Semi Rocket and Doris

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The Semi Rocket and Doris (ドリス) are Japanese 4.5×6 folding cameras made between 1952 and 1955 by Tōkyō Seiki, later Doris Camera.[1] This company was the successor of the prewar Motodori and Nissan Kōgaku, presumably founded by a Mr Motodori (本鳥). It is said that this is the source of the camera's name: "Dori's camera", thus "Doris".[2]

General description

The Semi Rocket and Doris are vertical folders. The viewfinder is contained in a top housing. The film advance knob and body release are on the left — as seen by a photographer holding the camera horizontally. The accessory shoe and folding bed release are on the right, above the viewfinder.

The back is hinged to the left and locked by a sliding bar on the right. There is a single red window at the top of the back, protected by a horizontally sliding cover.

The Semi Rocket

The Semi Rocket (セミロケット) has an uncoupled rangefinder, controlled by a wheel falling under the user's right thumb. It has plain folding struts, different from those of the Doris. The name Semi Rocket is embossed in the front leather, and the word Rocket is engraved above the viewfinder, together with a serial number.

The camera was announced in the February 1951 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced above.[3] The documents gives wrong lens and shutter data,[4] which were fixed in an erratum placed the following month, mentioning a Perfa f/3.5 lens and a Convex-Rapid shutter, both by Tōkyō Seiki.[5] The camera was also featured in a December 1951 supplement to Photo Art, reproduced on the right, with similar specifications.[6] The pictured camera has a round window for the rangefinder setting, apparently with no depth-of-field indications. The price is given as about ¥10,000.

The only example of the Semi Rocket known so far is that pictured below, with serial no.1423. It has a Perfa-Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 lens in a no-name shutter (B, 1–200, self-timer), synchronized via a dual pin at the bottom. The window for the rangefinder setting is crescent-shaped, with depth-of-field indications.

The Doris

The Doris has three-part folding struts inspired from the Ikonta. The front leather and the folding struts are marked DORIS in curved letters.

Original model

The original model has a depth-of-field dial on the right end of the top plate, and the viewfinder window is surrounded by a metal frame screwed to the top housing. The front of the top housing has two black lines mimicking the ones that appear on the Pearl, except that they are on the other side of the finder. The name DORIS is engraved above the viewfinder in the same curved font as the front leather and folding struts. The serial number is also engraved above the top housing.

The Doris was offered as a new product in an advertisement in Asahi Camera July 1952.[7] The lens is a coated Perfa Anastigmat 75/3.5 and the shutter is a NKS giving B, 1–200 speeds, with a self-timer and an ASA bayonet synch post.

This variant has not yet been observed. It was replaced by the Doris-P at the end of 1952.[8]

Doris-P

The Doris-P[9] is a cheaper model. Its appearance is similar except that the depth-of-field dial is replaced by a smaller decorative knob.

The Doris-P was offered as a new product for ¥7,000 in an advertisement in Asahi Camera November 1952.[10] The shutter is still a NKS but it gives B, 10–200 speeds. Other features are unchanged.

The Doris-P has been observed with various shutter types. All have a self-timer and an ASA bayonet synch:

  • NKS, B, 10–200;[11]
  • Convex, B, 10–200 (the speed rim is engraved CONVEX);[12]
  • MSK, B, 1–200 (the speed rim is engraved MSK and there is an OKK logo).[13]

The Doris-P was advertised until 1954.[14]

Doris IA

The Doris IA is an evolution of the Doris-P. There is no metal frame surrounding the viewfinder window, the small decorative knob on the right is replaced by a larger one and the advance knob is replaced by a newer one, with a striated rim and a red arrow engraved on the top. The DORIS engraving above the top housing has a more squarish lettering while the other DORIS markings are unchanged. It seems that some examples have two black lines on both sides of the viewfinder window while other ones only have them on one side like the previous models.[15]

The lens is a front-cell focusing Doris C. 75mm f/3.5 and the shutter is a Helio giving B, 10–200 speeds, equipped with a self-timer and synchronized via a PC post. The Doris IA was offered together with the Dorisflex A as a new product in an advertisement dated October 1955.[16] The price of ¥6,000 was indicated, but it is not fully clear if this applied to the Doris IA, the Dorisflex A or both cameras.

Lewis mentions a "Semi Doris II" dated 1954, but nothing is known about this possible version.[17] The Doris III and IIIA are 6×6 cameras, evolutions of the Doris Six.

Notes

  1. Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.356.
  2. Niimi, p.92.
  3. Column in Asahi Camera February 1951, p.104.
  4. Zuiko f/3.5 lens and a "Compur" shutter by Nihon Shōkai.
  5. Erratum in Asahi Camera March 1951, p.104.
  6. Column in the December 1951 supplement to Photo Art, p.44.
  7. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.153.
  8. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.356.
  9. This model is called "Doris Semi P" in McKeown, p.928, but the official name was "Doris-P型".
  10. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.153. Lewis, p.86, says that the "Semi Doris P" appeared in 1954, but this is surely a mistake.
  11. In online auctions.
  12. Pictured in McKeown, p.928.
  13. Pictured in a website which is now dead.
  14. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.356.
  15. One example has been observed in an online auction with black lines on both sides while the advertising picture reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.153, shows them on one side only.
  16. Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.153.
  17. Lewis, p.86.

Bibliography

Original documents

  • Asahi Camera February 1951. "Shinseihin memo" (新製品メモ, New products memo). P.104.
  • Asahi Camera March 1951. "Shinseihin memo" (新製品メモ, New products memo). P.104.
  • Photo Art 12-gatsu-gō furoku Saishin Kokusan Shashinki Sō-katarogu (フォトアート12月號附録最新国産写真機総カタログ, General catalogue of the latest Japanese cameras, supplement to the December issue). December 1951. P.44.

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. Items 634–6 and 1051.
  • Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.86 (brief mention only).
  • 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). Pp.927–8.
  • Niimi Kahee (新見嘉兵衛). Kamera-mei no gogen sanpo (カメラ名の語源散歩, Strolls in the etymology of camera names). 2nd ed. Tokyo: Shashin Kōgyō Shuppansha, 2002. ISBN 4-87956-060-X

Links

In Japanese: