Aires

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Aires — in Japanese アイレス Airesu (like "eye-rescue" minus the "cue"); more fully K.K. Aires Shashinki Seisakusho (㈱アイレス写真機製作所) — was a Japanese manufacturer of a number of 35mm and roll film cameras. It was based in Tokyo.[1]

As Yallu Optical Co., Ltd. (ヤルー光学, Yarū Kōgaku), the company started in 1949 to produce the Yallu Flex, a 35mm TLR influenced by the Zeiss Contaflex. The Yallu Flex was ingeniously and elegantly designed and was well equipped and appealingly advertised, but in the end it was never offered for sale. About fifty were produced.

Later cameras bore the name Aires.

In February 1956, a fire broke out at Factory No. 1, which was the camera assembly department, when a young worker fell over near a stove while holding a solvent. The first factory was completely destroyed by fire. The company immediately considered alternative locations and moved to a four-story former warehouse and factory at 1-437 Nishi-Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, where an inauguration ceremony was held in July 1956. Production capacity was fully restored with the introduction of conveyor belts. The company then designed and launched the Aires 35V, a camera with interchangeable lens, which met all the needs of users at the time, but it did not sell well.Thereafter, the company launched new products one after another, but was unable to continue business. However, the company went bankrupt in July 1960 and was subjected to the Corporate Reorganization Law.

Lens

Coral

Aires' leading lens brand. It was manufactured by Showa Koki, a subsidiary of Aires.

Lenses stamped "Showakoki Coral" were manufactured before the company became part of Aires, while those stamped "Aires Coral" were anufactured after Showakoki became part of Aires.

Nikkor

A well-known representative lens of Nikon.

It was used for the Aires Automat, Airesflex Z, and their derivatives. Aires is the only company that produced a TLR with Nikkor.

Excelsior

A brand of lenses reportedly manufactured by Fujita kogaku.

It was used only for the Airesreflex Y series.

Zuiko

Zuiko is the Olympus brand of lenses.

It was used in the Airesflex U, Aires Automat, and Airesflex Z. In some aspects, Zuiko was installed as a substitute for Nikkor lenses used in Aires Automat and Airesflex Z due to the unstable supply of Nikkor lenses.

Camera

35mm film


120 film

6×6 TLR

6×6 folding


Accessory

Filter

Aires claimed to use organic dyes for their products, which are of the same high quality as Lens and to the highest quality. Around 1957-1958, when the Aires35 iiiC was sold, there were 12 different Lens Filters available.

Aires Filter[2][3]
Name Wratten numbers Color Exposure Factor
AIRES HAZE (SL 39 C) UV Colorless ×1
Aires LIGHT YELLOW (SY 44C) 3 Light Yellow ×1.5
AIRES YELLOW (SY48 C) K2 Yellow ×2
AIRES ORANGE (SO 56 C) G Orange ×3
AIRES RED (DR 60 C) 25A Light Red ×6
AIRES GREEN (SG 55C) X-1 Light Green ×2
AIRES SKYLIGHT 1A Light Pink ×1
Aires CLOUDY 81B Slightly VBrown ×1.5
Aires TYPE F 81C Brown ×2
Aires TYPE A 85 Brown ×2
Aires FLASH B-7 80F Light Blue ×2.5
Aires FLOOD 80A Blue ×3

Notes

  1. Its address from 1951 to early 1956 was Tōkyō-to Toshima-ku Takada-minami-machi 3–797 (東京都豊島区高田南町3–797), from late 1956 to 1959 it was Tōkyō-to Shinjuku-ku Nishi-Ōkubo 1–437 (東京都新宿区西大久保1–437). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 113–4 and 216–8.
  2. This table is based on an instruction manual for the Aires Filter, circa 1957-1958. Names and variations may vary depending on the year and month of manufacture.
  3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/198409834@N02/53113045586//in/pool-camerawiki

Bibliography

Links

In English and Italian:

In Japanese:

  • Camera stories 1: Aires cameras (at the bottom of the page) at Japan Family Camera
  • magazine 『Classic Camera Special No.22, All About Aires / The World of Atom-format Cameras』pp.4-7「All About Aires」,『クラシックカメラ専科No.22、アイレスのすべて/アトム判カメラの世界』pp.4-7「アイレスのすべて」

In French :