Picny

The Picny (ピクニー) is a Japanese camera taking sixteen 24×36mm exposures on 127 film, made by Miyagawa Seisakusho and distributed by the Mitsukoshi department store. It was introduced in 1935 and advertised at least until 1940.

See also the Picny 35.

Description

The Picny is closely inspired from the Gewirette by Wirgin, even if some enthusiastic dealers describe it as a Leica copy. It inspired other Japanese copies of the Gewirette, like the Gelto.

Picture courtesy of eBayer tuiteka. (Image rights)

The body of the Picny seems to be made out of a metal tube (like the body of the Leica screw models up to the IIIb). The lens and shutter assembly is collapsible and is mounted on a helical, focusing down to 1/3 metre.

Picture courtesy of eBayer tuiteka. (Image rights)

The top plate supports the advance knob at the right end, a key to open the camera, a tubular optical finder offset to the left and a screw thread to store 20mm filters at the left end. This filter holder was protected by the Japanese patent no.233457.

Pictures courtesy of eBayer tuiteka. (Image rights)

Film loading is through the top plate, in the same spirit as the bottom loading of the Leica screw models. On the original model, film advance is controlled by two uncovered red windows in the back but the case has a hinged metal plate acting as a red window cover when it is closed. This case was protected by the Japanese patent no.229066.

Picture courtesy of eBayer tuiteka. (Image rights)

The bottom plate has a tripod thread and two round discs corresponding to the film spools. The serial number is engraved in one of them.

The shutter is unmarked. It is cocked by a lever on the top and tripped by another lever. It gives T, B, 25, 50, 75, 100 speeds and it was made by Miyagawa itself and protected by the Japanese patent no.206258.

The lens is a four-element Picny Anastigmat 40mm f/4.5 made by Fujita Kōgaku Kikai. The lens name Picny anastigmat 1:4.5 F=40mm is engraved in the same plate as the shutter speeds, and no lens number is given. The 40mm focal length gives a moderate wide-angle effect, touted at the time as one of the camera's prominent features. The adoption of the 24×36mm picture format instead of 3×4cm is probably explained by the insufficient coverage of the lens.

Evolution

Original black model

Black Picny no.1131, f/4.5 lens. Pictures courtesy of eBayer tuiteka. (Image rights)

The original Picny was sold in black finish. It was featured in the October 1935 issue of Asahi Camera. Advertisements dated October 1935, April 1936, February, March and August 1937 offered the camera for ¥48.80, case included (a Picny lens hood was available for ¥1.20 in the March and August 1937 advertisements). The distributor was the camera counter of the Mitsukoshi department store (三越写真機売場, Mitsukoshi Shashinki Uriba). In advertisements dated February and August 1938, the price was ¥58 and the following accessories were listed:

• lens cap (¥0.20);
• filter holder (¥1.20);
• lens hood (¥1.50);
• ever ready case (¥3.60);
• case screw (¥0.35);
• Picny album (¥1.50).

The August 1938 advertisement was inserted by the authorized dealer Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten and shows the name "Picny Camera Works" (ピクニーカメラウオークス) but this is only a name used for advertising purpose and was not the name of any particular company.

Nickel finish

Nickel Picny no.3562, f/4.5 lens. The screw at the front of the shutter is not original. Pictures courtesy of eBayer ipruksleica. (Image rights)

The camera was later sold in nickel-plated finish. All the examples observed have an added distant release connector on the left of the shutter housing (as seen from the front).

Picny E

The nickel finished model appeared as the Picny E (ピクニーE型) in advertisements dated December 1939 and April 1940, at the price of ¥62. In the early one, the camera was announced as newly available and the following features are mentioned:

• red window covers;
• lighter color of the red windows making the numbers more readable;
• new construction allowing easier film loading.

The Picny E has a bulged back, certainly making film loading easier. The rear lid of the top plate is modified accordingly, and the telescopic tube is pulled out a little less because the film plane has moved backwards. An example of the Picny E is pictured in Awano, with a single red window in the back, on the middle left, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. It is not known how the camera could take 16 exposures in 3×4cm format with a single red window. Perhaps the film rolls made in Japan at the time had a series of numbers going from 1 to 16.

The Picny was listed in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the names "Picny" (¥60), "Picny II" (¥60) and "Picny III" (¥77), with no further details. It is probable that the Picny and Picny II correspond to the black and nickel models respectively, and that the Picny III corresponds to the Picny E. It is not sure that these names were actually used in advertising.

The camera was mentioned again in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943, as made and distributed by Miyagawa.

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. Item 192. (See also the pictures on pp.11 and 471.)
• Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Picny" (ピクニー). In Camera Collectors' News no.332 (February 2005). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
• "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. Item 164.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 1, sections 5 and 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). P.51.
• 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). P.692.
• 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. Items 3045–6.

Links

General links

In English:

• Picny (black) in the Mediajoy Classic Camera website, follow the "Next" links to have an illustrated operating manual

In Japanese:

• Picny (black) in Kamada Tetsuya's blog
• Picny (black) at Kidō shūsei-chū
• Picny (black) in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Picny (black) and more pictures in Miyazawa Noriyuki's camera site (the shutter plate and lens rim are missing)
• Picny (black) in a page of cameras at Sasaki Yukio's camera page

In Chinese:

• Picny (black) at www.ccc2000.net

Original documents

• Advertisements reproduced in the Japanese camera page and the small format camera page of the Gochamaze website:
  • Advertisements for the Picny, published in the 24 March 1937 and 2 February 1938 issues of Asahi Graph
  • Advertisement for the Boltax and Picny, published in the 5 October 1938 issue of Asahi Graph (on the left, only briefly mentions the Picny)
  • Advertisements for the Picny E, published in the 20 December 1939 and 24 April 1940 issues of Asahi Graph