Sone
Sone Shunsuidō (曽根春翠堂) was a Japanese camera maker and distributor, founded in 1902 and based in Tokyo, Kanda..[1] In the 1920s, its manufacturing branch was called Tokyo Camera Works and used the "T.C.W." initials.
Camera list
- Adam (1918)
- Sweet, Alpha and Pony Sweet (1918)
- Speed Reflex (1919) made by Kuribayashi[2]
- Secrette (4×5cm and 4.5×6cm, 1923)
- Tokioscope[3]
- Apollo and Lloyd (6.5×9cm, 1923)
- Monarch (4.5×6cm)
Testar, Complanar and Modelar lenses
Advertisements by Sone says that the Testar f/4.5 and f/6.3 and Complanar f/4.5 lenses were specially made for Tokyo Camera Works by a French company in Paris.[4] The Testar was a four-element lens,[5] whose name and optical formula were inspired by the Tessar. It is said that Carl Zeiss protested against the name, and the lens was renamed Modelar after some time.[6]
Testar f/4.5 and f/6.3 lenses were mounted on the Apollo 6.5×9cm plate folders, in 105mm and sometimes 90mm focal length. A Testar 50mm f/4.5 was also mounted on the Secrette Special detective camera. The following lens engravings are known:
- TESTAR ANASTIGMAT – f4.5 F90 N°11517[7]
- TESTAR ANASTIGMAT f6.8 F90 N°11690[8]
- T C W PARIS – TESTAR f:6.3 F105 N°13025[9]
- T C W PARIS TESTAR f:4.5 F50 N°13405[10]
Modelar f/4.5 and f/6.3 lenses were mounted on the Apollo and Lloyd.[11] One isolated Modelar 10.5cm f/6.3 lens is known on a Super plate folder, but this equipment is perhaps not original.[12] On this particular lens, the engraving reads Modelar Anastigmat 1:6,3 F=10,5cm T.C.Works N°35921, and the same markings are repeated on the back rim of the rear element.
The Complanar f/4.5 lens was mounted on the Convex Reflex 6.5×9cm SLR.[13]
Notes
- ↑ Lewis, p.28.
- ↑ Lewis, p.36.
- ↑ Lewis, p.28.
- ↑ Testar: advertisements in Ars Camera April and May 1924, reproduced in Yazawa, p.18 of Camera Collectors' News no.98, p.13 of Camera Collectors' News no.171 and pp.15–6 of Camera Collectors' News no.264: "東京カメラウオークス佛國巴里レンズ工場にて新製のテスターレンズF四、五又はF六、三を装せる". Testar and Complanar: advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.
- ↑ Lens scheme visible in the advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.
- ↑ Yazawa, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.98 and p.11 of Camera Collectors' News no.171, quoting books by Kitano Kimio.
- ↑ Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.98, and p.14 of Camera Collectors' News no.264, mounted in a dial-set Compur shutter on an Apollo.
- ↑ Lens pictured in this page at ksmt.com, mounted in a Pronto shutter on a No.2 Pearl (equipment probably not original).
- ↑ Lens pictured in this page at ksmt.com, mounted in an Ibsor shutter on an Apollo.
- ↑ Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.14 of Camera Collectors' News no.264, on a Secrette Special.
- ↑ Lewis, p.44, Yazawa, p.13 of Camera Collectors' News no.171.
- ↑ Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.12 of Camera Collectors' News no.171.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.
Bibliography
- 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).
- Morishita Hajime (森下肇). "Atomu-han kamera no subete" (アトム判カメラのすべて, All of Atom-size cameras). 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.22, September 1992. No ISBN number. Airesu no subete (アイレスのすべて, special issue on Aires). Pp.55–70.
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (17) Chinpin renzu Tesutā" (レンズの話[17]珍品レンズ・テスター, Lens story [17] A rare lens: the Testar). In Camera Collectors' News no.98 (August 1985). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.17–9.
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (88) Modelā" (レンズの話[88]モデラー, Lens story [88] The Modelar). In Camera Collectors' News no.171 (September 1991). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.11–3.
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (174) Tesutā" (レンズの話[17]珍品レンズ・テスター, Lens story [174] The Testar). In Camera Collectors' News no.264 (June 1999). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.11–6.
Links
In Japanese:
- Pages at ksmt.com:
