Starflex (postwar)
For the Kodak 127 twin-lens camera, see Kodak Brownie Starflex
Two different Japanese 6×6 TLR cameras were called Starflex. The wartime Starflex was advertised by Ueda Shashinki-ten from 1940 to 1943.[1] The postwar Starflex is only known from a couple of surviving examples, it was probably made by Tougodo. These two cameras are probably unrelated, and very little information is available about them.
The postwar Starflex looks similar to other TLR cameras made by Tougodo, like the Toyocaflex. It has an unnamed shutter (B, 1–300), a Tri-Lausar Anastigmat 8cm f/3.5 taking lens and a Tri-Lausar Viewer 8cm f/3.5 viewing lens. The name STARFLEX is written on the nameplate in capital letters.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: advertisements and articles listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.337.
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 130 (wartime camera, see also the advertisements for items 108 and 136).
- "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 121.
- "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 7, section 1.
- 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.902 (about the postwar camera).
None of these cameras is listed in Sugiyama.
Links
In English:
- Tougodo TLRs at Barry Toogood's tlr-cameras.com (this page does not mention the postwar Starflex but pictures many similar cameras)
In Japanese:
- Advertisement for the Starflex dated between 1942 and 1945, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese advertisements by Toshio Inamura