Chrome Dax
The Chrome Dax[1] is a Japanese camera using 35mm film, distributed in 1937 by Dax Shōkai. It is only known from an advertisement for the Chrome Dax II (クローム・ダックスⅡ型) dated December 1937 and reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.[2] No mention of the model I has ever been found.
Contents
Description of the body
The Chrome Dax II has a rounded body with strap lugs at both ends. There is a top housing containing an eye-level finder. The advance knob is at the top right at it seems that the exposure counter is to the left of the viewfinder. A button is visible on the left, perhaps the body release.
Lens and shutter
The lens is a collapsible Nagel[3] Anastigmat 50/4.5 and the shutter is a Nagel[3] giving T, B, 20, 40, 75, 120 speeds. It seems that the shutter is not an usual leaf shutter. A knob is visible to the right of the lens, perhaps used to select the shutter speeds.
Distributor and price
The advertisement only mentions the company Dax Shōkai, and says that authorized dealers were wanted (特約店募集). The price was ¥70, case ¥7 extra.
No surviving example of the Chrome Dax has been observed so far, and it is not known if the camera was actually sold.
Notes
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 337, calls the camera "Chrome Ducks". The correct Roman spelling is unknown, but "Dax" seems more plausible from the katakana ダックス.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Ars Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 78.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Inferred from the katakana ナーゲル.
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. Item 140.
This camera is not listed in Sugiyama.
