Lanjian Saomiao She Ying Yi 950 SM
The Lanjian Saomiao She Ying Yi 950 SM is a panoramic camera for images 90x300mm images[1] on roll film ('950 aero film' according to the auctioneer's notes at Westlicht; this is presumably 9.5 cm wide).[2]
The camera was made in China in about 1970,[2] and is a copy of the Kodak Panoram cameras of the early 20th century. It uses a swinging lens to cover the wide frame, and has two effective shutter speeds, 1/60 and 1/125 second.[1] It has a 135mm lens, with a fixed yellow filter in the example shown at Westlicht.[2]
The camera body is made from bakelite, with an aluminised (or silver-painted) front, making it look rather like a transistor radio of its period.
There is a folding reflex viewfinder above the lens. On the underside/back of the cover of this is printed the maker, the only obvious Chinese characters on the camera: '天津巿照相器村厂' (Tianjin City Camera Factory). In the same unit as the viewfinder is the shutter-speed selector; it seems likely that setting this also tensions the shutter. Also on the top are the film-advance knob, on the front right corner, and a shutter-release button, with a cable socket. There is a red window in the back of the camera. There is a cover over the lens, which folds down for use (it serves no function as a lens-bed; it is just a cover). The front of the cover is impressed with 'Lanjian' and a logo comprising the capitals L and J around a small triangle. Below the cover, the body is impressed 'Lanjian Saomiao She Ying Yi'. 'Lanjian' might be '蓝尖', meaning 'blue tip'. 'Saomiao' might be '扫描' (scanning), and 'She Ying Yi' might be '摄影 仪', 'photographic instrument'. There is of course a tripod bush in the base.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The notes at Westlicht (cited below) state that the camera makes images 90x300 or 90x160mm; presumably the two image-widths correspond to the two shutter speeds; the photo of the control for setting the speed suggests this.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lanjian Saomiao camera sold at the 31st Westlicht Photographica Auction (now Leitz Photographica Auction), June 2017; several excellent pictures of the camera.
Links
- Second example of the camera with leather case, offered for sale at the 39th Leitz Photographica Auction, on 20 November 2021.
- Lanjian Saomiao 950 SM at Cameras Downunder. The notes here give the frame size as 8x29cm, but also date the camera to 1938, which is surely a mistake. There is one picture of the camera, which has the decorative badge on the viewfinder cover, missing in the example at Westlicht. This example also has the yellow filter. The instruction leaflet is with the camera: the front includes the text '天津照相器村厂' (as printed on the Westlicht camera, but omitting the character for 'city').
