Walz

Walz was a Japanese camera maker or distributor. The first camera with the name Walz appeared in 1936, distributed by Nihon Shōkai and made by Walz Camera Works (ワルツカメラ・ウオークス) or Walz Works (ワルツウオークス). This maker is identified as Okada Kōgaku by Kokusan kamera no rekishi.

The company K.K. Walz Shōkai (株式会社ワルツ商会) was founded in Dec 1952. Shōkai literally means "Company" in Japanese; but it is often used for trading companies, and this looks like a distributor's name. It does not mean however that it did not have its own manufacturing branch.

Walz sold cameras under its own name and was also an Olympus authorized dealer, at least in 1954. It went bankrupt in April 1961, according to The History of the Japanese Camera.

Walz also sold many accessories, including filters, self-timers, exposure meters, rangefinders, multifocal finders (including a copy of the Leitz Imarect), flash units, movie editors, etc.

A post at a Japanese forum indicates that Walz's president was Ōta Toshio (太田俊夫), and that he wrote a novel titled Keikaku Tōsan (計画倒産, Fake Bankruptcy) about the business world of the time.

120 film cameras

4.5×6 folder

• Walcon Semi

6×6 folder

• Walcon 6

6×6 TLR

• Wagoflex
• Walzflex, various models

127 film cameras

• Walz (original)
• Walz Automat 44

35mm film cameras

• Walz 35
• Walz 35-S
• Walz Electric
• Walz Envoy 35
• Walz Envoy M-35
• Walz Wide

References / further reading

• 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.
• Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard).

Links

In English:

• A post by Peter Evans at photo.net and another one by J Hopper both discuss Walz, Okada, Waltax, Walcon and so on (to be explored)
• The Walz Envoy 35 page, in English and in Japanese at Mediajoy Classic Cameras, follow the "Next" links at bottom of the page to get an illustrated sequence of operations.

In Japanese:

• The Walz 35, the Walz Envoy 35 and the Walz Electric 2.8, all with sample pictures and some with restore tips, at K.Fukushi's Rangefinder website
• A-Z 35mm rangefinder cameras at Asacame, with the Walz Wide on this page
• The Walz 35 page in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Advertisement for the Walcon and Walzflex in a page of Japanese advertisements, mostly from 1954, the advertisement also states that Walz was an Olympus dealer
• The history page of the coffee company Waltz (ワルツ株式会社), that is apparently an offshoot of Walz Shōkai. This page gives the Dec. 1952 founding date.
• This Walzflex page at La Chambre Claire suggests that Nihon Shōkai was the owner of the Walz brand name before the war, and became Walz Shōkai after the war.