Victor folders
The Victor folders are Japanese 4.5×6 and 6×6 folding cameras, made between 1937 and 1939 by the company Motodori Shashin Kikai Kōgyō-sho, later called Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha and sometimes using the name Victor Camera Works.[1] The original Victor was the successor of the nearly identical Semi Lester and the series was followed by the similar Condor folders.
Contents
General description
All the models share the same vertical folding body, inherited from the Semi Lester and copied from the large Baldax model for #0 size shutters. When held vertically by the photographer, the advance knob is at the top right and the viewfinder is at the middle left. The back is hinged to the left and has two red windows, protected by vertically sliding individual covers, to control film advance. There is a handle at the right end of the body, covering the back latch. The individual red window covers are the only visible difference with the preceding Semi Lester.
Evolution
Victor
The original Victor (ビクター) has a folding optical finder and no body release. The front leather is embossed VICTOR. In an advertisement by Motodori dated October 1937[2], the following variants are listed, all with a front-cell focusing lens and a variant of the Rulex shutter by Neumann & Heilemann:
- Deller Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens, Rulex D shutter, 25–150, B, T speeds (¥50);
- Deller Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens, Rulex B shutter, 5–150, B, T speeds (¥58);
- Deller Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, 1–200, B, T speeds (¥65);
- Quick[3] Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, 1–200, B, T speeds (¥78).
The versions with Deller lens are called the popular edition (大衆版). The Deller name has been observed on the lens engravings of a Semi Victor with Rulex D shutter and of a New Semi Condor with Koho shutter, but it is consistently written derutā (デルター) in the advertisements and McKeown gives both Delter and Deltar, perhaps by mistake.[4]
Semi Victor
In later advertisements by Victor Camera Works dated June 1938[5] and September 1938[6], the camera is called Semi Victor (セミビクター) and the Victor Six is announced as coming soon. The list of variants has the following addition:
- Quick Anastigmat 75/2.9 lens, Rulex A shutter, 1–200, B, T speeds (¥95).
In one of the advertisements, the camera is presented together with the Auto Victor rigid model.
Victor Six and Semi Victor with body release
The Victor Six (ビクターシックス), announced in 1938, was not released until 1939.[7], is a 6×6 version with a body release. The front leather embossed VICTOR SIX. Two versions exist, one has red window advance like the Semi Victor, the other has an auto-stop film advance device with an exposure counter. This device is externally similar to the one mounted on the Plaubel rollfilm backs and on the Roll-Op II camera.
The Semi Victor received a body release at the beginning of 1939, together with the introduction of the Victor Six.[8] In an advertisement dated January 1939[9], the following list of models is offered:
| body version | Semi Victor | Victor Six without exposure counter |
Victor Six with exposure counter |
| lens and shutter | |||
| Deller Anastigmat 75/4.5, Rulex B |
¥63 | ¥65 | ¥70 |
| Deller Anastigmat 75/4.5, Rulex A |
¥70 | ¥73 | ¥78 |
| Quick Anastigmat 75/3.5, Rulex A |
¥83 | ¥85 | ¥90 |
In mid 1939, the Victor folders were replaced by the similar Condor folders. However a "Semi Victor II" is said to be advertised by Ueno Shōten in the October 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, with an Adler f/4.5 lens and a Rulex B shutter.[10] The lens name could indicate that there is a relationship with some of the Adler models by Riken.
McKeown also reports a "Victor" with a rigid optical finder, having a "Delter" f/4.5 lens and T, B, 5–250 shutter.[11] This variant has not been observed yet.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 84.
- ↑ Name inferred from the katakana クイック appearing in later advertisements and in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339. The October 1937 advertisement reads クツク, a probable typo.
- ↑ Both cameras observed in Yahoo Japan auctions. McKeown gives Delter for the Victor, p. 945, and Deltar for the New Semi Condor, p. 738.
- ↑ Advertisement published in the 8 June 1938 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Gochamaze website, and advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 85.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339, mentions advertisements in Asahi Camera between March to September 1938, but even this last one only mentions the camera as soon available.
- ↑ Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 84.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 339.
- ↑ McKeown, p. 945.
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 188–9 and 191. (See also the advertisement for item 190.)
- 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. 945.
Links
In Japanese:
- Advertisement published in the 8 June 1938 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the camera company page of the Gochamaze website
