Semi Gelto
The Semi Gelto is a series of Japanese 4.5×6 folders that was made by Takahashi (that would later become Toakoki). It is a vertically folding camera with a body release and one red window in the back, at the top right, protected by a vertically sliding cover.
The first models have a folding optical finder. They are advertised as a new product in 1942[1], in three versions:
- the Semi Gelto I with a Grimmel 75/4.5 lens and a Gelto shutter with speeds from 1/5 to 1/250 (¥87);
- the Semi Gelto II with the same lens and a Gelto shutter with speeds from 1s to 1/200 (¥104);
- the Semi Gelto S with automatic film advacne, a Grimmel 75/3.5 lens and a Gelto shutter with speeds from 1s to 1/200 (¥170).
The camera pictured in the advertisement has an advance knob on the top left, but a Semi Gelto has been observed at an eBay auction with a winding key at the same place.
The Semi Gelto S is reported and pictured in this page at Japan Family Camera, and another example has been observed at a Yahoo Japan auction. The body and back are the same as described above, but there is now a top housing integrating the viewfinder, an accessory shoe and maybe an exposure counter or double exposure prevention device. The lens is a Grimmel Anastigmat 7.5cm f/3.5 with front cell focusing and the shutter is a Gelto II with T, B, 1–300 speeds. Japan Family Camera says that it was made in 1942.
Notes
- ↑ Advertisement for the Semi Gelto I, II and S, published in the October 1942 issue of Shashin Bunka, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 99.
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. Item 99.
Links
In Japanese