Umemoto
Umemoto Seisakusho (梅本製作所, i.e. Umemoto Works) is a Japanese company, founded in 1935 by Umemoto Kinzaburō (梅本金三郎), after the retailer Kikōdō asked him to set up a camera plant.[1] The factory was situated in Tokyo.[2]
Before the war, the company made the Super Makinet Six and Neure Six 6×6 strut-folders and the Super Flex Baby 4×4 SLR, that was certainly the first Japanese roll-film SLR. Most cameras made by the company were distributed by Kikōdō.
After the war, the company briefly took the name Umemoto Kōki Seisakusho (梅本光機製作所, i.e. Umemoto Optical Works) and made one last attempt at camera production with the Rocky Semi, but it was not a commercial success.
The company became Yūgen-gaisha Umemoto Seisakusho (有限会社梅本製作所) in 1962. It still (2007) exists and makes photography-related parts, like tripod heads for Kenko.
Camera list
- Super Makinet Six 6×6 strut-folder (1936–9)
- Neure Six 6×6 strut-folder (1937)
- Super Flex Baby 4×4 SLR (1938–42)
- Rocky Semi 4.5×6 folder (1954)
Notes
- ↑ Umemoto company history.
- ↑ The address was Tōkyō-shi Jōtō-ku Kameito-chō 3-chōme 84-banchi (東京市城東区亀戸町三丁目八四番地) according to the Umemoto company history.
Links
In Japanese:
- Company history at the Umemoto official website, the page is written by the grandson of the founder and is highly documented
