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 distributed by Ueda Shashinki-ten from 1938 to 1941.[1] The name "Star Camera Works" also appears in some advertisements, it was perhaps the name of the manufacturing branch of Ueda.
Contents
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 on the right containing the auto-stop advance mechanism and an exposure counter. This is needed because the film paperback is not marked for 4×4cm pictures.
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.[2] The price was ¥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 January and March, the exposure counter window looks like a simple slit and no button is visible over the top plate. In June and September, the window has the shape of a parallelogram and there is a button next to it, at the rear edge of the advance housing. It is supposed that this button interacts with the exposure counter.
Vero Four F, unit focusing
The range was declined in three models from October 1938. The Vero Four C seems to be a new name for the previous camera and the Vero Four D is the same with leather covering. The Vero Four F has a focusing helical at the base of the telescopic tube instead of the front-cell focusing lens. These three models are described in an advertisement dated October 1938[3], where the C and D were offered for the same price of ¥115 while the F cost ¥125. In an advertisement dated April 1939.[4]
The shape of the exposure counter only the F is offered in advertisements dated April 1939, August, November and December 1940 and January 1941.[5]
It has been reported by a dealer with a Verona Anastigmat 60/3.5 lens. The camera pictured in McKeown also has a Verona Anastigmat 60/3.5 lens, and it shows slight differences with the ads. The position of the body release and exposure counter window, and the shape of this window, are not the same. The shutter rim is marked VERO in the ads; in McKeown's example it is RAPID-VERO with T-B-1-2-5-10-25-50-100-300-500 speeds. In the ads, the cameras have an all metal finish, while in McKeown it is covered with black leather or leatherette.
The Christies auction catalogue dated 13 January 1994 shows a picture of a Vero taken from the top, once again the exposure counter window is different from the both styles cited above, and there is a K.S. logo above the viewfinder, that is maybe related to K.S. Fabrik.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: advertisements mentioned in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ January: advertisement published in the 17 January 1938 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Gochamaze website (it is written 17 January 1937 probably by mistake). The advertisement says that the camera can take 14 exposures in 4×4cm size, obviously by mistake. It also gives the following range of speeds: T, B, 1, 2, 5, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 (with no 1/10 speed).
March and June: advertisements published in Asahi Graph (23 March 1938 and 29 June 1938) reproduced in the Gochamaze website, and advertisement published in Asahi Camera (June 1938) reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 92.
September: advertisement published in Asahi Camera, whose scans have been observed in an online auction. The range of speeds appears again without 1/10. - ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 92.
- ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 92.
- ↑ All of them published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 72, 76 and 77.
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, 136.)
- Christies auction catalogue: "Cameras and Optical Toys" (13 January 1994).
- 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.
- 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 in a page of the AJCC website
- 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 (it is written 17 January 1937 but this is probably a mistake)
- Advertisements published in the 23 March 1938 and 29 June 1938 issues of Asahi Graph
