Semi Kulax and Kiko Semi

The Semi Kulax (セミクラックス) and Kiko Semi (キコーセミ) are Japanese 4.5×6 folders made by Kigawa from 1941 to about 1946.

General description

All the models are vertical folders, copies of the 4.5×6 Nettar with straight folding struts. There is a key to wind the film at the bottom right, as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally. The back is hinged to the left and the back latch consists of a long sliding bar. There is a single red window at the bottom, protected by a horizontally sliding cover.

The Semi Kulax

Description

The Semi Kulax has a short top housing containing both an eye level finder and a brilliant finder, with the shutter release and folding bed release symmetrically placed at both ends. The lens is front-cell focusing, and is normally surrounded by a depth-of-field scale. The name is normally embossed as KULAX in the front leather. The top housing has a large KSK logo, presumably for Kigawa Seimitsu Kōgaku.

Advertisements and original documents

The Semi Kulax was advertised in Japanese magazines from January 1941. It is already mentioned in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, in four versions: "Semi Kulax A" (¥100), "Semi Kulax I" (¥120), "Semi Kulax II" (¥121), "Semi Kulax III" (¥160). By comparison with other cameras in the same price categories, we can presume that the models A and II have an f/4.5 lens and the models I and III have an f/3.5 lens. A similar price list dated November 1941 only has the Semi Kulax A, I and III.

The January 1942 advertisement in Shashin Bunka mentions the depth-of-field scale, Erinar Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens and Kiko (キコー) shutter. Two versions are listed, differing by the shutter speeds:

• Semi Kulax I: T, B, 5–200 speeds (¥123);
• Semi Kulax III: T, B, 1–300 speeds (¥152).

The camera is advertised together with the Gotex, and the distributor is Nichiei Shōkai (successor of Optochrom-sha and predecessor of Kikō Shōji). The pictured camera has the KULAX embossing and the KSK engraving. Its shutter casing is black, and the aperture scale is a separate part attached on top. No name is visible on the shutter rim.

The Semi Kulax is also listed in the April 1943 government inquiry on camera production.

Actual examples

The example pictured in this page differs from the other known Semi Kulax by its all chrome shutter casing, with the speed and aperture scales directly engraved. The lens is engraved KIKO Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=75mm N°74629. The shutter is reported as a Rapid-Kiko, apparently giving T, B, 1–500 speeds (the top speed is unsure). The shutter name is inscribed at the bottom of the speed setting rim. The top housing has the words TOKYO JAPAN KIGAWA KŌGAKU 2601 engraved under the KSK logo. The year 2601 corresponds to 1941 in the Japanese mythological calendar sometimes used in military ruled Japan.

Semi Kulax, Kiko Anastigmat Erinar 75mm f/3.5 lens. Pictures courtesy of eBayer Duffherm. (Image rights)

The example pictured in Sugiyama has KULEX embossed in the front leather. This is probably not a name variant but rather a mistake in the marking, something not infrequent among Japanese cameras of the time. This example has T, B, 5–300 speeds and perhaps a missing depth-of-field scale. No shutter name is visible. The lens engraving is Kikō Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=75mm N°20279.

Dual finder model

Wartime advertisements

The Kiko Semi appeared in 1942 as an evolution of the Semi Kulax. It shares the same body copied from the Nettar, and the same short top housing containing both an eye level finder and a brilliant finder. There is an advance key on the bottom right of the body. Film advance is controlled by a red window at the bottom of the back, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. The front leather is embossed KIKO, and the back is embossed Kiko Semi.

The main difference with the Semi Kulax is that the lens and shutter assembly is mounted on a helical (unit focusing), like the contemporary Gotex. Advertisements dated February and October 1942 offer the camera for ¥158 with an Erinar Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens and a Kikō Rapid T, B, 1–500 shutter.

Actual examples

In the advertising pictures observed (dated 1942), there is no square plate behind the shutter housing (like on the first Gotex variant). All the examples actually observed with dual finders and unit focusing have such a plate.

Kiko Semi, dual finders, unit focusing, square plate behind the shutter, KSK marking, Rapid-Kiko shutter to 1/500. Pictures courtesy of Jay Tepper. (Image rights)

KSK marking. (Image rights)

One example is known with 1/500 top speed and the name RAPID–KIKO on the shutter rim. Its lens engraving is Kikō Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=7.5cm N°xxxxx. Its top housing is engraved KSK in big letters and TOKYO JAPAN KIGAWA KōGAKU 2601. The year 2601 corresponds to 1941 in the Japanese mythological calendar that was sometimes used in military ruled Japan. (A similar engraving is faintly visible in the advertising pictures, and it has also been observed on some examples of the Semi Kulax, Gotex and Tsubasa Kiko III.)

Kiko Semi, dual finders, unit focusing, square plate behind the shutter, no KSK marking, T, B, 5–200 speeds. (Image rights)

Others have a shutter giving T, B, 5–200 speeds, and no marking on the top housing. The lens marking is KIKO Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=75mm N°xxxxx and the shutter rim is probably engraved RAPID–KIKO.

Another example with dual finders has been observed with front-cell focusing and no square plate behind the shutter housing. The shutter speeds are faintly legible but seem to be T, B, 5–200. The lens marking is Erinar Anastigmat 1:3.5 f=75mm N°101923. (Both the marking and the serial number are similar to an example of the Gotex observed with front-cell focusing.) The serial number seems to indicate that this example is quite late. The camera is otherwise identical to the previous Semi Kulax except for the Kiko embossing in the front leather.

Folding finder model

Postwar advertisement

The Kiko Semi was again advertised in 1946 for a short time. An advertisement dated May 1946 shows a drawing of the camera with no top housing and a folding optical finder. The rear part of the finder folds above the front one. There is no plate behing the shutter housing, and it seems that the lens is unit focusing. The camera is offered with an Erinar 75/3.5 lens and a Kiko Compur T, B, 1–300 shutter, but no price is indicated. It is probable that the cameras offered were old stock, or assembled from an old stock of parts.

Actual examples

An example of the Kiko Semi has been observed with unit focusing and a folding optical finder. The finder is different from the drawing described above and the front part folds above the rear one. The shutter is a Rapid-Kiko, giving T, B, 1–500 speeds and engraved RAPID-KIKO in the speed rim. There is a square plate behind the shutter housing. The lens is marked KIKO Anastigmat Erinar 1:3.5 f=75mm N°72909. The camera is thus similar to the wartime version except for the folding finder.

Two other examples have been observed with a folding finder similar to the postwar advertisement's drawing. Both have front-cell focusing and no square plate behind the shutter housing. One of them has a shutter housing similar to the older Semi Kulax. The other has a simpler shutter housing, a Kiko Anastigmat Erinar 75mm f/3.5 lens and is reported to have 1–200 speeds.

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 57, 75 and 471. (See also the advertisement for item 101.)
• "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō" (カメラの公定価格官報発表, Official announcement of the set prices of the cameras), November 1941. Extract of a table listing Japanese camera production and setting the retail prices, reproduced in "Bebī Semi Fāsuto 'Kore ha bebī wo nanotta semi-ki da'" (ベビーセミファースト"これはベビーを名乗ったセミ機だ", Baby Semi First, 'this is a Semi camera called Baby'), an article by Furukawa Yasuo (古川保男) in Camera Collectors' News no. 277 (July 2000). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. P. 27. Type 3, sections 4B, 5B and 7B.
• "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Items 56 and 59.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 3, sections 4B, 5B, 6B and 7B.
• 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.464.
• Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 1317.

Links

In Japanese:

• Kiko Semi (dual finders, unit focusing, no KSK marking) in the Akahiro Camera Museum
• Kiko Semi (folding finder, front-cell focusing) at Japan Family Camera
• Advertisement for the Gotex and Kiko Semi, published between 1942 and 1945, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese advertisements by Toshio Inamura

In Chinese:

• Kiko Semi at www.ccc2000.net