Talk:Orion (6×6)

This looks like the model for many of the Hit-type cameras. Added by U. kulick on Dec. 16, 2010.

Or more likely the reverse: it was designed as a giant Hit camera. --rebollo_fr 05:49, 16 December 2010 (EST)

Or is it a (pre-)wartime model, and my changes might be wrong? Maybe this was in the shop windows when the Japenese men were at war. After the war they fullfilled their dream of such a modern simple viewfinder camera by buying a miniature version because 17.5mm film was cheaper than 120 film in postwar Japan. Probably Orion Camera Co. was Miranda, later again responsible for modern camera designs? U. Kulick 06:42, 16 December 2010 (EST)

For me, this Orion is an inexpensive postwar camera (and your changes are correct). I have no compelling argument to prove this, but the overall design is clearly from the 1950s or 1960s. The name "Orion Camera Co." was probably chosen after the original Orion company changed its name to Miranda (in 1957), to confuse buyers who might remember the former name of the prestigious company. I'm sure that Miranda wouldn't have made this toy camera.

For another overgrown Hit, see the Town that takes Bolta film (the article has no free picture unfortunately). It's intermediate in size between the Hit and the Orion.

As for the inspiration of the Hit, it goes back to the Midget. This was the first camera taking 17.5mm film, and the shape of the 1939 New Midget is already close to that of the Hit. The Midget was imitated by the Mycro, and the 1944 New Mycro (later Mycro I) is even closer. To sum up, I would say that the Hit was a cheap copy of the New Mycro / Mycro I, that became particularly successful because Tougodo had vast manufacturing capacity and already had experience to distribute cameras through toy shops and the like (from c.1930 no-need-darkroom cameras). --rebollo_fr 10:44, 16 December 2010 (EST)