Semi Mihama
The Semi Mihama is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, produced by Mihama (or Suruga) during the 1950s. There were at least two models, of which one had variations. All are vertical folders, with no rangefinder, controlling film advance via a red window on the back, and having a "Mihama Anastigmat" 75mm f/3.5 lens. (Mihama does not seem to have been a lens maker, and "Mihama" lenses can be presumed to have been a mere matter of branding.) The viewfinder and controls are to the right when held vertically by the photographer, the reverse of the majority of the 4.5×6 folders.
An advertisement in the May 1952 issue of the Japanese magazine Camera Fan by Mihama Seikō (三浜精工株式会社) shows the Semi Mihama as a cheaper alternative to the Mihama Six. It has no top housing, only a top plate, which supports the advance knob on the left, engraved with a red arrow, the tubular finder slightly offset to the right, the accessory shoe between both, the body release, the folding bed opening button and a decorative round part at the right end.[1] Three versions are advertised, differing by the shutter: "I", MHS shutter (B, 25–150); "II", MHS shutter (yes, the same name; B, 10–200); "III", NKS shutter (B, 1–200, with self timer).
An advertisement in the January 1955 issue of the Japanese magazine Shashin Salon by Mihama's successor Suruga Seiki (駿河精機株式会社) shows a different-looking Semi Mihama, with a more rounded top. This has an NKS shutter (B, 1–200, with self timer); it is not referred to as "III" or anything else beyond simply "Semi Mihama".
Source / further reading
In Japanese:
- 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. Pp. 198–9, 370.