Walz
Walz was a Japanese camera maker or distributor.
Contents
History
First use of the name
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.[1]
Trading company
The company K.K. Walz Shōkai (㈱ワルツ商会) was already existing in November 1952.[2] It was based in Tokyo.[3] 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, perhaps called "Walz Camera Co." as indicated by some lens markings.
Walz sold cameras under its own name. It was also an Olympus authorized dealer, at least in 1954.[4] 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.
The company name became simply K.K. Walz (㈱ワルツ) at some date between October 1955 and August 1956.[5] In 1960 and 1961 it had offices in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Washington D.C.[6] It went bankrupt in April 1961.[7]
Miscellaneous
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.
A company called Waltz K.K. (ワルツ㈱) exists today (2007) and sells coffee. It was founded in December 1952 in the town of Toyohashi. It is certainly not the same company that sold photographic products, that already existed in November 1952 and was based in Tokyo.[8]
120 film cameras
4.5×6 folder
6×6 folder
6×6 TLR
|
| (Image rights) |
127 film cameras
- Walz (3×4)
- Walz Automat 44 (4×4 TLR)
- Walz Automat M44 (4×4 TLR)
35mm film cameras
- Walz 35
- Walz 35-S
- Walz Electric
- Walz Envoy 35
- Walz Envoy M-35
- Walz Wide
Notes
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.344 (item 346).
- ↑ Advertisement dated November 1952, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.214.
- ↑ Its address between 1952 and 1961 was Tōkyō-to Chūō-ku Nihonbashi Muromachi 1–16 (東京都中央区日本橋室町1–16). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.214–5 and 329–32.
- ↑ Advertisements dated 1954 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.215. See also this advertisement for the Walcon and Wagoflex reproduced in the Shashin-Bako website.
- ↑ Advertisements dated October 1955 and August 1956 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.215 and 329, showing the transition.
- ↑ Advertisements dated 1960 and 1961 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.330 and 332.
- ↑ Lewis, p.104.
- ↑ See the chronology of the current Waltz website.
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:
- 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 Wagoflex, published in 1954, reproduced in a page of Japanese postwar advertisements at the Shashin-Bako website
- 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.
