Semi Mihama
The Semi Mihama (セミ・ミハマ)[1] is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera, produced by Mihama (or Suruga) during the 1950s. There are at least two versions, differing by the shape of the top, of which one has shutter variants. 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[2] 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.[3] Three versions are advertised, differing by the shutter:
- Model I, MHS shutter (B, 25–150);
- Model II, MHS shutter (B, 10–200);
- Model III, NKS shutter (B, 1–200, with self timer).
The distributor name is King Shōkai (キング商会), and no price is indicated.
An advertisement in the January 1955 issue of the Japanese magazine Shashin Salon[4] by Mihama's successor Suruga Seiki (駿河精機株式会社) shows a different-looking Semi Mihama, with a top housing containing the finder and supporting the accessory shoe and shutter release. This top housing stops just at the right of the advance knob. This model has an NKS shutter (B, 1–200, with self timer); it is not referred to as "III" or anything else beyond simply "Semi Mihama".
Two other shutter variants appear in the book Kamera Zukan by Sugiyama and Naoi[5]:
- MSK shutter (B, 10–150)[6];
- MSK shutter (B, 1–200).
Notes
- ↑ It is called "Mihama Semi" in McKeown, but not in the advertisements observed.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 199.
- ↑ Details observed in the pictures of a Yahoo Japan auction.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 199.
- ↑ As mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 370.
- ↑ Also reported in McKeown, p. 908.
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.
In English:
- 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). Page 908.
