Semi Osamo
The Semi Osamo is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera made around 1943. It is attributed by some sources to a company called "Yama-ko Optical Co."[1]
Original documents
The Semi Osamo was mentioned in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943. The names of the maker and distributor are unfortunately missing from the document. The shutter is registered as an Osamo giving T, B, 1–300 speeds and the lens as a three-element Liebe 75/4.5 made by Riken.
Description
The Semi Osamo is a horizontal folder with straight diagonal struts. There is a small housing in the middle of the top plate, containing a brilliant finder and a direct vision finder placed side by side. There is an accessory shoe above the eye-level finder, a body release on the right and a folding bed release on the left. The advance knob is at the left end of the top plate and there is a film retaining knob at the right end. The back is hinged to the right and the film advance is probably controlled by red windows. The name SEMI OSAMO is embossed in the front leather in capital letters.
Only one surviving example has been observed so far, pictured in Sugiyama.[2] It has a Liebe Anastigmat 75mm f/4.5 lens (no. 1039) and a shutter reportedly giving T, B, 1–300 speeds. The shutter plate has a marking at the top, perhaps reading TOKKYO (meaning "patent" in Japanese) and another at the bottom, ending with SHUTTER.
Notes
Bibliography
- "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. Item 53.
- 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. 1020.
- 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 1220.
The Semi Osamo is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
