Sweet
See also the Sweet 16 subminiature camera.
The Sweet (ズイート) and derivatives are Japanese folding cameras sold by Sone Shunsuidō from 1918.[1] They take No.0 plates (about 4×5cm), a size which would be called "Sweet-size" after the success of the camera.
General description
The Sweet and related cameras have a folding body, a simple lens, a simple shutter giving Bulb and Instant or Time and Instant settings, a small brilliant finder and rails allowing to slide the front standard back and forth for focusing.
Wooden models
The original Sweet has a wooden body and a strut on one side only, on the photographer's right.[2] A round SWEET logo is attached to the left-hand side of the body. The name SWEET is also displayed above the lens, in an inscription imitating the speed-setting dial and cylinder of some pneumatic shutters, and containing a small rectangular logo, said to be typical of Sone.[3]
The wooden Alpha is a simpler model with a crude central rail, consisting of a simple metal sheet, and the name ALPHA inscribed on a crescent-shape plate attached above the lens.[4]
Metal models
The metal Alpha is a simple metal model, quite similar to the original Sweet, with the name ALPHA inscribed on a disc above the lens.[5]
The Pony Sweet is another metal model, apparently having folding struts on both sides; the name PONY SWEET is inscribed below the lens, together with the mention MADE BY TOKYO CAMERA WORKS.[6] (Tokyo Camera Works was the name of the manufacturing branch of Sone Shunsuidō in the 1920s.)
Notes
- ↑ Date: Lewis, p.27.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 4008, and in Yazawa, p.24 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.11.
- ↑ Logo typical of Sone: Yazawa, p.24 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.11.
- ↑ Example observed in an online auction.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 4010.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 4009, in Lewis, p.27, in Yazawa, p.15 of Camera Collectors' News no.264 and in this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology.
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). Pp.27.
- 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. Items 4008–10.
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Kamera 'X'" (カメラ"X", Camera "X"). 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.11, March 1988. No ISBN number. Shirarezaru kamera (知られざるカメラ, special issue on unknown cameras). Pp.23–4.
- Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (174) Tesutā" (レンズの話[174]テスター, Lens story [164] Testar). In Camera Collectors' News no.264 (June 1999). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.11–6.
Links
In Japanese:
