Super Flex Baby
Template:127 Japan The Super Flex Baby (スーパー・フレックス・ベビー) was a 4x4 SLR made in Japan from 1938. It was sold and advertised by a company called Kiko-Do, but it was manufactured by Umemoto Seisakusho, as we can learn from today's Umemoto website.
The Super Flex Baby looked like the Karma Flex. It had a behind the lens shutter, with the shutter wheel at the top right of the front plate. There were some variants. Two ads from 1942 (in the 3/1942 issue of Hōdō Shashin, 報道写真, published on this page, and in another magazine, published on this page) announced the following:
- Super Flex Baby II with Super Anastigmat 7cm f/4.5 and T-B-25-50-100 shutter, for 90 yen
- Super Flex Baby IIIA with Super Anastigmat 6.5cm f/3.2 lens, for 102 yen
The case cost 9.25 yen.
One model has been observed on this page with a black and chrome B-25-50-100 shutter wheel and a black pivoting release lever at the right. The lens is black and chrome, with unknown characteristics. Another type has been observed twice at Yahoo Japan auctions, with an all chrome B-25-50-100 shutter wheel, a metal descending release plate and an all chrome Super Anastigmat 65mm f/3.2 lens, interchangeable with a screw mount. On this model, there were three red windows in the back, with a sliding cover and 1 3 5 7, 2 4 6 8, 1 3 5 7 markings. This complicated system was required by the particular 4×4cm format, for which there was no indication in the rollfilm back paper.
Some people call this camera "Baby Super Flex", it is not the word order that appears on the camera nor on the ads. However in one of the ads the case is advertised as "for the Baby Super Ref" (ベビースーパーレフ用). "Ref" was an abbreviation used in Japan at the time for "Reflex".
