Tsubasa Semi
The Tsubasa Semi is a Japanese 4.5×6 folder made by Kigawa Kōgaku between 1950 and 1952.
Contents
Description
The body of the Tsubasa Semi is copied from the Ikonta A, but the viewfinder is contained within a top housing (on the left when the camera is standing vertically). The advance knob is at the left end of the top housing, with a red arrow engraved in red. There is also an accessory shoe, a body release on the right and a folding bed opening button on the left. The lens is always a 75/3.5 with front-cell focusing, and the aperture is set by an index on top of the shutter housing.
Some markings are common to all the models. Above the viewfinder, there is a KKK logo engraved in red and the words KIGAWA KōGAKU in black. There is also a KIKO TSUBASA logo engraved in the folding struts. The word TSUBASA is also embossed in the front leather, sometimes in a serif font with the T bigger than the other letters, sometimes in a sans serif font with the same height for all the letters.
The first versions
The original Tsubasa Semi can be recognized by the hexagonal trim around the finder window and the Tsubasa marking in front of the top housing.
In 1950[1] and 1951[2], the Tsubasa Semi is first advertised in two variants, both with a Tsubasa 75/3.5 coated lens and a synchronized shutter: the Tsubasa Semi I with B, 25–200 speeds and the Tsubasa Semi II with B, 1–250 speeds.
Later in 1951[3], other variants are advertised, all with a synchronized shutter and a coated f:3.5 lens whose name is not precised: Tsubasa Semi I with T, B, 25–100 speeds, Tsubasa Semi II with B, 10–200 speeds and Tsubasa Semi III with B, 1–200 speeds and self-timer.
The same year 1951[4], the variant names changed again: Tsubasa Semi I with B, 10–200 speeds and Tsubasa Semi III with B, 1–250 speeds and self-timer. This time the lens was a coated Bessel[5] 75/3.5.
The Tsubasa Semi F
The later Tsubasa Semi F has no hexagonal trim around the finder, nor Tsubasa marking in front of the top housing. Instead there are two black lines extending on both sides of the finder window, looking a bit like the Pearl II by Konishiroku.
This version is advertised in 1952[6] in three variants, all having a Bessel 75/3.5 coated lens and a KKK synchronized shutter with ASA bayonet connector: the Tsubasa Semi F1 with B, 10&ndash200 speeds, the Tsubasa Semi F2 with the same speeds and a self-timer and the Tsubasa Semi F3 with B, 1–200 speeds and a self-timer.
Notes
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi I and II, published in the December 1950 issue of Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 607.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi I and II and Tsubasaflex, published in the March 1951 issue of Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 608.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi I, II and III and Tubasaflex I, II and III, published in the May 1951 issue of Photo Art, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 608. — Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi I, II and III and Tubasaflex I, II and III, published in the June 1951 issue of Photo Art, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 607.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi I and II and Tubasaflex I and II, published in the November 1951 issue of Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 607–8.
- ↑ Roman version inferred from the katakana ベツセル.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi F1, F2 and F3, published in the January 1952 issue of Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 606. — Advertisement for the Tsubasa Semi F1, F2 and F3 and Grace Flex I and II, published in the January 1952 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 503.
Printed 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. Items 503, 606–8.
- 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). Page 464–5.
