Difference between revisions of "Seica and Andes Four"
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (nav template) |
Rebollo fr (talk | contribs) m (Seica moved to Seica and Andes Four: the Andes Four is a name variant) |
(No difference)
| |
Revision as of 19:39, 28 January 2007
The Seica (セイカ) is a 4×4cm format camera. It is featured in the new products column of the January 1939 issue of Asahi Camera and attributed to Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (today Ricoh). In this article, the name is written 精華[1]. It is advertised in 1940 and 1941[2] by the distributor Kuwata Shōkai, with the name written in katakana: セイカ, and with no mention of Riken. It is offered in two variants, both with an f:4.5 lens:
- Seica I, with T, B, 25–250 shutter (¥60);
- Seica II, with T, B, 5–250 shutter (¥70).
The lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a telescopic tube. According to this page of the Ricoh official website, the lens is a Seica 60/4.5 triplet. An example of the Seica is pictured in McKeown with a 5cm f/4.5 lens, said to be an Helios Anastigmat[3], and a Neumann & Heilemann shutter, giving 25, 50, 100, 250, B, T speeds and said to be a Perfekt.
The Seica has a tubular optical finder, offset to the left, and an accessory shoe at the left end of the top plate. There is a long housing on the right of the top plate, with the advance knob above. At the time, the rollfilm paperback was not marked for 4×4cm pictures, so there is a device to control film advance, maybe an exposure counter, or automatic stop advance, or both. The mechanism is the same as on the Adler IV[4]. Film loading is by the bottom plate.
McKeown attributes the Seica to a company called "Kondo Seiko Co", and this page at photographica-world.de attributes it to "Kondo Seiki"[5]. (Both also attribute a camera named Cordlef to the same company. Photographica-world.de also mentions the Andes Four and Cometflex I and II.)
Notes
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337. 精華 means "bloom" or "flower" in the figurate sense of "elite". During the war period, Riken used "patriotic" names, as well as names reminding Japan's alliance with Germany.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Mulix I–III and Seica I–II, published in the February 1941 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 133.
- ↑ The name Helios Anastigmat is also mentioned by this page of the Ricoh official website for the Letix.
- ↑ According to this page of the Ricoh official website.
- ↑ Probably 近藤精機.
Printed 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. Items 132–3.
- 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). P. 537.
Links
In Japanese:
- Ricoh camera list at the Ricoh official website, with:
| Asahi Bussan and Riken prewar and wartime cameras () | ||
|---|---|---|
| rigid or collapsible | ||
| Vest Adler | Gokoku | Semi Kinsi | Letix | Olympic | New Olympic | Regal Olympic | Semi Olympic | Super Olympic | Vest Olympic | Riken No.1 | Ricohl | Roico | Seica | Zessan | ||
| folders | pseudo TLR | TLR |
| Semi Adler | Adler III | Adler A | Adler B | Adler C | Adler Four | Adler Six | Gaica | Heil | Kinsi | Chukon Ref | Ricohflex | Ricohflex B |
