T.Y.O.W.

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The acronym T.Y.O.W. corresponds to a Japanese lens maker based in Tokyo, Yamazaki Kōgaku Shashin Renzu Kenkyūsho (山崎光学写真レンズ研究所). [1] It made Taiyo-Anastigmat barrel lenses for large format cameras. These are usually marked T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO–Anastigmat.[2] The brand name certainly comes from the word taiyō (太陽), which means "sun" in Japanese.[3]

The Taiyo lenses were already existing in 1941.[4] They were made by a relative of Mr. Yamasaki, founder of Yamasaki Kōgaku Kenkyūsho and maker of the Congo lenses.[5] [6]

List of known Taiyo-Anastigmat lenses (with varying inscriptions on the lens bezel [see footnotes]):




Notes

  1. It probably stands for Taiyo Yamasaki Optical Works.
  2. Some lenses with higher serial numbers are marked "TOKYO TAIYO-ANASTIGMAT" with 'MADE IN JAPAN" on aperture ring (Source: FLICKR).
  3. See this disambiguation page for other uses of the name Taiyō.
  4. An advertisement by Kuwata in Asahi Camera April 1941 mentions the Taiyo as one of the lenses onto which one could attach the Bimagon wide-angle attachment.
  5. Taiyo-Anastigmat at Leica Virgin.
  6. Camera fan web site reported Yamazaki Kōgaku Shashin Renzu Kenkyūsho still working as a lens re-polishing factory in 2013.
  7. (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, September 2015)
  8. T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=18cm
        sn#2566 (seen in an online auction, eBay, November 2016);
  9. The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21cm sn#
           sn#1382 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, July 2016); sn#3161 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann; sn#3177 online sale at sy916.net (2011);
           sn#3863; sn#6973 Online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2016; sn#7202 (Russian site).
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21cm
           sn#7162 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan March 2015) sn#23524 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan November 2016)
           sn#29726 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan April 2015)
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
           sn#1247 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, June 2015) sn#69138 (Source: FLICKR (August 2012), image since removed.
        TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
           sn#1195 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, August 2016) sn#11946 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, April 2015)
  10. The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat sn#1353 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann
           sn#5522 observed in an online auction (eBay August 2012), mounted on an Asanuma field camera;
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=21 cm
            sn# 7783 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2016)
  11. Lens reported in this thread at mformat.com (archived).
  12. Example observed in an online auction. See also Pleasure Classic lenses (in Japanese) (archived).
  13. The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
        T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=30 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
            sn#3481 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2015)
        TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=30 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
            sn#10925 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, June 2015)

Bibliography

Links

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