Okada
Okada Kōgaku Seiki K.K. (岡田光学精機株式会社) was a Japanese camera maker, active from the late 1930s and based in Tokyo, Toshima.[1] Its name was often abbreviated to Okako (岡光, Okakō).
It is identified with the company Walz Camera Works that made the original Walz 3×4 camera in 1936–7.[2]
Okada also made a series of 4.5×6 folders from 1940, called Semi Okaco and Waltax. Some sources[3] attribute the postwar Waltax cameras to Daiichi Kōgaku, but all the models wear Okako markings. Daiichi made the Zenobia folders, successors of the Waltax, from 1952. It is probable that Okada renamed itself as or was bought by Daiichi at the same date.
The Gemmy and Kolt subminiature cameras are also attributed to Okada.[4]
(Okada should not be confused with Okaya.)
Contents
Notes
- ↑ Its address in 1943 was Tōkyō-to Toshima-ku Nishisugamo-chō 4–276 (東京都豊島区西巣鴨町4–276). Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 344 (item 346); Sugiyama, item 1262; McKeown, p. 745.
- ↑ Among which are Kokusan kamera no rekishi and McKeown, but not Lewis, p. 61.
- ↑ McKeown, p. 745.
Camera timeline
| Okada timeline () | Daiichi-> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | 1940s | 1950s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4.5×6 folder | viewfinder | Waltax Junior | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Waltax | Waltax | Waltax II | ... | Waltax III | ... | Waltax Senior | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Okaco | ... | Waltax Deluxe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| rangefinder | Waltax Acme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cameras whose actual existence or dates are dubious are in a lighter shade of grey. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
- "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).
- 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). Pp. 239 and 745.
- 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.
Links
In English:
In Japanese:
- A page of the AJCC showing a camera called Okada Semi 2600 and some Okada literature, with the company's full name
