Semi Dymos

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Japanese Semi (4.5×6)
Prewar and wartime models (edit)
folding
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unknown
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Postwar models ->
Japanese SLR, TLR, pseudo TLR and stereo ->
Japanese 3×4, 4×4, 4×5, 4×6.5, 6×6 and 6×9 ->

The Semi Dymos (セミダイモス) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folder, sold by Seibidō between 1935 and 1937. The Hansa Semi Rollette is certainly a name variant of this camera (see the discussion in the corresponding page).

General description

The Semi Dymos is an Ikonta copy with a folding optical finder and a key at the bottom right to advance the film. The back is hinged to the left and the back latch is covered by a leather handle.

There is a Dymos logo embossed in the front leather in handwritten style, the "D" is very large and contains the rest of the letters.

The Semi Dymos A to F

The original Semi Dymos, released in 1935[1], has no body release and has two red windows in the back, protected by a cover that is certainly retracted by turning a knob.

In an advertisement dated January 1936[2], the following variants are offered:

  • Model A (A號): Radionar f/6.3 lens, Rulex shutter (¥49);
  • Model B (B號): Radionar f/4.5 lens, Light shutter (¥55);
  • Model C (C號): Lausar[3] f/4.5 lens, Light shutter (¥59).

The Rulex shutter was certainly the less expensive Rulex D variant. The Light shutter was perhaps made by Ōhashi Kōki Seisakusho.

It seems that in some advertisements the range was as follows[4]:

  • Model A: Radionar f/6.3, Rulex;
  • Model B: Dymos f/4.5, Light;
  • Model C: Radionar f/4.5, Light;
  • Model D: Lausar f/4.5, Light.

In mid-1936, the A, B, C, D variants were replaced by the Models E and F. Advertisements dated May[5] and December[6] 1936 describe the following variants:

  • Model E (E號): Radionar f/4.5 lens, 5–250 speeds (¥60 — case ¥5 extra);
  • Model F (F號): Lausar f/4.5 lens, 5–250 speeds (¥63).

The shutter name is not mentioned, but it is probably the Light B mentioned in a later document (see below).

The Semi Dymos II

The Semi Dymos II appeared at the beginning of 1937.[7] It has a curious system to control film advance by the ear: the film numbers are made audible by a device, whose details are unknown, looking like a square plate on the camera's back. This device is called "talkie numbers" (トーキーナンバー) in the advertisements, and it is emphasized that it is convenient to take pictures in a dark place. There is still a red window at the extreme left of the back, probably to set the first exposure.

An advertisement dated May 1937[8] offers the camera in two variants:

  • Model EII (EⅡ號型): Radionar f/4.5 lens, 5–250 speeds (¥62 — case ¥4.50 extra);
  • Model FII (FⅡ號型): Lausar f/4.5 lens, 5–250 speeds (¥65).

The model 1 is mentioned as still available.

The Semi Dymos FV

The Semi Dymos FV appeared at the end of 1937.[9] It is like the FII with a body release. An advertisement dated October 1937[10] offers this model for ¥70 (case ¥5 extra). Kokusan kamera no rekishi mentions advertisements until the very beginning of 1938.[11]

An undated leaflet[12] pictured in this page shows a model simply called "Semi Dymos". It looks exactly like the FV but the leaflet does not mention the talkie numbers and it is perhaps a later model.

The lens is a Rosen Anastigmat 75mm f/4.5 and the shutter is a Light B giving T, B, 5–250 speeds. As for the FV, the shutter is rotated 90 degrees in order to connect the release lever with the body release rod. It seems that the Light B was not originally designed for a body release, this is why it is believed that it was the same shutter used on the models E and F. The shutter plate is black, the aperture scale and the Light marking should be to the bottom but they appear to the right.

Notes

  1. Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  2. Published in Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 78.
  3. Inferred from the katakana ローザー.
  4. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  5. Advertisement published in Camera Art, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera by Toshio Inamura.
  6. Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 78.
  7. Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  8. Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 78.
  9. Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  10. Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 78.
  11. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337.
  12. Undated leaflet for the Victory, Semi Dymos, Reex, Baby Ref, Union Ref and Baby Chrome.

Bibliography

The Semi Dymos is not listed in Sugiyama.

Links

In Japanese: