Difference between revisions of "Peacock"

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The '''Peacock II''' (ピーコックⅡ型) has a longer body with thinner edges. The top and bottom plates are painted black. This model has the same body release, advance knob and tubular finder as the previous one. A control is visible on the right end of the top plate, but its function is unknown. The lens and shutter are the same as on the Peacock I.
 
The '''Peacock II''' (ピーコックⅡ型) has a longer body with thinner edges. The top and bottom plates are painted black. This model has the same body release, advance knob and tubular finder as the previous one. A control is visible on the right end of the top plate, but its function is unknown. The lens and shutter are the same as on the Peacock I.
  
The Peacock II appeared in an advertisement dated October 1939, where it was offered for {{yen|30|1939}}.<REF> Published in ''Asahi Camera'', reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.&nbsp;84. </REF> No surviving example is known.
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The Peacock II appeared in an advertisement dated October 1939, where it was offered for {{yen|30|1939}}.<REF> Published in ''Asahi Camera'', reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.&nbsp;84. </REF> The advertisement shows the name of the distributor [[Banno|Banno Bōeki]] but no other company name. No surviving example of the Peacock II is known.
  
 
== The Peacock III ==
 
== The Peacock III ==

Revision as of 00:16, 4 January 2007

Japanese Baby (3×4) and Four (4×4) (edit)
folding
3×4 Baby Balnet | Doris | Baby Doris | Baby Germa | Kinsi | Baby Leotax | Loren | Baby Lyra | Baby Pearl | Baby Pilot | Baby Rosen | Baby Suzuka | Walz
4×4 Adler Four | Rosen Four
rigid or collapsible
3×4 Baika | Baby Chrome | Comet | Cyclon | Gelto | Baby Germa | Gokoku | Hamond | Baby Hawk | Kinka Lucky | Lausar | Light | Baby Light | Molby | Mulber | Olympic | Baby Ōso | Peacock | Picny | Ricohl | Rorox | Shinko Baby | Slick | Baby Sport | Tsubasa Arawashi | Baby Uirus | Zessan
3.5×4 Kenko 35
4×4 Alma Four | Andes Four | Anny 44 | Arsen | Balnet Four | Bonny Four | Freude | Kalimar 44 | Auto Keef | Kraft | Letix | Mykey-4 | Olympic Four | Roico | Royal Senior | Seica | Terra Junior | Vero Four | Welmy 44 | Yashica Future 127
unknown
Baby First | Baby Lyra Flex
Japanese SLR, TLR, pseudo TLR and stereo models ->
Japanese 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6, 6×6 and 6×9 ->

The Peacock (ピーコック) are Japanese cameras taking 3×4cm pictures on 127 film, made in 1939 and 1940.[1] It is said that the Peacock were made by Tōyō Kōki.[2]

Common features

The Peacock models have a rigid metal body. There is a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly, an advance knob on the top left and a tubular finder in the middle of the top plate. The back is hinged to the right.

The Peacock I

The Peacock I has a brick-shaped body and a large body release on the right of the viewfinder. The top and bottom plates are metal finished. The lens is a fixed-focus Peacock Anastigmat Orioscop 50mm f/6.3 and the everset shutter gives 100, 50, 25, B speeds and is marked Peacock at the top of the shutter plate.

This model was featured in the new products column of the March 1939 issue of Asahi Camera[3] and only one surviving example has been observed, pictured in Sugiyama.[4]

The Peacock II

The Peacock II (ピーコックⅡ型) has a longer body with thinner edges. The top and bottom plates are painted black. This model has the same body release, advance knob and tubular finder as the previous one. A control is visible on the right end of the top plate, but its function is unknown. The lens and shutter are the same as on the Peacock I.

The Peacock II appeared in an advertisement dated October 1939, where it was offered for ¥30.[5] The advertisement shows the name of the distributor Banno Bōeki but no other company name. No surviving example of the Peacock II is known.

The Peacock III

The Peacock III has the same body shape as the Peacock II, but the top plate is leather covered and the edges of the body are metal finished. This model has a trapezoid-shaped tubular finder, a different knob advance and a much smaller button on the right of the viewfinder, supposed to be the body release. There are two handles on the sides of the telescopic tube, used to pull it out.

The lens is the same fixed-focus Peacock Anastigmat Orioscop 50mm f/6.3 as on the previous models. The shutter gives T, B, 100, 50, 25, 10 speeds. It has a lever on the top, probably the cocking lever, and a small button on one side, perhaps an additional release lever. The name Peacock on the shutter plate is not styled the same as on the two previous models. The aperture scale is above the shutter housing and it is also written PEACOCK under the aperture numbers.

The Peacock III is pictured in Sugiyama and has been observed elsewhere.[6]

A different version is pictured in McKeown. It has no button above the top plate. The lens is a front-cell focusing Recta Anastigmat 60mm f/3.5 and the shutter gives T, B, 1–300 speeds and is reported to be a New Alfa.[7] The same lens and shutter equipment, with the same shutter plate design, is found on the Alfax Model II.

Notes

  1. Dates: advertisements and articles mentioned in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
  2. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
  3. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
  4. Sugiyama, item 4060.
  5. Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 84.
  6. Sugiyama item 3044. Also observed for sale at a dealer and in a Yahoo Japan auction.
  7. McKeown, p. 933. The focal length is wrongly reported to be 50mm, but the picture reads 60mm and this is consistent with the Recta lens mounted on the Alfax.

Bibliography