Nishida
Nishida was a Japanese company active from at least 1941. Its full name was Nishida Kōgaku Kikai Seisakusho (西田光学器械製作所) and it was based in Tokyo, Takinogawa.[1] After the war, the company was called Nishida Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (西田光学工業㈱) and its address was the same.[2]
Nishida made cameras, lenses and shutters called Wester. It also made the Northter and NKK shutters.[3]
The name "Nishida" consists of two parts: nishi, meaning "west"; and ta, whose pronunciation many Japanese people find distinguishable from the "ter" sound of English "after". Thus the name "Wester" for Nishida's products: "west" from nishi, and "ter" from ta.
Nishida Kōgaku went bankrupt in January 1958.[4]
Contents
Camera list
6×6 folders
- Wester Model II
- Wester Chrome Six
- Wester Chrome Six R
- Super Wester
- Wester S2
- Wester Autorol
- Wester Atlasix
4.5×6 folders
- Wester or Semi Wester (wartime model)
- Semi Wester (postwar model)
The Apollo and Mikado are often attributed to Nishida, but it seems that this is a mistake and that the body was made by Sumida.
35mm rangefinder
- Auto West
Other
Notes
- ↑ Its address in 1943 was Tōkyō-shi Takinogawa-ku Takinogawa-chō 1935 (東京市滝野川区滝野川町1935). Source: advertisement dated March 1943 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 59. The "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943, gives the company name "Nishida Kōgaku Seiki Seisakusho" (西田光学精機製作所) and the same address with "1985" instead of 1935, apparently by mistake.
- ↑ From 1951 to 1953, it was Tōkyō-to Kita-ku Takinogawa-chō 1935 (東京都北区滝野川町1935). From 1954 to 1958 it was Tōkyō-to Kita-ku Takinogawa-chō 6–12 (東京都北区滝野川町6–12), perhaps designating the same place after some address reform. Source: advertisements dated 1951 to 1958 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 119–20 and 222–3.
- ↑ Maker of the NKK shutters: this page of Aya's camera page.
- ↑ Lewis, p. 104.
References / further reading
- 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.
- "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.
- 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).
