Primo
For the Primoflex and Primo Junior TLR cameras, see Tōkyō Kōgaku.
The Primo (プリモ) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera made by Daiichi Kikō and distributed by Ōsawa Shōkai in the first half of the 1940s.
Contents
Description
The Primo has a horizontal folding body, unusual for a 4.5×6 format camera. The shape of the folding struts is inspired from the Balda folders. The folding optical finder is in the middle of the top plate, there is a body release to the right and a button to the left which simultaneously opens the finder and the folding bed. The advance knob is at the left end and has an arrow to indicate the winding direction. The back is hinged to the right and has a single red window at the top right, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. There are strap lugs at both ends of the top plate, spring-mounted film retaining flanges at the bottom and a screw thread in the middle of the bottom plate. The name PRIMO is embossed in capital letters in the folding bed leather.
The shutter is a Rapid-Presto made by Kinshō, giving T, B, 1–500 speeds. The shutter plate is inscribed PRIMO at the top and RAPID–PRESTO at the bottom. The lens is a three-element Oscar Anastigmat 75/4.5 or 75/3.5 with front-cell focusing, made by Ōki.[1]
Advertisements and other documents
The Primo was introduced in mid 1941.[2] In advertisements dated December 1942 and May 1943,[3] two versions were offered: the Primo I (プリモⅠ型) with f/4.5 lens (¥136, then ¥157.5) and the Primo II (プリモⅡ型) with f/3.5 lens (¥160, then ¥184.94).[4] The camera was touted as "the smallest of the 4.5×6" (セミ判で一番小さい), with an "ideal horizontal construction" (理想的横位置). The advertising picture is the same in the two advertisements, showing a camera in chrome finish.
Actual examples
The Primo has been observed with chrome trimming, but McKeown also mentions a black variant (calling the black variant "Primo I" and the chrome variant "Primo II", but this is contradicted by the advertisements). The examples observed have an Oscar Anastigmat 75/3.5 or 75/4.5 lens and a shutter with T, B, 1–500 speeds, marked PRIMO at the top and RAPID-PRESTO at the bottom.
Notes
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens items Lb28 and Lc7. The maker's name is not mentioned for the f/3.5 lens but the attribution to Ōki is likely.
- ↑ The earliest advertisement listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 340, is dated June 1941. The same source says that the camera was featured in the July 1941 issue of Asahi Camera.
- ↑ December 1942: advertisement published in Asahi Graph (23 December 1942), reproduced in the Gochamaze website. May 1943: advertisement published in Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 90.
- ↑ Sugiyama, items 1225–6, and McKeown, p. 239, mistakenly say that the model I is black and the model II is chrome.
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 223.
- 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). Page 239.
Links
In Japanese:
- Primo I at Japan Family Camera (mis-identified as a Primo II)
- Advertisement for the Primo published in the 23 December 1942 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Japanese camera page of the Gochamaze website
