Vest Alex and Vest Olympic

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Template:127 Japan

This is a work in progress.

The Vest Alex and the Vest Olympic are prewar Japanese cameras taking 4×6.5cm pictures on 127 film. The Vest Alex was sold by Misuzu Shōkai between 1936 and 1938[1] and the Vest Olympic by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō from about 1938 until at least 1941[2]. The actual maker of the body is unknown.

General description

All the models have a metal body and the lens and shutter seembly is mounted on a bright metal telescopic tube. There are tabs on each side of this tube to pull it forward. The tubular finder is in the middle of the top plate and the advance knob is on the left end. The back is hinged to the right and film advance is controlled by red window. Some models (perhaps not all) are dual format and can take 3×4cm exposures.

The Vest Alex

The Vest Alex was introduced first and was sold by Misuzu Shōkai from 1936 to 1938. An advertisement dated March 1936[3] offers the camera for ¥19.50 as a new model and makes no mention of 3×4 exposures. Compared with actual examples observed, the pictured camera has a differently shaped advance knob, lacks the metal film flange on the right end of the top plate and does not seem to have the red lines delineating the 3×4 frame in the viewfinder.

The shutter of the Vest Alex is called Complete and gives B, 25, 50, 100 speeds. The shutter plate is marked Vest Alex at the top and COMPLETE at the bottom, with an intricate logo on the right.[4] On some examples[5], the speed is selected by a movable index and the settings are engraved on the shutter plate in the B, 25, 50, 100 order. On others[6], the speed is selected by turning the shutter rim and the settings are engraved in the reverse order on the rim itself, with an arrow traced on the shutter plate.

The lens is an Erith[7] Anastigmat 75mm f/6.3.

The Vest Olympic

The Vest Olympic was introduced around 1938 for 4×6.5 pictures, with a metal body. It had a Ukas Anastigmat 75mm f:4.5 lens and a 25-50-100-150, B, T shutter. The shutter plate was engraved Vest Olympic and Fiskus, with the AKK logo. Vest Olympic was also engraved in the back. The lens and shutter assembly was mounted on a telescopic tube. In the finder there were two red lines, delimiting the frame of a 3×4 picture. It was probably possible to take 3×4 pictures with a mask, but there is only one red window in the back. The Vest Olympic shown at Ricoh's site has a black accessory shoe at the right of the viewfinder. The same catalogue as above listed the Vest Olympic for ¥48, case in supplement for ¥6.70.

A Vest Adler has been reported with a 75/4.5 Ukas Anastigmat, a Fiskus shutter and telescopic tube (for sale at a dealer). It could be another name variant of the Vest Olympic.

A Regal Olympic was advertised in 1938 as a 4×6.5 and 3×4 dual format body, with Ukas Anastigmat 75mm f:4.5 lens and the same 25-50-100-150, B, T shutter. In the illustration, it looks like the Olympic C, but bigger and with a probably metal body. It is not shown at Ricoh's Japanese corporate site.

Notes

  1. ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
  2. ↑ In Ricoh kamera no subete, both Arimura (p. 8) and Tanaka (p. 16) give 1938 as the release date. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 335, only mentions advertisements dated 1941.
  3. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.&nbsp:59.
  4. ↑ The logo has certainly fallen off in the example pictured in McKeown, p. 692.
  5. ↑ Example pictured in the March 1936 advertisement cited above and example pictured in McKeown, p. 692.
  6. ↑ Example pictured in this page of the AJCC and lens and shutter assembly observed for sale at a Chinese dealer.
  7. ↑ McKeown, p. 692, says Efith but it is a typo or a misreading. The advertisement read エリス (erisu).

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 16 and 51.
  • Ricoh kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, "All that of Ricoh cameras"), issue no. 14 (1 October 1989) of Classic Camera Senka (クラシックカメラ専科). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama. Including the following articles:
    • Arimura Katsumi (有村克巳). Ricoh Ryakushi (リコー略史, Ricoh short history). Pp. 6–7.
    • Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). Ricoh kamera no nagare (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Pp. 8–11.
    • Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). Senzen no kamera 1- Olympic (戦前のカメラ1・オリンピック, Prewar cameras 1- Olympic). Pp. 12–16.
  • 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). Pp. 692 and 747.

Links

In Japanese:

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