Vesten
The Vesten (ベステン)[1] is a Japanese camera taking 4×5cm exposures on 127 film. The name might be a contraction of "Vest" and "ten", because the camera takes 10 exposures on Vest film (the name of 127 film in Japan). No surviving example has surfaced so far and the camera is only known from Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
The camera is mentioned in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the name "Star Vesten" (¥125), with no further detail.[2]
Advertisements dated December 1940 and January 1941 were inserted by the distributor Ueda Shashinki-ten.[3] No picture of the camera is shown and it is not known if it has a folding or rigid body. The advertising text mentions auto-stop advance, an f/3.5 lens and a Star-Rapid shutter with 1s low speed. The top speed is not mentioned but it is probably 1/500.[4] The price was ¥125, as indicated in the first advertisement.
Notes
- ↑ The name "Vesten" is unsure: it could as well be "Besten", "Besuten" or another variation.
- ↑ Template:Kakaku1940 short, type 1, section 10.
- ↑ Advertisements published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 72 and 77.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
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 238. (See also the advertisements for items 108 and 136.)
- Template:Kakaku1940 Type 1, section 10.
This camera is not listed in Sugiyama.
