Reise
Reise was a Japanese camera maker. Since the first half of the 1950s it made the Chiyoca cameras for Chiyoda Shōkai, a photo shop in Tokyo. These cameras were a nice Leica-like camera series. Later the cameras were rebranded Chiyotax because the name Chiyoca was close to Chiyoko, used as a short name by the company Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō, predecessor of Minolta. The Chiyotax camera line was discontinued in mid-1957.
The company's full name is not known for sure. According to some sources, it was first "Reise Optical Institute" (presumably a translation for Reise Kōgaku Kenkyūjo, ライゼ光学研究所),[1] and later "Reise Camera Company, Ltd." (maybe for Reise Kamera K.K., ライゼカメラ㈱).[2] The latter appears at the top of the late Chiyotax IIIF. The only original document found so far to confirm the maker's name is a table in the September 1956 issue of Shashin Kōgyō, attributing the Chiyotax to "Reise Camera" (ライゼカメラ).[3]
The names "Chiyoca Camera Company, Ltd." and "Chiyotax Camera Company, Ltd." found on the top covers of Chiyoca and Chiyotax cameras are presumably dummy names, hiding the actual name of the manufacturing workshop.
Contents
Cameras
early
- Chiyoca 35
- Chiyoca 35 IF
later
- Chiyoca Model-IF
- Chiyoca Model-IIF
- Chiyoca Model-IIIF
rebranded
- Chiyotax Model-IIF
- Chiyotax Model-IIIF
Notes
Bibliography
- HPR. Leica Copies. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-874485-05-4.
- 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.
- Shashin Kōgyō no.53, October 1956. "Renzu kōkan-gata kamera go-shu o kentō suru" (レンズ交換型カメラ五種を検討する, Inspecting five cameras with interchangeable lens). Pp.265–9.
