Vero Four

The Vero Four (ヴェロ・フォアー) is a Japanese camera taking 4×4cm pictures on 127 film. It was made by Kinshō and distributed by Ueda Shashinki-ten from 1938 to about 1943. The name "Star Camera Works" appears in advertisements dated 1938 but it was probably not the name of any actual company, as other names ending in Camera Works.

Description

The Vero Four has a metal body and a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The viewfinder sits in a recessed part of the top plate, slightly offset to the left. There is an accessory shoe at the left end. The advance knob is at the right end and the right half of the top plate is covered by a housing containing the auto-stop advance mechanism and an exposure counter. This was needed because the film paper backing was not marked for 4×4cm pictures at the time.

There is a single red window in the back, used to set the first exposure and protected by a horizontally sliding cover. Film loading is through the bottom plate, which is styled after the Leica screw mount models, with a single opening key at one end.

All the models observed have a Rapid-Vero shutter giving T, B, 1–500 speeds. The "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras") says that the camera was equipped with a Rapid Presto made by Kinshō and giving the same range of speeds (including a typical 1/300 setting). The two shutters were probably identical. The lens is a front-cell focusing Vero Anastigmat 60/3.5 on the first models and a unit-focusing Verona Anastigmat 60/3.5 on the following models. The Verona has three elements and was made by Kinshō too.

Evolution

Original model, front-cell focusing

The original model has a front-cell focusing lens and no leather covering. The lens is a Vero Anastigmat 60/3.5 lens and the shutter is a Rapid Vero giving T, B, 1–500 speeds. This model is described in advertisements dated January, March, June and September 1938. The price is given as ¥115 (lens hood, filter holder and case included). The company name in all the advertisements is "Star Camera Works" (スター・カメラ・ウワークス), mentioned as the distributor (発売元).

In the January and March pictures, the exposure counter looks like a simple slit and the reset button is barely visible, perhaps because the pictures were retouched. In the June and September pictures, the counter is covered by a window shaped as a parallelogram, and there is a reset button next at the rear end of the advance housing. The same type of exposure counter has been observed on an early Vero Four F (see below); it contains a slotted index running in a slit along a ladder graduated from 1 to 12. The name Vero is engraved on the advance housing, together with the serial number. A logo is engraved above the viewfinder, perhaps the n.m.k. logo found on an early Vero Four F (see below).

No surviving example of the Vero Four with front-cell focusing has yet been observed.

Vero Four F, unit focusing

The range was declined in three models from October 1938. The Vero Four C seems to be identical to the previous model and the Vero Four D is the same camera with leather covering. The Vero Four F has a focusing helical at the base of the telescopic tube and a Verona lens; on the original variant, the rest of the features is the same. These three models are described in an advertisement in Asahi Camera October 1938, where the C and D are priced at ¥115 and the F at ¥125. The F appears alone in an advertisement in Asahi Camera April 1939, but the heavily retouched picture seems to show a Vero Four D instead. A list of accessories is given, with a filter holder (¥1.50), a lens hood (¥2) and a case (¥6). An advertisement dated December 1939 shows a murky drawing, on which the details of the exposure counter cannot be observed, and gives the same price and accessory list.

A single surviving example of the first variant has been observed, with a body number in the 1xxx range, and the very low serial number 0340 on the lens. It has the same exposure counter as on the pictures of the model C. The letters n.m.k. are engraved above the viewfinder. The exact same engraving would appear on the Flora 6×6cm prototype, perhaps indicating a relationship with Kinshō.

The exposure counter was altered after that date, on the second variant of the Vero Four F. It now appears under a crescent-shaped window, displacing the Vero engraving to the rear. The button has moved too and a small lever is added behind which, when in the "A" position, allows the film wind knob to be turned at will; and when in the "G" position allows the film to be advanced one frame at a time (in use the film is wound with the lever set on "A" to the first frame using the red film window on the back of the camera and once the initial number on the film backing paper shows "1" the window slide is closed and the top lever is set to "G". When a photograph is taken the button on top of the camera is temporarily pressed and the film wind knob turned. The counter will then advance and the film knob will stop at the next frame. Once all 12 pictures are taken the lever on top is then set to "A" to allow the film to be freely wound. At the same time the lever is set to "A" the film counter resets to 1). There is a K.S. logo above the viewfinder, probably standing for Kinshō or Kinshō Seisakusho.

This variant of the Vero Four F is pictured in Sugiyama and the same example is also pictured in Kokusan kamera no rekishi (the advance knob is not original). The speed rim is engraved RAPID–VERO at the bottom. The lens is engraved Verona Anastigmat f=6.0cm 1:3.5. This paricular example has the three-digit lens number 364, very close to no.0340 found on example of the early variant described above.

The second variant is pictured in advertisements dated August and November 1940 and January 1941, where it is offered at an unchanged price (an advertisement dated December 1940 makes use of the older retouched picture of a Vero Four D). The camera also appears in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the names "Vero Four" and "Vero Four F", both for the same price of ¥125. This perhaps indicates that the front-cell focusing model was still available for sale.

On the third variant, a frame was added to the front of the viewfinder, attached by two screws. One example with this frame and the crescent-shaped exposure counter is pictured in this page of the AJCC and another appears in a Christies auction catalogue.

The examples of the fourth variant have a round exposure counter window replacing the crescent-shaped one. This variant is the most common, and one example is pictured in this page.

The Vero Four still appears in the April 1943 government inquiry (with the shutter listed as a Rapid-Presto).

Vero Four F no.4784, Verona Anastigmat 6cm f/3.5 lens no.3080. Pictures courtesy of eBayer ipruksleica. (Image rights)

Rangefinder conversions

The Cyclon coupled rangefinder conversion offered in 1943 and 1944 for the Gelto was also available for the Vero Four (presumably only for the unit-focusing Vero Four F). The conversion is described in detail in this section of the Gelto page. It is not known if the earlier conversion with separate range- and viewfinder, called Suzuki coupled device, was offered for this camera. No surviving example has been observed with a rangefinder conversion.

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. Item 239. (See also the advertisements for items 129 and 136 and the picture on p.13.)
• Christies auction catalogue: Cameras and Optical Toys (13 January 1994), lot no.221.
• "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Item 153.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 1, section 10.
• 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). P.943.
• Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.58, corresponding to p.24 of the December 15, 1939 issue.
• 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. Items 3053–4.

Links

In Japanese:

• Vero Four F (third variant) in a page of the AJCC website
• Vero Four F (fourth variant) at Japan Family Camera
• Advertisements for the Vero Four reproduced in the small format camera page of the Gochamaze website:
  • Advertisement published in the 17 January 1938 issue of Asahi Graph (the date is given as 17 January 1937 but this is probably a mistake)
  • Advertisements published in the 23 March 1938 and 29 June 1938 issues of Asahi Graph