Semi Chrome
The Semi Chrome are Japanese 4.5×6 folders that were made by the company Optochrom.
The Semi Chrome A
The Semi Chrome A is a vertical folder, with a key to wind the film. It is unclear if the folding finder is an optical one or a simple frame finder. The only advertisement mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi is dated February 1937[1], and no price is indicated, it is unsure if it was ever sold. The shutter has T, B, 5–150 speeds, and it is probably a Rulex: on the picture, the shutter plate is marked Semi Chrome at the top and RULEX at the bottom, with a logo at the right that is probably the NH logo of Neumann & Heilemann. The lens aperture is f:4.5 but the lens name is a bit confusing: it could be New Gold Lausar[2], or New Gold and Lausar could be a choice of two different lenses.
The Semi Chrome B
The Semi Chrome B[3] is a strut folding camera. It is advertised in 1937[4] and 1938[5], at first with a New Gold f:4.5 lens (¥38) and later also with a Lausar[6] f:4.5 lens (¥45) — case ¥5 extra. The shutter has T, B, 25–100 speeds. On the pictures or drawings of the advertisements it is unclear if the folding finder was an optical one or a simple frame finder. The front leather is sometimes embossed SEMI CHROME and sometimes simply CHROME. Sometimes the advance knob seems to be at the top left of the body and sometimes it is at the bottom right.
Notes
- ↑ Advertisement for the Baby Chrome, Baby Oso and Semi Chrome A and B, originally published in the February 1937 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi in two parts, items 34 and 89–91.
- ↑ Roman writing temptatively inferred from the katakana ニユーゴールド・ローザー.
- ↑ Called "Semi Tsubasa Chrome" by McKeown, probably erroneously.
- ↑ February 1937 advertisement cited above. — Advertisement for the Tsubasa Chrome and Semi Chrome B, published in the Aug 1937 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 143.
- ↑ Advertisement mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
- ↑ Same remark as above, inferred from ローザー.
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 89–90 and 143.
- 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 464.
