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 and other documents dated 1938, but it was probably not a dummy name belonging to the distributor, 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 advance mechanism and exposure counter. (The film paper backing was not marked for 4×4cm pictures at the time the camera was sold, and the exposure counter was absolutely needed.)

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 April 1943 government inquiry on the Japanese camera production 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), but these two shutters were probably identical. The lens is a front-cell focusing Vero Anastigmat 6.0cm f/3.5 on the early models and a unit-focusing Verona Anastigmat 6.0cm f/3.5 on the Vero Four F. 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 6.0cm f/3.5 and the shutter is a Rapid Vero giving T, B, 1–500 speeds.

Announcement of the Vero Four in Asahi Camera January 1938. (Image rights)

The camera was featured in the January 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced above. In this document, the camera is said to be distributed by "Star Camera Works" (スター・カメラ・ウワークス). The advance mechanism is said to have no auto-stop provision, but to include an exposure counter. The absence of a body release is regretted, but accounted for by the difficulties involved in adding this mechanism — certainly because of the telescopic tube configuration. The picture shows an insert plugged into the shutter's cable release thread, certainly a soft release button. The price is quoted as ¥115, including the ever-ready case, hood and filter holder.

January 1938	February 1938	March 1938	April 1938
May 1938	June 1938	September 1938
Advertisements in Asahi Camera. (Image rights)

The original model also appears in advertisements running from January 1938 to September 1938. Very early advertisements wrongly say that the camera can take 14 exposures in 4×4cm size, and most documents omit 1/10 from the range of speeds, despite providing photographic evidence of its presence on the shutter dial. The price and accessories are the same as mentioned in the original announcement, and the company name in all the advertisements is "Star Camera Works", mentioned as the distributor.

January 1938 news column	February 1938 advertisement
Very early Vero Four in Asahi Camera. (Image rights)

The earliest pictures, used till March 1938, show an extremely early camera. The exposure counter appears as a mere slit, certainly with a running index. It seems that there is a small button nearby, certainly for manual reset; this button is barely visible, perhaps because the picture was cut-out for insertion in the advertisements.

March 1938 advertisement	April 1938 advertisement
Original Vero Four in Asahi Camera. (Image rights)

Subsequent pictures published from March onwards show a number of modifications. The exposure counter is now contained inside a parallelogram-shaped frame, perhaps covered by a piece of glass. Its index has a slotted head and runs in a slit along a scale graduated from 1 to 12, with odd numbers on one side and even numbers on the other. (The same type of exposure counter has been observed on an early Vero Four F, see below.) The nearby button is much larger than on previous pictures, and has fine mills around its base. The overall aspect of the mechanism is not heavily altered, and it seems likely that this variant still has no auto-stop mechanism.

The name Vero is visible on the advance housing, together with a serial number. The letters n.m.k. are engraved above the viewfinder. (The same marking has been found on an early Vero Four F — see below — and on the Flora 6×6cm prototype. The meaning of the N.M.K. initials is unknown; it might be an acronym used by the Kinshō company or a predecessor.) Finally, the soft release is longer — at least on the photograph used from April onwards.

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

Vero Four C and D

The Vero Four C is identical to the original model, and the Vero Four D is the same camera with artificial leather covering (or "rubber sheet"). The new names were used from October 1938, after the introduction of the Vero Four F with unit focusing (see below). The October 1938 advertisement in Asahi Camera shows the three models together. The C and D are priced at ¥115, whereas the F costs ¥125.

January 1939 advertisement in Asahi Camera. (Image rights)

The three models (C, D and F) are listed again in the January 1939 advertisement in Asahi Camera, reproduced above, at an unchanged price. The picture only shows the models C and D, together with their accessories: filter holder, silver lens cap with Vero engraving, lens hood and leather case.

Vero Four C and D in Asahi Camera January 1939. (Image rights)

The Vero Four C and D were no longer advertised by April 1939.

Vero Four F, unit focusing

The Vero Four F, introduced in October 1938, has a focusing helix at the base of the telescopic tube and a Verona Anastigmat 6.0cm f/3.5 lens.

The first variant is otherwise identical to the Vero Four D. It is pictured in the October 1938 advertisement in Asahi Camera, already cited above. The April 1939 advertisement in the same magazine lists the Vero Four F alone, still at ¥125, but shows an outdated picture of a Vero Four D instead. The document includes a list of accessories: filter holder (¥1.50), lens hood (¥2) and 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 parallelogram-shaped exposure counter as described above for the Vero Four with front-cell focusing lens, and also has the letters n.m.k. engraved above the viewfinder.

The second variant of the Vero Four F has a different exposure counter and an auto-stop advance mechanism. It has a K.S. logo above the viewfinder, probably standing for Kinshō or Kinshō Seisakusho. The frame counter 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, with A and G indications. When in the "A" position, the advance knob can be turned at will; when in the "G" position, the exposure counter mechanism is engaged, and the film is advanced one frame at a time. (When loading the camera, the lever is set to "A" and the film is advanced to the first frame using the red window on the back. Once the film backing paper shows "1", the window slide is closed and the top lever is set to "G". After a photograph is taken, the button on top of the camera is temporarily pressed and the advance knob is 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 set to "A" to allow the film to be freely wound. The frame counter resets to 1 at the same time the lever is set to "A".)

A single example of the second variant has been observed. It has a body number starting with "2", and three-digit lens no.364, very close to no.0340 found on example of the early variant described above. The speed rim is engraved RAPID–VERO at the bottom. The lens is engraved Verona Anastigmat f=6.0cm 1:3.5.

A picture of the second variant was used in the advertisements in Asahi Camera dated August, November 1940, and January 1941, whereas an outdated picture of a Vero Four D was used in December 1940. In most documents, the camera's price is unchanged at ¥125. The camera also appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the names "Vero Four" and "Vero Four F", both priced at ¥125. This might indicate that the front-cell focusing model was still available for sale, or this might be a confusion.

The third variant is almost identical to the previous one, but has a separate frame added to the front of the viewfinder, attached by two screws. Two surviving examples have been observed, with body numbers in the 2xxx range and lens numbers in the 07xx and 08xx range.

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

The fourth variant has a round window for the exposure counter, instead of the former crescent-shaped window. This variant is the most common, and one example is pictured in this page. Body numbers have been observed in the 3xxx to 6xxx range, and lens numbers in the 2xxx to 4xxx range.

The Vero Four still appears in the April 1943 government inquiry. In the document, the shutter is listed as a Rapid-Presto instead of Rapid-Vero.

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

Original documents

• Asahi Camera. "Atarashii kikai to zairyō" (新しい機械と材料, New equipment and materials), January 1938, pp.173–4.
• Asahi Camera. Advertisements by "Star Camera Works":
  • January 1938, p.A45;
  • February 1938, p.A33;
  • March 1938, p.A43;
  • April 1938, p.A39;
  • May 1938, p.A41;
  • June 1938, p.A39;
  • September 1938, p.A35;
  • January 1939, p.A25.

Recent sources

• 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