Semi Wester (postwar)
The Semi Wester (セミウエスター) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding camera made around 1951 by Nishida.
It is very different from the wartime Semi Wester, and it was followed by the Wester 6×6 folders.
Description
The postwar Semi Wester is a horizontal folder with straight diagonal struts. There is a folding optical finder in the middle of the top plate. The folding bed release is on the left and the body release on the right, as seen by the photographer. The advance knob is at the right end, and there is an accessory shoe at the left end. The back is hinged to the left.
The lens is a Wester Anastigmat 7.5cm f/3.5 and the shutter is a Wester giving B, 1–200 speeds, with a self-timer and a synch pin at the bottom. The shutter plate is inscribed WESTER at the top and the speed rim is engraved N.K.K. at the base.
Documents and actual example
The Semi Wester was featured in Japanese magazines dated 1951 but no advertisement is reported.[1]
The only surviving example observed so far is pictured in Sugiyama.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 346.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 1439. A small version of the same picture is reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 343.
Bibliography
- 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 386.
- 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 1439.
