Roico
The Riken Roico was a 4x4cm format camera sold from 1940. The lens and shutter assembly was mounted on a telescopic tube. The body was metallic, and the back was removed together with the bottom plate. It had a body release, a tubular optical finder, an accessory shoe and a frame counter, similar to the Adler IV. The frame counter was necessary because at the time, the film paperback was not marked for 4x4cm pictures. The lens was a Roico Anastigmat 60/3.5 triplet. There were two variants depending on the shutter:
- the early Roico, from 1940, with a T-B-5-250 shutter (see here at asacame, Ricoh's corporate page says T-B-25-50-100-150 everset, contradicted by the picture shown, McKeown says T-B-5-200)
- the later Roico, from 1943, with a NKS Tokio T-B-1-200 shutter (Tokio is maybe an old transcription of Tokyo)
Ricoh's corporate site says that the Roico was based on the focal plane shutter Gokoku / Ricohl model, adapted for a simpler lens shutter. It also says that Roico was the acronym of Riken Optical Industry Co.
Links
Ricoh's corporate website:
Other:
- Riken 127 film cameras at asacame, including the Roico
- Other page at asacame with the Roico
- Prewar Japanese 127 cameras at nekosan's site, including the Roico
