TCW lenses

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The Testar, Complanar and Modelar lenses were made by a French company for Tokyo Camera Works, the manufacturing branch of the Japanese distributor Sone Shunsuidō.

Documents

One advertisement dated February 1927 says that the Testar was introduced seven years earlier, that is 1920.[1] Advertisements by Sone say that the Testar f/4.5 and f/6.3 and Complanar f/4.5 lenses were specially made for Tokyo Camera Works by a French company in Paris.[2]

The Testar was advertised as a four-element lens,[3] but recent accounts say that the f/6.3 and f/6.8 versions are actually triplets.[4] Carl Zeiss complained about the name "Testar", deemed too close from "Tessar". This is explained in an advertisement by Sone dated February 1927,[5] where the company defends itself against the accusation of usurping a famous name; it says that the name "Testar" comes from "Test lens", in the sense of "Standard lens",[6] and that "Modelar" was patterned the same, presumably after "Model lens". This explanation is plausible for "Modelar", but it is hard to believe that "Testar" was not inspired by "Tessar".

The Modelar Anastigmat lens was again advertised in the July 1929 issue of Asahi Camera;[7] this is the last mention found of the TCW lenses.

Cameras equipped

Testar f/4.5 and f/6.3 lenses were mounted on the Apollo 6.5×9cm plate folders, in 105mm and sometimes 90mm focal length. A Testar 50mm f/4.5 was also mounted on the Secrette Special detective camera. Testar f/6.3 and f/6.8 lenses were offered on the Idea No.1 and Pearl No.2 by Konishiroku in 1924; Tanaka suggests that this temporary measure was taken because the Konishiroku company was facing a shortage of lenses after its stocks were destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.[8]

The following lens engravings are known:

Modelar f/4.5 and f/6.3 lenses were mounted on the Apollo and Lloyd.[13] One isolated Modelar 10.5cm f/6.3 lens is known on a Super plate folder, but this equipment is perhaps not original.[14] On this particular lens, the engraving reads Modelar Anastigmat 1:6,3 F=10,5cm T.C.Works N°35921, and the same markings are repeated on the back rim of the rear element.

A Modelar Anastigmat 210/4.5 barrel lens is pictured in the February 1927 and July 1929 advertisements pictured above; the front rim is engraved T. C. W. Paris . Modelar Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=210 N°xxxxx. A Modelar 21cm f/6 barrel lens has been reported as well; the name is engraved on the side instead of the front rim.[15]

The Complanar f/4.5 lens was mounted on the Convex Reflex 6.5×9cm SLR.[16]

Notes

  1. Advertisement in Ars Camera February 1927.
  2. Testar: advertisements in Ars Camera April and May 1924, reproduced in Yazawa, p.18 of Camera Collectors' News no.98, p.13 of Camera Collectors' News no.171 and pp.15–6 of Camera Collectors' News no.264: "東京カメラウオークス佛國巴里レンズ工場にて新製のテスターレンズF四、五又はF六、三を装せる". This also appears in the advertisement in Ars Camera February 1927. — Testar and Complanar: advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.
  3. Lens scheme visible in the advertisement in Ars Camera February 1927, and in the advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.
  4. Triplets: see this page and this page at ksmt.com.
  5. Advertisement in Ars Camera February 1927.
  6. The text reads 標準鏡玉, with the non-standard reading tesuto indicated in furigana next to the word 標準, normally read hyōjun and meaning "standard".
  7. Advertisement in Asahi Camera July 1929, p.A26.
  8. Tanaka, p.33 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
  9. Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.17 of Camera Collectors' News no.98, and p.14 of Camera Collectors' News no.264, mounted in a dial-set Compur shutter.
  10. Lens pictured in this page at ksmt.com, mounted in a dial-set Pronto shutter.
  11. Lens pictured in this page at ksmt.com, mounted in an Ibsor shutter.
  12. Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.14 of Camera Collectors' News no.264.
  13. Lewis, p.44, Yazawa, p.13 of Camera Collectors' News no.171.
  14. Lens pictured in Yazawa, p.12 of Camera Collectors' News no.171.
  15. Example observed in an online auction. The focal length and aperture are reported only.
  16. Advertisement reproduced in Morishita, p.70 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.22.

Bibliography

Links

In Japanese: