept in the company's archives.[9] The notebook reportedly attributes the 10.5cm to Yoshihashi himself (certainly working on an original design by Acht), the 10.7cm to Hermann Dillmann and the other two designs to Acht.[10] The attribution of the 10.7cm to Dillmann would mean that it was designed in 1926 at the latest. The company still owns a prototype of this lens, mounted in a dial-set Compur shutter and having no marking.[11]

After the departure of Acht in 1928, the lens design department was taken over by Sunayama Kakuya (砂山角野) .[12] The Anytar 12cm f/4.5 was completed in 1929, then improved again and released in 1931.[13] It was the only Anytar lens to reach preseries level, and has the name Anytar 1:4.5 f=12cm and Nippon Kogaku around the rim.[14] It is said that the company bought twenty Lily plate folders and equipped them with Anytar lenses and dial-set Compur shutters, for experimental purpose.[15] The lens numbers known so far are no.3045, 3087 and 3093, the first and last being mounted on Lily cameras.[16] It is said that reamining Anytar lenses were sold to company employees for ¥20 in 1937.[17]

Trimar lens

The Trimar 50cm f/4.8 three-element aerial lens was an evolution of the Flieger Objektiv, drawn in 1929 by Sunayama from the original design by Acht.[18] Other Trimar lenses are known on Japanese cameras of the period, but they are probably unrelated.

Nikkor lenses

The lens name became Nikkor in 1932.[19] It is said that the name change coincided with a further evolution of the lens design.[20] One early Nikkor 12cm f/4.5 lens reportedly has no.3187, probably in the same sequence as the Anytar no.30xx.[21]

To be continued.

Notes

  1. ↑ Baird, p.52.
  2. ↑ Baird, p.52.
  3. ↑ Baird, p.53; Tanaka, p.89 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
  4. ↑ Tanaka, p.89 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, Lewis, p.184.
  5. ↑ Baird, p.53, says f/5.4. Lewis, p.184, says f/4.8. This table from an unknown Japanese source says f/4.8 and f/5.4. Braakhuis also says f/4.8 and f/5.4 in "The History of Nippon Kogaku 1600–1949". Schwanner says f/4.5 in "Nikon 1917–1997", certainly by mistake.
  6. ↑ Table from an unknown Japanese source reproduced in Fotóművészet Online.
  7. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens". Baird, p.54, says that the Anytar were developed by Sunayama from 1929.
  8. ↑ Full list in Itō, "Anytar lens". Baird, p.55, only mentions the 7.5cm, 10.5cm, 15cm and 18cm.
  9. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens", where the cover page of the notebook and the lens scheme of the 10.5cm f/4.5 are reproduced.
  10. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens".
  11. ↑ Lens pictured in Itō, "Anytar lens".
  12. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens"; Baird, p.54.
  13. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens", Baird, p.54, Tanaka, p.89 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, Lewis, p.184. The latter two say f/4, certainly by mistake.
  14. ↑ Tanaka, p.89 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, says that the mount looks very much like the imported Wekar f/4.5 lens equipping some Japanese cameras of the time.
  15. ↑ Sugiyama, item 1126; Baird, p.56.
  16. ↑ Lens no.3045 reported in Yazawa, p.23 of Camera Collectors' News no.271, on a Lily. Lens no.3087 and 3093 reported in Baird, p.55; no.3093 is mounted on a Lily.
  17. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens".
  18. ↑ Lewis, p.184, Yazawa, p.21 of Camera Collectors' News no.271.
  19. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens"; Baird, p.54.
  20. ↑ Itō, "Anytar lens".
  21. ↑ Lens pictured in Baird, p.55.

Bibliography

  • Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. Pp.54–6.
  • Braakhuis, Hans. "The History of Nippon Kogaku 1600–1949". Published in pdf format in Nikon Catalogus.
  • Itō Mikio (伊藤幹生). Archivist's Memo No.2 "Anytar Lens" (メモ No.2「アニター・レンズ」). Published in the Nikon official website (see links below).
  • Itō Mikio (伊藤幹生). Archivist's Memo No.4 "The Aero-Nikkor" (メモ No.4「Aero-Nikkor」). Published in the Nikon official website (see links below).
  • 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).
  • Schwanner, Endre. "Nikon 1917–1997". Published at Fotóművészet Online (see links below).
  • Schwanner, Endre. "Sixty-five year history of Nikkor lenses". Published at Fotóművészet Online (see links below).
  • 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.
  • Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Hekisā F4.5 no tanjō" (ヘキサーF4.5の誕生, The birth of the Hexar f/4.5). 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.88–9.
  • Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (181) Torimā renzu" (レンズの話[181]トリマー・レンズ, Lens story [181] Trimar lens). In Camera Collectors' News no.271 (January 2000). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.21–3.

Links

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