Prince

Prince Camera Works is a Japanese entity, associated with many cameras called Prince, and whose history is not entirely clear.

History

Before the war

The name Prince Camera Works is first associated with prewar Japanese cameras distributed by the company Fukada Shōkai. It appears in original advertisements and on some products, either in its full form or through a P.C.W. logo.

The simplest and most obvious theory is that Prince Camera Works was a camera maker. However it is said by many sources that the Semi Prince, a camera associated with Prince Camera Works in original advertisements, was actually manufactured by Fujimoto. On that basis, some sources attribute to Fujimoto all the other cameras named Prince and associated with Prince Camera Works. However the latter theory seems to be a confusion: the company history at the Fujimoto official website mentions the Semi Prince as Fujimoto's first camera in 1934, while other Prince cameras apparently existed before that. It is also possible that the Prince Flex, another camera associated with Prince Camera Works in original advertisements, was manufactured by Neumann & Heilemann. All this leads to doubts about whether Prince Camera Works was an actual camera maker or not.

It seems probable that the trademark Prince was owned by the distributor Fukada Shōkai. Perhaps Prince Camera Works was a company associated with Fukada, that made some of the cameras called Prince but not all of them, or perhaps it was just a name used to hide the fact that the cameras were bought to various manufacturers.

Postwar developments

After the war, the company Tōyō Seiki Kōgaku made 6×6 TLR cameras called Princeflex and Prince Junior, distributed by Misuzu Shōkai. These cameras were sometimes advertised with the mention of Prince Camera Works and the P.C.W. logo.

At about the same time, a probably different company called Tōkyō Seiki or Doris Camera was using the Doris name again on various models.

Cameras

Here are cameras known to be associated with Prince Camera Works in original advertisements, either through the full name or through the P.C.W. logo:

• Prince Peerless 6.5×9 plate folder (1934–6)
• Semi Prince 4.5×6 folder (1934/5–9)
• Prince Flex 6×6 TLR (1937–9)

Here are other cameras called Prince and advertised by Fukada Shōkai:

• Pocket Prince 4×6.5 folder (1939–40)
• Prince Baby Ref, 3×4 pseudo TLR (1939–40)

A 6.5×9 plate folder simply called Prince is also reported.

Here are two other cameras advertised by Fukada Shōkai in a context associating them with the models above:

• Doris 3×4 strut-folder (1939–41)
• Baby Doris 3×4 folder (1941–3)

Postwar Prince cameras:

• Princeflex
• Princeflex 2
• Prince Junior

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.
• 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).
• 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).

Links

• Discussion about Prince and Doris within this Japanese miscellanea page at tlr-cameras.com