Super Olympic

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3312035442_c2fa87a28f_m_d.jpg
Super Olympic D. From The British Photography Journal Almanac 1937. (Image rights)

The Super Olympic (スーパーオリンピック) is a Japanese 35mm camera made of bakelite from 1935 or 1936 (see below). It was distributed by Asahi Bussan, and certainly made in the company's own manufacturing facilities (see the discussion in Asahi Bussan). From 1938, the distribution of the cameras formerly sold by Asahi Bussan was taken over by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō, and the manufacturer was reorganized as the dependent Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō. However the production of the Super Olympic was perhaps stopped by the time.

See also the 3×4cm and 4×4cm Olympic, the 4×6.5cm Vest Olympic and Regal Olympic and the 4.5×6cm Semi Olympic.

Release date

The sources conflict on the camera's release date: some say 1935, sometimes specifying April or May, whereas others say 1936.[1] The earliest advertisement reported so far is dated March 1936, and the camera is featured in the new products column of the April 1936 issue of Asahi Camera.[2] Year 1936 is thus more plausible.

The camera was the first 35mm Japanese camera with a leaf shutter. Depending on the release date, it might be the first 35mm Japanese camera, coming before the Hansa Canon.

General description

The Super Olympic has a bakelite body. The name SUPER is moulded in the bakelite on the front left side. The body has a rounded shape like the first Olympic cameras but it is longer. The back and bottom plate are detachable to load the film. They are locked in place by a small screw at the rear center, near the bottom edge of the back. The pressure plate is hinged to the top of the exposure chamber.

The lens and shutter assembly is fixed and there is a massive metal ring at the base of the lens barrel. It looks like the ring for the bakelite helical of the Olympic C and Vest Olympic but it has a decorative purpose only. There is a tubular optical finder, an advance knob at the top right, an automatic film advance device and an exposure counter. The advance is unlocked by a small button on the right of the finder.

The Super Olympic D

The Super Olympic D uses 35mm film in a pair of cassettes. It does not have a rewind knob and transports the film from one cassette to the other. The advance knob has a flat top and the exposure counter is at the left end of the top plate: the frame number appears in a window inside a fixed knob, and a smaller knob protrudes at the top of the latter. The tubular finder is in the middle of the top plate and is attached to the body by two screws.

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Advertisement for the Olympic cameras in The British Journal of Photography Almanac 1937. (Image rights)

The name and frame size are engraved on the metal ring at the base of the lens barrel: SUPER OLYMPIC MOD. D PICTURE SIZE 3.6 X 2.4 cm. The everset shutter gives T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25 speeds and the shutter plate is marked SUPER OLYMPIC at the top and MADE IN JAPAN MOD. D. 36×24mm at the bottom, with the AB logo of Asahi Bussan on the right. The lens is a front-cell focusing Ukas 50mm f/4.5. The aperture scale is at the bottom of the shutter plate. On the early examples, the distance numbers are engraved on the front of the lens rim and the lens bezel is engraved UKAS 1:4.5 F=50mm Nr xxxx; on later examples the distance scale is on the outer edge of the rim and the lens bezel is engraved UKAS Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=50mm Nr xxxxx.[3]

In advertisements by Asahi Bussan dated August 1936, February and March 1937, the Super Olympic D is simply called "Super Olympic" (スーパーオリンピック) and was offered for ¥35 (case ¥4 extra).[4] All these advertisements show the same picture, with the early type of distance ring.

The company made an attempt at exporting the camera, and placed an advertisement in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1937, published at the end of 1936.[5] The picture is the same again. The shutter is mentioned as "Bario System", an incorrect translation of the "Vario-type" mention found in the original Japanese advertisements.

The Super Olympic D III

The Super Olympic D III was the successor of the model D (it seems that there was no Super Olympic D II). It uses only one film cassette and has a rewind knob and a take-up spool. The advance knob has a smaller stepped part in the middle. The engraving on the metal ring reads SUPER OLYMPIC MOD. D III PICTURE SIZE 3.6 X 2.4 cm.

Two versions are known. The early version has the exposure counter at the left end of the top plate. It consists of a disc which can be manually reset by two pins and which is topped by a small rewind knob shaped as a mushroom. The finder and the advance unlock button are identical to those mounted on the Super Olympic D.

This early version appears with an f/4.5 lens in an advertisement in Asahi Camera March 1937,[6] the earliest document to mention the D III.[7] The camera is offered for ¥45, along with the model D that is still listed for ¥35. The pictured camera has the early type of distance ring — described for the Super Olympic D — and a similar shutter plate (except perhaps for the bottom marking).

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Super Olympic D (left) and Super Olympic D III (right).
From The British Photography Journal Almanac 1938. (Image rights)
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Advertisement for the Olympic cameras in The British Journal of Photography Almanac 1938. (Image rights)

The design of the shutter plate was modified at some time with larger silver strips. The Super Olympic D and D III are presented side by side in the advertisement by Asahi Bussan placed at the end of 1937 in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938.[8] In the picture, the D III has the newer shutter plate but still has the older distance ring. The document also mentions T, B, 1–250 shutters and f/3.5 lenses as "available on request". The last advertisement reported for the Super Olympic is in Asahi Camera December 1937.[9]

The actual examples observed of the D III have the new type of distance ring and the newer shutter plate, marked MOD. D. III MADE IN JAPAN at the bottom. The lens is either a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f/4.5 or a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f/3.5.[10]

The late version has the exposure counter between the viewfinder and the rewind knob. The exposure counter consists of a rotating disc which can be reset by turning a small pin in the middle. The rewind knob has a cylindrical shape. The viewfinder is larger and is slightly offset to the right. It is attached to the body by four screws. The only example of this version observed so far has a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f/3.5 lens and T, B, 250, 150, 50, 25 speeds.[11]

None of the cameras observed so far has the AKK logo of Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō, the new name of Asahi Bussan's manufacturing facilities from 1938 onwards. This perhaps indicates that the production of the Super Olympic was stopped by that date. The Super Olympic is nonetheless still mentioned for ¥55 in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, with no further detail.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ This page of the JCII collection says April 1935. Lewis says May 1935 on p.42 and simply 1935 on p.53. The year is given as 1936 in Tanaka, p.13 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14, Sugiyama, item 3039, and McKeown, p.85.
  2. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.335.
  3. ↑ Examples with the early type of distance ring are pictured in this page of Massimo Bertacchi's website, in this page of the JCII collection, in Lewis, pp.42 and 53 and in Sugiyama, item 3039. An example with the late type of distance ring is pictured in McKeown, p.85 and another was sold in the Westlicht Auction no.4, lot 611.
  4. ↑ August 1936 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.63. February 1937 advertisement published in Camera Art, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.63. March 1937 advertisement published in Shashin Salon, reproduced in Tanaka, p.9 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14.
  5. ↑ Advertisement in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1937, p.668.
  6. ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.63.
  7. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.335.
  8. ↑ Advertisement in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, pp.694–5.
  9. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.335.
  10. ↑ The early version of the Super Olympic D III is pictured with an f/4.5 lens in Tanaka, p.14 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14. It has been observed with an f/3.5 lens in an online auction.
  11. ↑ Example pictured in Tanaka, p.14 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14. One of the pictures is reproduced in small size in this page and this page of the Ricoh official website.
  12. ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 5, section 7.

Bibliography

Original documents

  • "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.
  • The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1937, edited by Arthur J. Dalladay. London: Henri Greenwood & Co., Ltd. Publication date not indicated, certainly late 1936. Advertisement by Asahi Bussan on p.668.
  • The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, edited by Arthur J. Dalladay. London: Henri Greenwood & Co., Ltd. Publication date not indicated, certainly late 1937. Advertisement by Asahi Bussan on pp.694–5.

Recent sources

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