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 list of set prices compiled in October 1940 lists the "Semi Primo I" for ¥121 and the "Semi Primo II" for ¥160, with no further detail.[2]
In advertisements dated December 1942 and May 1943,[3] the Primo was again offered in two versions: 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.
The two models are also listed in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras") of early 1943.[5]
Actual examples
Most observed examples of the Primo have chrome body edges and a chrome viewfinder. However one example of the Primo II is known in black finish: it has black painted body edges and a black viewfinder front frame.[6]
Two different types of advance knob are known: one has a flat top and is perhaps earlier and the other has a grooved top and is perhaps later.[7]
Other variations are noticed in the lens and shutter: the f/3.5 lens has a black or silver bezel, and some shutters have an additional RAPID–PRESTO engraving at the bottom of the rim.
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.
- ↑ Template:Kakaku1940 short, type 3, sections 6B and 7B.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943, items 33–4.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1225.
- ↑ Chronology inferred by the lens numbers. Examples with flat top are pictured in McKeown, p. 239, and in this page at Japan Family Camera. Examples with grooved top are pictured in Sugiyama, items 1225–6, and in the advertisements cited above.
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.
- "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. Items 33–4.
- Template:Kakaku1940 Type 3, sections 6B and 7B.
- 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.
- 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 1225–6.
Links
In Japanese:
- Primo I at Japan Family Camera: it is 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
