Waltax
The Waltax is a series of Japanese 4.5×6 folders, whose body is copied from the Ikonta A. Some of them were made by Okada, and some sources[1] say that other Waltax cameras were made by Daiichi.
The first Waltax model has a folding optical finder and a key to wind the film.
Wartime advertisements for the Waltax[2] show a 4.5×6 folder copied on the Ikonta A, with a folding optical finder, offered for ¥185 (a case is sometimes offered for an extra ¥7.70). The two distributors are Nihon Shōkai and the wholesale branch of Honjō Shōkai (本庄商会卸部). Maybe the maker of the wartime Waltax was Nihon Shōkai, not Okada who was making the very similar Semi Okako at about the same time.
Another wartime ad, from the 3 Mar 1943 issue of Asahi Graph (visible here), showed a model with folding optical finder, offered with a Kolex Anastigmat 7cm/3.5 lens, said to be of Tessar type, and a Dabit Super 1–500, B, T shutter with body release. The price was ¥185, and the case cost an additional ¥7.70. The company names were the same as in the previous ad.
The ad's background was a map of Southeast Asia and it was announced that the Waltax was rapidly expanding in the Southern Coprosperity Sphere, a Japanese expression designating the Asian territories that they were occupying (南方共榮圏ニ躍進スルワルタックス).
Here is a list of variants as it appears in McKeown:
- Waltax (I) under Okada
- Waltax I under Daiichi, as all the following models
- Waltax Acme, with a rangefinder
- Waltax Junior, with top housing
- Waltax Senior, with top housing
Contents
Notes
- ↑ For example McKeown.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Waltax, published in the Apr 1942 issue of Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 345. — Advertisement for the Waltax, visible in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese ads by Toshio Inamura, originally published between 1942 and 1945. — Template:Gochamaze
Printed 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 345.
- 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). Pages 239 and 745.
Web sources
- Advertisement for the Waltax, visible in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese ads by Toshio Inamura, originally published between 1942 and 1945.
- Template:Gochamaze
Links
In French:
In Japanese:
In Chinese:
- Okako Waltax, one big picture
