Pocket Prince
The Pocket Prince is a Japanese folding camera taking 4×6.5 pictures on 127 film, advertised in 1939 and 1940 by the distributor Fukada Shōkai.[1] The name Pocket Prince perhaps indicates that it was made by Prince Camera Works, if the latter was really a camera maker. The camera is sometimes attributed to Fujimoto, perhaps because of a confusion with the Semi Prince.[2]
Description of the body
The Pocket Prince is a vertical folder copied from the Agfa Billy 0. The metal struts have an incurved slot guiding the front standard when folding the bed. The body of the Pocket Prince is certainly inherited from the Speed Pocket by First Camera Works.
There is a folding frame finder in the middle of the top plate. The key to wind the film is at the bottom right. The back is hinged to the left.
Lens and shutter equipment
In an advertisement dated October 1939[3], the Pocket Prince is announced as a new product but no lens and shutter is mentioned.
In advertisements dated April 1940 and August 1940[4], the camera is offered for ¥58 with a Baron 75/4.5 lens and a Kerio shutter giving 25, 50, 100, 150, T, B, speeds. However the advertising pictures show a Prontor II shutter. In all the advertising pictures, the folding bed release is next to the viewfinder.
One example is pictured in Sugiyama with a Prontor II shutter giving 175–1, B, T speeds and a Schneider Radionar 7.5cm f/4.5 lens.[5] It also has a black accessory shoe at the right end of the top plate, but it is perhaps not original. Kokusan kamera no rekishi also mentions a version with Radionar f/4.5 lens and Compur shutter.[6] In this example, the folding bed release is next to the advance key.
Another camera is pictured in Sugiyama, Baird, McKeown and Lewis as a Speed Pocket.[7] However it has a Baron Anastigmat 7.5cm f/4.5 lens in a Kerio shutter, as in the 1940 advertisements. Moreover it has no "art-deco" patterns on the top and bottom plates and on the standing leg and it has no SPEED embossing, unlike the Speed Pocket. It is strongly suspected that this camera is in fact a Pocket Prince. The folding bed release is on the same side as the viewfinder and there is a single red window in the back with a hexagonal shape.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1233, and McKeown, p. 331.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 91.
- ↑ Advertisements published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 80.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1233.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1052, Baird, pp. 99–101, McKeown, p. 577 and Lewis, p. 51.
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 230. (See also the advertisements for item 155.)
- Baird, John R. Collectors guide to Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras. Grantsburg, WI (USA): Centennial Photo Service, 1991. ISBN 0-931838-16-9. Pp. 99–101.
- 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). Pp. 331 and 577.
- 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 1052 and 1233.
