Tsubame
The Tsubame (a Japanese word meaning "swallow") is a Japanese subminiature camera taking 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm, made in the late 1940s or early 1950s by an unknown company.
Description
The Tsubame is slightly better than the average Hit-type camera, and has some strange features. It has a waist-level finder only, contained in the middle of the top housing, and no direct vision finder. There is a body release on the right of the viewfinder (as seen by the photographer), an unusual feature on Hit-type models. The film is advanced by a knob on the left, with numbers engraved at the top, certainly a crude form of exposure counter. It is not known if there is a red window on the back or if the frame spacing relies on these numbers only. The back is probably hinged to the left, and there is a spring-loaded latch on the right. The leatherette covering is clear-coloured leatherette and has a decorative pattern.
The lens is a Tsubame Anastigmat 20mm f/4.5, and the aperture is reportedly adjustable from 4.5 to 9. The shutter has B, 100, 50, 25 speeds selected by turning the rim.
A single example of the Tsubame is known so far, pictured in Sugiyama,[1] and no document mentioning the camera has been found yet.
Notes
Bibliography
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 5154.
The Tsubame is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.