Olympic

Olympic was the name of a series of Japanese bakelite cameras made before World War II. They were produced from 1934 by the company Olympic Camera and sold by the associated trade company Asahi Bussan. Most early Olympic cameras have an AB logo, surely for Asahi Bussan.

Both companies were bought in 1937 by Riken Kankōshi and were reorganized as the depending company Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō (unrelated to the company Asahi Kōgaku that later became Pentax). It seems that from that date the Olympic models were made by Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō and sold by Riken Kankōshi, that became Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō in 1938, the predecessor of Ricoh. The cameras have an AKK logo, surely for Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō.

For the 24×36mm Super Olympic, see Super Olympic. For the 4.5×6cm Semi Olympic, see Semi Olympic. For the 4×6.5cm Vest Olympic and Regal Olympic, see Vest Alex and Vest Olympic.

Olympic A, B and Junior

The first model was the Olympic A, taking 3×4 pictures on 127 film. Introduced in 1934, it was the first Japanese camera made of bakelite. The lens was a fixfocus 50mm f:8 Japar (probable Roman writing of ジャパー) and the shutter was of the time & instant type. The lens and shutter assembly, of an octogonal shape, was mounted on a retracting bakelite helical. This also served as a crude focusing device. On the top of the body there was a folding frame finder.

The Olympic B, also from 1934, had a 50mm f:6.3 Olynar Special lens, a B, 25-50 shutter and a rigid optical finder, but it still had the same crude focusing system. Both the Olympic A and B were introduced in 1934.

In 1936, the Olympic A was probably replaced by the Olympic Junior, that looked like the Olympic B with a 50mm f/8 Olynar lens and a time & instant shutter.

Olympic C

The New Olympic C, also from 1936, used the same 3x4 format. It had a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f:4.5 triplet lens with front cell focusing and a T, B, 150-100-50-25 shutter advertised as "Olympic System". It had a rigid optical viewfinder of a different shape, and different knobs too. Behind the lens and shutter assembly the helical ring was now metallic, marked NEW OLYMPIC MOD.C 3X4CM. On the shutter plate there was marked New Olympic and Pat. No. 194303, and a logo with "A" and "B" mixed in a circle, probably for Asahi Bussan. There was also a plate engraved The Olympic Camera Works on the camera body, near the back opening. The Olympic Junior and the Olympic C were still advertised in 1938.

The New Olympic C also existed in 4×4 format, like the 3×4 version except the finder. There were three red windows in the back because the rollfilm paper was not adapted for 4×4 exposures. It was marked NEW OLYMPIC MOD.C 4X4CM on the helical ring. Shutter speeds were always T, B, 150-100-50-25. Three different shutter plates have been observed:

• marked Olympic Four with AB logo (on a camera with a flush metal part replacing the top right knob)
• marked Olympic Four with AKK logo
• marked New Olympic with AKK logo in a circle, surely for Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō (see for example here at Asacame)

The Olympic Four, taking 4×4 pictures, was almost the same as the New Olympic C 4×4. The knobs differed and the helical ring was now unmarked. The lens was the same Ukas Anastigmat 50/4.5. It has been observed with a shutter plate marked New Olympic with AKK logo (see here at Japan Family Camera) and reversed 25-50-100-150, B, T shutter speeds. At Ricoh's site it is shown with a shutter plate marked Heil and shutter speeds apparently 5-10-25-50-100-150, B, T. According to Ricoh, the lens was renamed Heil Anastigmat at some point. (The names used by Riken, like Adler or Heil, remind sinister times.) A 1940 advertisement, shown at some website and barely readable, seems to list two variants, Olympic Four I and Olympic Four II, at two different prices. A Japanese catalogue, probably from 1942, listed the Olympic Four for ¥37, case in supplement for ¥6.70.

Miscellaneous

Shutters from 1s to 1/250 and lenses with f:3.5 maximal aperture were advertised in the 1938 British Photography Journal Almanac as "available on request". None has been observed since.

An Olympic enlarger model D was also sold, with darkroom equipment and tripods.

Bibliography

In English:

• The Japanese Historical Camera. 日本の歴史的カメラ (Nihon no rekishiteki kamera). 2nd ed. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2004. Pp.  18, 21.

In Japanese:

• 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.
• Ricoh Camera no Subete (リコーカメラのすべて, All the Ricoh cameras), issue no. 14 (1 October 1989) of Classic Camera Senka (クラシックカメラ専科). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama.

Links

In Japanese:

• Pages from the Ricoh corporate site and the Ricoh camera list:
  • Olympic A
  • Olympic B
  • Olympic Junior
  • Olympic C
  • Olympic Four
  • article about the Olympic A-C
• Pages of the Asacame website:
  • Olympic (the first camera pictured is a Baby Chrome, not an Olympic) among the 127 film cameras from A to Z
  • Riken 127 film cameras
• Olympic Four at Japan Family Camera (the back picture mistakenly shows a Vest Olympic)
• Olympic Junior in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Prewar Japanese 127 camera page at Nekosan's website, with an Olympic C and an Olympic Four