Semi Olympus II

The Semi Olympus II (セミ・オリンパス・Ⅱ型) is a 4.5×6cm folder, made from 1937 by Takachiho (later Olympus). It was the first camera entirely made by the company, after the Semi Olympus whose body was bought elsewhere. It was succeeded in 1940 by the Olympus Six, which was first announced as the Semi Olympus III, despite its different 6×6cm format.

Description

Advance knob and serial number. (Image rights)

The Semi Olympus II is a horizontal folder taking 4.5×6cm pictures. The body was designed by Mr Kitagawa (北川). The folding struts are the same as on the Balda products, certainly under the influence of the previous Semi Olympus. The camera normally has a tubular viewfinder. The advance knob is at the left end of the top plate, as seen by the photographer, and there is an accessory shoe at the right end. The serial number is engraved in the advance knob, together with an arrow indicating the winding direction.

The back is hinged to the left and the back latch is covered by a leather handle; there are two red windows at the bottom to control the film advance, covered by a black plate pivoting on an axis in the middle. The bottom of the camera has two film flanges, with the shape of a truncated cone; one has a 1/4″ tripod thread and the other has a 3/8″ thread. The OLYMPUS TOKYO logo is embossed at three places: on the front door, in the back above the red windows, and in the handle. The lens is the same Zuiko 75/4.5 as on the previous Semi Olympus.

Evolution through original documents

The Semi Olympus II was advertised in Asahi Camera from October 1937 to March 1940, and it was featured in the January 1938 issue of the same magazine.

First version, offset finder

The first version of the camera is pictured in advertisements from October 1937 to February 1938 and in a brochure dated 1937. The viewfinder is offset to the left (as seen by the photographer) and the folding bed release is in the middle of the top plate. In the documents, the shutter is called Laurel (ローレル, rōreru) and is said to give 1–150, B, T speeds with a self-timer. The name LAUREL is engraved at the base of the speed rim. The shutter plate is inscribed OLYMPUS-TOKYO-N at the top and the aperture scale is at the bottom. No surviving example has been observed with the offset finder and the Laurel shutter, and it is not clear whether this version was actually sold.

In the October 1937 advertisement in Asahi Camera, no price is given and the camera is presented together with the Olympus Standard; Misuzu Shōkai and Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten are given as authorized dealers for the Standard, and it is unclear whether this applies to the Semi II as well.

The advertisement that appears in the November and December issues of Asahi Camera photographs the camera from a slightly different angle, prices the camera at ¥95, and names Misuzu and Yamashita as distributors for the Standard, not mentioning any distributor for the Semi. In the full-page advertisement for the Semi Olympus II in the January 1938 issue of the same magazine, the Laurel shutter is stated to be designed by Takachiho based on the Prontor II shutter, and Yamashita is given as the distributor. The advertisement in the February issue is revised: the distributors are now Yamashita and Mizuno Shashinki-ten. The camera was also featured in the new products column of the January issue.

Regular version, centered finder

Leaflet by the retailer Photo News, November 1938. The picture shows the centred finder, Koho shutter to 1/150, and Zuikô f/4.5 lens no.1982. (Image rights)

The advertisement in the March 1938 issue of Asahi Camera is the first in that magazine to show the regular version, with the tubular finder in the middle of the top plate and the folding bed release on the right. That in the April issue at first looks the same, but there is no mention of the shutter (which is anyway not shown in the photograph of the camera).

One of the pictures in the May 1938 advertisement in Asahi Camera shows a number of cameras from a distance (at least twenty), indicating that the serial production of the camera bodies had begun. In another picture showing a camera from a closer distance, the shutter rim reads DAURED (or possibly DAUREL). It is not clear whether this engraving actually existed or if this is a retouched picture of a camera with Laurel shutter. It is said that the Laurel name was dropped because it was already registered by another company, and the Daured name appearing in this advertisement was certainly the result of a hasty move. The shutter has speeds of 1–150, B, T, and the lens number is legible as 1448 or 1446. The lens number 144x certainly means that less than 500 examples of the Semi Olympus and Semi Olympus II were made up to May 1938.

Apparition of the Koho shutter

The advertisement in the June 1938 issue of Asahi Camera shows the new shutter name Koho (コーホー), both in the text and on the pictured camera. The advertisement shows a mountain and a country road, with the catch-phrase "[Let's go] gallantly to the green mountains and fields" (緑の山野に颯爽と!), an allusion to the season and perhaps to the camera name Olympus and shutter name Kōhō (meaning "high peak" or "high mountain"). The company Honjō Shōkai has been added to the list of authorized dealers and the price is still given as ¥95.

In advertisements dated July and September 1938, February and October 1939, the price has raised to ¥105 and the company Hinode Kōgyō is gradually replacing the three authorized dealers to become the sole distributor. The February 1939 advertisement says that the price of ¥105 comprised a lens hood and a cable release. The top speed is given as 1/150 in all these advertisements. Incidentally, in all the advertisements for the Semi Olympus II, the lens is called 瑞光 ("Zuikō") in kanji script whereas the shutter is called コーホー ("Kōhō") in katakana script.

The price of ¥105 and the Koho shutter to 1/150 also appear on two undated brochures for the Semi Olympus II. In one of these, the lens number is legible as 1675 or 1678. The camera with lens no.1675 or 1678 and Koho shutter was clearly made after the May 1938 "Daured" episode (see above): if it were existing at the time, the company would have used a picture of a camera with Koho shutter instead of one (original or retouched) showing the name Daured. This is a further indication that very few Olympus cameras were made before mid-1938.

The leaflet reproduced on the right, published by the retailer Photo News Sha in November 1938, shows lens no.1982, with the same features and price.

The Semi Olympus II was advertised in Asahi Camera until the March 1940 issue. It still appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, for ¥121. It is also mentioned in a similar price list dated November 1941, for an unknown price. The Olympus Six was already available for sale at that time, and the observed serial numbers seem to indicate that there was no overlap in the production of the two models. It is thus presumed that these prices applied to the remaining stocks of the Semi Olympus II, held by the company or by the retailers.

Surviving examples

With Laurel shutter

A single surviving camera is known with a Laurel shutter; it has body no.1063, and lens no.1221, and was pictured in an issue of Camera Collectors' News. It is very likely that the sequence of body serial numbers started at 1001, a common practice among Japanese manufacturers of the time, whereas the sequence of lens numbers continues that of the Zuiko lens mounted on the Semi Olympus. The camera differs from the models described above by its folding optical finder, centred on the top plate. It was examined by Awano Mikio, editor-in-chief of Camera Collectors' News, who said that the finder looked genuine, but the possibility that it was exchanged at some time cannot be discarded. The folding bed release is at the same position as on regular cameras with centred tubular finder.

The Laurel shutter gives 1–150, B, T speeds, and looks the same as the Koho, but for the name LAUREL engraved on the speed rim. The lens bezel reads Zuikô 1:4,5 f=75mm Takatiho Tokyo No.xxxx. This marking, with focal length in millimetres, is intermediate between that found on the Semi Olympus and that found on other Semi Olympus II.

The comparison of body and lens numbers might hint that about 160 Zuiko lenses were made for the Semi Olympus before the company switched to the model II. However this subtraction should be handled with care, because the lenses were not fit to the camera bodies in strictly ascending order.

With Koho shutter

Semi Olympus II no.5182, Zuikô 7.5cm f/4.5 lens no.3620, Koho shutter to 1/150. Pictures courtesy of Adrian Gotts. (Image rights)

All the other examples of the Semi Olympus II observed so far have the viewfinder centred above the top plate and a Koho shutter. The early examples have 1–150, B, T speeds. The lowest numbers reported so far on an example with Koho shutter are body no.1315 and lens no.1790.

Koho shutter to 1/200, no T setting. (Image rights)

An example is known with a folding optical finder centered above the top plate, instead of the tubular finder. The part is different from that found on the camera with Laurel shutter, and is probably not original.

On all the Semi Olympus II observed with Koho shutter, the lens engraving has a focal length in centimetres. It reads Zuikô 1:4,5 f=7.5cm Takatiho Tokyo No.xxxx (with circunflex accent) up to lens no.3797 and Zuiko 1:4,5 f=7.5cm Takatiho Tokyo No.xxxx (with no accent) from lens no.5253.

Later examples have 1–200, B, T speeds, with no other change. The last known example with 1/150 top speed has body no.5368 and lens no.5253, and the earliest known example with 1/200 has body no.5362 and lens no.5389. The different parts constituting the camera (body, shutter and lens) were not used in strict sequence, explaining the small overlap in the body numbers.

One isolated example, pictured in this page, is known with 1–200, B speeds and no T setting. It has body no.6641 and lens no.6168 — the body number is the highest observed so far on a Semi Olympus II.

Semi Olympus II no.6641, Zuiko 7.5cm f/4.5 lens no.6168, Koho shutter to 1/200, no T setting. Pictures courtesy of Richard Marks. (Image rights)

Finally, a camera has been exhibited by the Korean branch of the Olympus company. It has lens no.6257, the highest known on a Semi Olympus II, and a Koho shutter to 1/200 with T setting. Its viewfinder is not original, and was taken from an Olympus Chrome Six.

Bibliography

Original documents

• Asahi Camera. Advertisements for the Semi Olympus II:
  • October 1937, p.A59;
  • November 1937, p.A54;
  • December 1937, p.A52;
  • January 1938, p.A54;
  • February 1938, p.A42;
  • March 1938, p.A52;
  • April 1938, p.A50;
  • May 1938, p.A52;
  • June 1938, p.A50.
• "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, section 6B.
• "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, section 6B.
• Photo News Sha. Leaflet presenting the Rolleicord, Perle, Semi Olympus II and Patent Etui, dated November 1938. Document reproduced in this Flickr set by Rebollo_fr.

Recent sources

• 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 38.
• Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Semi Orinpasu II" (セミオリンパスⅡ, Semi Olympus II). In Camera Collectors' News no.209 (November 1994). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
• Francesch, Dominique and Jean-Paul. Histoire de l'appareil photographique Olympus de 1936 à 1983. Paris: Dessain et Tolra, 1985. ISBN 2-249-27679-X. Pp.23–5 and 58. (See also the picture on the front cover.)
• Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kōkoku kara miru Orinpasu kamera no nagare" (広告から見るオリンパスカメラの流れ, "Olympus camera history seen through the advertisements"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 20, 25 March 1992. No ISBN number. Orinpasu no subete (オリンパスのすべて, special issue on Olympus). Pp.10–1.
• Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Orinpasu kamera no subete 1: supuringu kamera <senzen-hen>" (オリンパスカメラのすべて1・スプリングカメラ戦前編, "All of Olympus cameras 1: folding cameras [prewar]"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 20, 25 March 1992. No ISBN number. Orinpasu no subete (オリンパスのすべて, special issue on Olympus). Pp.13–5.
• Hibi Takashi (日比孝). "Nihon no supuringu kamera: Orinpasu" (日本のスプリングカメラ・オリンパス, "Japanese folding cameras: Olympus"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.8, September 1986. No ISBN number. Supuringu kamera (スプリングカメラ, special issue on spring cameras). Pp.62–5.
• Kamera no mekanizumu sono I: "Hai! Chīzu" Shunkan o torae-tsuzukeru shattā-ten (カメラのメカニズム・そのⅠ・「ハイ！チーズ」瞬間をとらえ続けるシャッター展, Camera mechanism, part 1 "Cheese!" Exhibition of instant taking shutters). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2002. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number) P.21.
• 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.747.
• 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.) P.23.
• Orinpasu-ten — oputo-dejitaru-tekunolojī no kiseki (オリンパス展・オプトデジタルテクノロジーの軌跡, Olympus exhibition, the tracks of opto-digital technology). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.4.
• Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "Orinpasu no rekishi" (オリンパスの歴史, "History of Olympus"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 20, 25 March 1992. No ISBN number. Orinpasu no subete (オリンパスのすべて, special issue on Olympus). Pp.6–9.
• 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 1215.
• "Zadankai: Orinpasu no michi" (座談会・オリンパスの道, "Conversation: the way of Olympus"). Interview of Sakurai Eiichi (桜井栄一), Maitani Yoshihisa (米谷美久) and Kawazoe Mitsuo (河添光男), by Saeki Kakugorō (佐伯恪五郎). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 20, 25 March 1992. No ISBN number. Orinpasu no subete (オリンパスのすべて, special issue on Olympus). Pp.64–71.

Links

General links

In English:

• Medium-format cameras and chronology in the Olympus official website
• Olympus folding cameras at John Foster's site
• News report from Aving, showing a Semi Olympus II exhibited by Olympus Korea, and other news report showing more pictures of the camera

In Japanese:

• Medium-format cameras and chronology in the Olympus Japanese official website
• Semi Olympus and Semi Olympus II in the history pages of the Olympus Photo Club website. (The information there seems to be based on the article by Hibi in Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8.)
• Semi Olympus II and more pictures in Miyazawa Noriyuki's camera site

Literature and advertisements

In Japanese:

• Advertisements for the Semi Olympus II published in the September 1938 issue of Asahi Camera and in the 8 February 1939 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Japanese camera page of the Gochamaze website
• Advertisement for the Semi Olympus II published in the October 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in a page of camera advertisements at the Heiki Seikatsu website
• Documents reproduced in the medium format page of the Olympus official website:
  • Brochure for the Semi Olympus II dated 1937, showing the offset finder and Laurel shutter: part 1 and part 2
  • Brochure for the regular Semi Olympus II: part 1 and part 2
  • Other brochure for the regular Semi Olympus II: part 1 and part 2