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. It is embossed GELTO in the front leather. Unlike many other vertical folders, the finder is to the right when you are holding the camera vertically.
The Semi Gelto is advertised as a new product in 1942[1] by the distributor Hattori Tokei-ten, in three versions:
- the Semi Gelto I with a Grimmel 7.5cm f/4.5 lens and a Gelto-I shutter giving T, B, 5–250 speeds (¥87)[2];
- 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 advance, a Grimmel 75/3.5 lens and a Gelto shutter with speeds from 1s to 1/200 (¥170)[3].
The camera pictured in the advertisement has a folding optical finder and an advance knob at the top left. There is no sign of automatic film advance, so it is probably a model I or II. An example of the Semi Gelto with folding optical finder has also been observed with a winding key in place of the advance knob.[4]
The Semi Gelto S has a top housing integrating the viewfinder, an accessory shoe and the automatic film advance device. The lens is a Grimmel Anastigmat 7.5cm f/3.5 with front cell focusing. One example has been observed with a Gelto II shutter providing T, B, 1–300 speeds.[5] Another one has been observed with a NKS shutter engraved NKS-TOKYO, probably giving B, 1–200 speeds (top speed barely legible).[6]
Kokusan kamera no rekishi mentions advertisements for the Semi Gelto until 1944.
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.
- ↑ It is pictured in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p. 27. It is certainly the model that is called "Semi Gelto (1939)" in McKeown, p. 922.
- ↑ It is certainly the model that is called "Semi Gelto (1940)" in McKeown, p. 922.
- ↑ Example observed in an eBay auction. This particular example has a Rieze-Anastigmat 7.5cm f/3.5 front-cell focusing lens mounted on a B, 1–300 shutter marked KRAFT-WORKS on the speed rim, a type of shutter that is mounted on the Kraft. Despite the maximum aperture of the lens, the aperture scale only goes from 4.5 to 22 and this equipment is probably not original.
- ↑ Example pictured in this page at Japan Family Camera.
- ↑ Example observed at a Yahoo Japan auction.
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.
- 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. 922.
- Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.)
Links
In Japanese: