Tacker
The Tacker is a Japanese subminiature camera, distributed around 1950 by Tsukada Shōji.
Contents
Common features
The Tacker takes ten 14×14mm exposures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm. It is better made and has better features than the average Hit-type camera, aiming the same market as the Midget and Mycro. The shutter has B, 100, 50, 25 settings selected by an index at the top. It is wound by a lever on the left and tripped by a longer lever on the right. The lens is a Tacker 20mm f/4.5 with adjustable Waterhouse stops selected by turning a disc at the bottom of the shutter casing. The shutter plate has the name TACKER inscribed at the top and the initials T.S.C. at the bottom. The meaning of these initials is unknown, though Tsukada Shoji Company might be a fair guess.
Early Tacker
This page at submin.com contains pictures of a presumably early Tacker. The top housing has two steps on the viewfinder's right — as seen by the photographer. The back is hinged to the left and the spring-loaded latch is attached to the main body by three rivets. No engraving is visible on the main body, and the camera is only identified by the markings on the shutter plate.
This particular example is the sole of its kind observed so far. It seems to share a number of parts — such as the top housing, advance knob and back latch — with the Takka subminiature camera. The words "Takka" and "Tacker" would be pronounced roughly the same by a Japanese speaker,[1] and the Takka was probably a predecessor of the Tacker, whose name was changed to make it look like an English word.
Regular Tacker
The regular Tacker has a less pronounced resemblance to ordinary Hit-type cameras. Its top housing is slightly slanted to the right, and is engraved TACKER T.S.C. in the middle, above the viewfinder. The advance knob has an arrow engraved at the top, sometimes with the words MADE IN JAPAN or MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN.[2] The back is hinged to the left and has a massive latch on the right, locked by a sliding bar. The red window is protected by a sliding cover.
The camera was sold in a red and white case inscribed CAMERA TACKER T.S.C., and the name TACKER is sometimes embossed at the front of the case.[3]
Commercial life
The Tacker was advertised by Tsukada Shōji in Japanese magazines from February to December 1950.[4] The February advertisement in Photography shows a drawing of the regular Tacker.[5]
Notes
- ↑ This is why the Takka and Tacker are ostensibly identified in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.354.
- ↑ MADE IN JAPAN: examples pictured in Pritchard, p.76, and in this page at Submin.com (towards the top). MADE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN: example observed in an online auction. No inscription: example pictured in this page at Submin.com (towards the bottom).
- ↑ Original box and case pictured in this page at Submin.com.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.354.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.145.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. 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. Item 583.
- 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). P.68 (brief mention only).
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P.934.
- Pritchard, Michael and St. Denny, Douglas. Spy Cameras — A century of detective and subminiature cameras. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-874485-00-3. P.76.
The Tacker is not listed in Sugiyama.
Links
In English:
- Tacker at Submin.com
- Tacker at Subclub.org
