Well Standard
The Well are Japanese cameras made by Nihon Kōki between 1939 and 1942 and distributed by Misuzu Shōkai.
Well Standard
Template:127 Japan The Well Standard (ウエルスタンダード) takes ten 4×5cm pictures on 127 film. It was made between 1939 and 1942. At the beginning, between 1939 and 1941, it was only called Well (ウエル).
It was meant to imitate the luxury 35mm rangefinder it was not. It only has a direct vision finder and a brilliant finder, one on each side of the top housing, thus showing two windows like a rangefinder. There is an accessory shoe between the two finders.
To confuse you even more, it has two knobs, at each end of the top plate. The right knob is a real one, and is used to advance the film. The left one is a fake rewind knob, because 127 film does not need to be rewound.
Under the advance knob is what looks like an exposure counter. In fact it is just another fake, an exposure counter of the crudest type: numbers engraved in the rotating knob. It is not possible to use the traditional red window advance because the 127 film paperback is not marked for this unusual 4×5cm format. A serious maker would have made an automatic stop advance device, that equips almost all other Japanese 4×4cm and 4×5cm cameras of the time. But not Nihon Kōki: to advance one exposue, you have to manually stop turning when the correct number is facing an index. There is just one red window, at the back's extreme left, for the first exposure. Irregular spacing is probably frequent.
The lens and shutter housing are mounted on a telescopic tube. The Well is offered in 1940[1] with a Well Anastigmat f:4.5 lens and a shutter providing T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds, for ¥60. From 1941 the Well Standard is offered in three variants:
- Model I, with f:3.5 lens and a Well Rapid shutter (with selftimer, speeds said to be T, B, 1–500[2]), for ¥129;
- Model II, with f:4.5 lens and T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 shutter, for ¥71;
- Model III, with f:3.5 lens and T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 shutter, for ¥94.
The camera has been observed with a Well Anastigmat 65/4.5 lens (black face) and a T, B, 25–150 shutter, engraved Well Standard Model 1 and N.K.K. on the top housing (sold by a Japanese dealer, see also here at Asacame).
There were probably other models, differing by the lens and shutter equipment. It has been reported with a Well Anastigmat 60/3.5 lens (focal length seems dubious) and a Well Rapid 1–500 shutter by a Russian dealer. It is also pictured in McKeown with a Well Anastigmat 65/3.5 lens (white face) and a T, B, 1–500 shutter marked WELL something, maybe WELL RAPID. In that case, the top housing has no marking, and it is probably not a Model 1.
Well Super
The Well Super (ウエルスーパー) was a very similar camera, taking 4.5×6cm pictures on 120 film. It appears on a wartime advertisement (published at this page). It looked very similar, except the top housing extended somewhat under the fake rewind knob. On the front of the top housing, it was marked ウエル ("Well" in katakana writing), and on the top it was marked Well Super, 4.5x6 and something else, maybe a NKK logo (as observed in a Yahoo Japan auction). The advance knob had the same shape as the Well Standard, with the same crude exposure counter. There is only one red window in the back, with a sliding cover.
Three models were advertised, all with a Well Anastigmat lens, focal unknown:
- Well Super I, with 4.5 lens and T, B, 25–150 shutter (¥88)
- Well Super II, with 4.5 lens and T, B, 1–300 shutter (¥111), probably the model observed, with the shutter rim marked SUPER-WELL
- Well Super IIB, with 3.5 lens and T, B, 1–300 shutter (¥129)
The case was sold for an extra ¥8.35. There was a short mention of the Well Standard in the ad. The only company name mentioned was Misuzu Shōkai, surely the distributor's name. There was no mention of Nihon Kōki.
Notes
- ↑ Advertisement for the Well, published in the April 1940 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 25.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
Printed 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 25–7.
- 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. 721.
