Olympic
Olympic was a name used by Riken before World War II for a series of bakelite cameras.
The first Olympic was introduced in 1934. It is unclear if it was made by Riken or by another company that they later bought. The names Olympic Camera Works and Asahi Bussan Gōshi Kaisha appear in some documents. McKeown says at Riken entry that Riken "bought the Olympic Camera Works" in 1937. At the Asahi Optical Works entry (Asahi Bussan) they say it was "founded by Riken about 1936", and "took on the Riken name in 1943". This seems contradictory. Asahi Bussan was possibly only the name of the export trade company, not the maker.
Contents
127 film
The first model was the Olympic A. It was a rigid camera made of bakelite, taking 3x4 pictures on 127 film.
The Olympic B and Olympic C followed. The Olympic C had a Ukas Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and an Olympic System T-B-25-50-100-150 shutter. It had a rigid optical viewfinder on top of the bakelite body.
An Olympic Four existed, taking 4x4 pictures.
A Regal Olympic was advertised in 1938 as a 4.5x6 and 3x4 dual format body, with Ukas Anastigmat 75mm f/4.5 lens and the same Olympic System T-B-25-50-100-150 shutter. It looked like the Olympic C, but bigger.
120 film
A Semi Olympic was made for 4.5x6 pictures on 120 film, with a folding optical finder.
35mm film
The Super Olympic D was the first 35mm Japanese camera. It used 35mm film in daylight cassettes. It had the same features as the Olympic 3x4. The lens was a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f/4.5 and the shutter was the same Olympic System T-B-25-50-100-150.
Other
An Olympic enlarger model D was also sold, with darkroom equipment and tripods.
Note
Shutters from 1s to 1/250 and lenses with f/3.5 maximal aperture were advertised as "available on request".
