The Baby Colon is a Japanese subminiature taking 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm.
Description[]
The Baby Colon has a vertical shape, just like a miniature movie camera. There is a long tubular finder sunken at the top. The camera is identified by a COLON nameplate attached below the viewfinder's window.
The left side of the camera is removable for film loading, and certainly supports an accessory shoe.[1] The film is advanced by a crank on the photographer's right, and there is a red window on the back, certainly protected by a cover sliding upwards.[1]
The lens is fixed-focus and has no marking. It reportedly has f/7 maximal aperture, and certainly provides some telephoto effect, given the camera's overall length. A sort of knob is visible under the lens, perhaps used to adjust the aperture.
The everset shutter is certainly tripped by the button visible on the right side, near the bottom. Another control is visible on the same side, below the advance crank, certainly used to switch between Bulb and Instant exposures.[2]
Commercial life[]
The Baby Colon was sold in a colourful box, inscribed Baby Colon and 14mm (an allusion to the exposure size 14×14mm).[3] A picture showing the original user manual is shown here at Submin.com. The document is almost entirely illegible, but shows the camera name "Baby Colon" (ベビーコロン) and the company name Mikado Shōkai, certainly the distributor. The pictures of the manual seem to indicate that the camera was supplied with a zipped pouch, a lens hood, and perhaps another accessory.
The date is given as c.1950 in Sugiyama,[4] but the camera looks a little later, perhaps from the mid-1950s. It might be distantly related to the Jenic, which shows some similarities in the shape and in the control layout.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pictures in this page at Submin.com, showing the camera and user manual.
- ↑ B and I: Sugiyama, item 5025.
- ↑ Box pictured in this page at Submin.com.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 5025.
Bibliography[]
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 5025.
The Colon is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
Links[]
In English:
- Baby Colon at Submin.com
- Brief mention among 17.5mm film cameras at Subclub.org