T.Y.O.W.
The acronym T.Y.O.W. corresponds to a Japanese lens maker based in Tokyo, Yamazaki Kōgaku Shashin Renzu Kenkyūsho (山崎光学写真レンズ研究所). [1] It made Taiyo-Anastigmat barrel lenses for large format cameras. These are usually marked T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO–Anastigmat.[2] The brand name certainly comes from the word taiyō (太陽), which means "sun" in Japanese.[3]
The Taiyo lenses were already existing in 1941.[4] They were made by a relative of Mr. Yamasaki, founder of Yamasaki Kōgaku Kenkyūsho and maker of the Congo lenses.[5] [6]
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| Taiyo advertisement from Syasin Bunka (写真文化) May 1941. image by Inugami Mamoru (Image rights) |
List of known Taiyo-Anastigmat lenses (with varying inscriptions on the lens bezel [see footnotes]):
- 135mm f/4.5[7]
- 18cm f/4.5[8]
- 21cm f/4.5[9]
- 21cm f/6.3[10]
- 21cm f/6.8 (reported only)[11]
- 25cm f/4.5[12]
- 30cm f/6.3[13]
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T.Y.O.W. Taiyo Anastigmat 21cm f/4.5 (sn#3161) | ||||||||
Notes
- ↑ It probably stands for Taiyo Yamasaki Optical Works.
- ↑ Some lenses with higher serial numbers are marked "TOKYO TAIYO-ANASTIGMAT" with 'MADE IN JAPAN" on aperture ring (Source: FLICKR).
- ↑ See this disambiguation page for other uses of the name Taiyō.
- ↑ An advertisement by Kuwata in Asahi Camera April 1941 mentions the Taiyo as one of the lenses onto which one could attach the Bimagon wide-angle attachment.
- ↑ Taiyo-Anastigmat at Leica Virgin.
- ↑ Camera fan web site reported Yamazaki Kōgaku Shashin Renzu Kenkyūsho still working as a lens re-polishing factory in 2013.
- ↑ (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, September 2015)
- ↑ T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=18cm
sn#2566 (seen in an online auction, eBay, November 2016); - ↑ The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21cm sn#
sn#1382 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, July 2016); sn#3161 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann; sn#3177 online sale at sy916.net (2011);
sn#3863 (thaidphoto forum); sn#6973 Online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2016; sn#7202 (Russian site).
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21cm
sn#7162 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan March 2015) sn#23524 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan November 2016)
sn#29726 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan April 2015)
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
sn#1247 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, June 2015) sn#69138 (Source: FLICKR (August 2012), image since removed.
TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:4.5 F=21 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
sn#1195 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, August 2016) sn#11946 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, April 2015) - ↑ The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat sn#1353 Photographica Collection Dirk HR Spennemann
sn#5522 observed in an online auction (eBay August 2012), mounted on an Asanuma field camera;
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO Nº sn# TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=21 cm
sn# 7783 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2016) - ↑ Lens reported in this thread at mformat.com.
- ↑ Example observed in an online auction. See also Pleasure Classic lenses (in Japanese) and same site.
- ↑ The lens exists with a number of different inscriptions on the lens bezel:
T.Y.O.W. TOKYO TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=30 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
sn#3481 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, November 2015)
TAIYO-Anastigmat 1:6.3 F=30 cm MADE IN JAPAN Nº sn#
sn#10925 (seen in an online auction, Yahoo Japan, June 2015)
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera. Advertisement by Kuwata Shōkai in April 1941, p.512.
Links
In Japanese:
- Taiyo-Anastigmat at Leica Virgin
- Large-format Japanese camera reportedly having a Taiyo-Anastigmat 21cm f/4.5, at tinyslope.com
In Russian:
