Tokiwa plate folders

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daimeishi (6.5×9cm) Apollo | Arcadia | Crite | Special East | Eaton | Elliotte | First | First Etui | Gold | Happy | Hope | Idea No.1 | Idea (metal) | Kinka | Kokka | Lily (horizontal) | Lily (metal) | Tropical Lily | Lloyd | Lomax | Masnette | Mikuni | Need | Nifca Klapp | Nifca Sport | Ohca | Palma | Peter | Prince | Prince Peerless | Proud | Romax | Rosen | Rubies | Sirius | Sun | Super | Tokiwa | Venus | Weha Idea | Weha Light
tefuda (8×10.5cm) Eagle | Idea A | Idea B | Idea No.1 | Idea (metal) | Iris | Lily (original) | Lily (horizontal) | Lily (metal) | Palma | Pearl No.3, No.4 | Minimum Pearl | Special Pearl | Sakura Palace | Sakura Pocket Prano | Star | Tokiwa | Weha
nimaigake (8×12cm) Eagle | Idea | Idea Binocular | Sakura Prano | Sakura Binocular Prano | Star Premo
hagaki (8×14cm) Eagle | Noble | Pearl No.3, No.4 | Star
kabine (12×16.5cm) Idea | Noble | Sakura Prano | Star Premo
Japanese plate film: monocular, box, strut-folding and SLR ->
3×4 and 4×4, 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6, 6×6 and 6×9 ->

The Tokiwa or Tokiwa Camera (トキワカメラ) are Japanese plate folders distributed by Mizuno Shashinki-ten in the mid-1930s.

Origin

Many recent sources say that the Tokiwa were made by Kuribayashi.[1] Some even specify that the Tokiwa was based on the Kokka and was supplied to the company Tokiwa Kōgaku, which later provided Tokiwa lenses for other Kuribayashi cameras.[2] However the Tokiwa and Kokka seem to have no part in common, and the whole story is dubious.

The original advertisements found so far were placed by Mizuno Shashinki-ten and say nothing of Tokiwa Kōgaku. In these, the camera name is written "Tokiwa Camera" in katakana: トキワカメラ. This name was certainly chosen by Mizuno as a reference to the Japanese word tokiwa written 常磐, meaning "eternity" or "evergreen". The brand "Tokiwa" was also used by Mizuno for bromide papers.[3] It has probably nothing to see with the family name Tokiwa, written 常盤, as found in the company name Tokiwa Kōgaku.

Known advertisements

The Tokiwa Camera was advertised in the January 1934 issue of Shashin Salon.[4] The camera is presented as an improved model (改良型), and three versions are listed, all in daimeishi size (6.5×9cm) with a metal body:

  • No.1, single extension (一段伸), from ¥24;
  • No.2, one-and-a-half extension (一段半), from ¥28;
  • No.3, true double extension (正二段伸), from ¥32.

The picture certainly shows the double extension model, with a small focusing wheel on the photographer's right. There is a brilliant finder with an attached bubble level, and a wireframe finder with an indent at the top and a round eyepiece. A knob is visible above the front standard, controlling the vertical movements.

A June 1935 advertisement in Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin lists the same three models, at respectively ¥24, ¥28 and ¥31.[5] The document mentions f/4.5 and f/6.3 lenses, and the prices probably correspond to the cheaper lens. The picture shows the double extension model again. The features are similar to the 1934 model, except that the wireframe finder is indented at the bottom and has a rectangular eyepiece.

The Tokiwa Camera was also advertised in the July 1935 and January 1936 issues of Ars Camera.[6] The January 1936 advertisement has the same picture as the June 1935 advertisement in Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, showing the Tokiwa No.3.[7] The range is extended by the addition of a tefuda model (8×10.5cm), and more details are given:

  • No.1, daimeishi, single extension, no movements, from ¥24 with an f/6.3 lens;
  • No.2, daimeishi, one-and-a-half extension, no movements, from ¥28 with an f/6.3 lens;
  • No.3, daimeishi, true double extension, vertical movements, from ¥32 with an f/6.3 lens;
  • No.0, tefuda, true double extension, vertical movements, from ¥45 with an f/6.3 lens.

The same range appears in the leaflet reproduced above, certainly dated 1935 or 1936. The document shows an MS logo inside a diamond, surely for Mizuno Shōten. Many lens and shutter combinations are listed:

Surviving examples

The camera pictured in Baird and McKeown as a "Tokiwa Hand Camera" seems to correspond to the Tokiwa No.1 or No.2, with single or "one-and-a-half" extension bellows.[8] It has a small focusing wheel on the right. Its folding struts are similar to those visible in the advertisements. The wireframe finder and eyepiece are the same as on the January 1934 model. The front standard does not seem to allow any movement, and there is no bubble level. The shutter is a dial-set Velio (25, 50, 100, B, T) and the lens is a Meyer Anastigmat Trioplan 10.5cm f/6.3. The name Tokiwa is embossed in the removable ground glass hood; it is not known if it is repeated elsewhere on the camera body.

A very similar camera has been observed in an online auction, only differing by the shape of the folding struts. It has a Koilos dial-set shutter (25, 50, 100, B, T) and a Heliostar Anastigmat München 105mm f/6.3 lens (no.84311).

The camera pictured in Sugiyama as a "Tokiwa Hand Camera" certainly corresponds to the Tokiwa No.3.[9] It has double extension bellows, a bubble level on the side of the brilliant finder, and vertical movements controlled by a knob at the top of the front standard. The wireframe finder seems to be missing. The shutter is a Lidex by Molta (T, B, 5–200) and the lens is a Heliostar Anastigmat 105mm f/4.5.

A similar camera is pictured in this page. The bubble level is absent and the knob for vertical movements has a different shape. The wireframe finder is shaped as on picture in the June 1935 and January 1936 advertisements, but the rear eyepiece has the same circular shape as on the January 1934 model. The shutter is a Lidex C by Molta, giving T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds. The shutter plate has Patents~Nippon at the top, Lidex >C< at the bottom and the MTS logo of Molta on the right. The lens is a Heliostar Anastigmat München 105mm f/6.3 (no.96185).

Notes

  1. Made by Kuribayashi: Sugiyama, item 1251, Baird, pp.15 and 57–8 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras, McKeown, p.576.
  2. Supplied to Tokiwa Kōgaku: Baird, pp.15 and 57–8 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras, McKeown, p.576.
  3. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.80.
  4. Advertisement in Shashin Salon January 1934 reproduced in this page.
  5. Advertisement on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin June 1st, 1935, reproduced on p.24 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  6. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.338.
  7. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.80. The identification of the pictured camera as a No.3 is confirmed by a caption in the advertisement.
  8. Example pictured in Baird, pp.57–8 of Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras, McKeown, p.576.
  9. Sugiyama, item 1251.

Bibliography


Kuribayashi prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
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Eagle | Speed Pocket | First Roll | First Center | Semi First | First Six | Baby Semi First | Semi Rotte | Hokoku | Mizuho
plate folders rigid SLR TLR unknown
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