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Japanese Baby (3×4) and Four (4×4) (edit)
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The Baby Sport (ベビースポーツ) is a Japanese camera taking 3×4cm pictures on 127 film. It is mainly known from an advertisement in the June 1932 issue of Asahi Camera, placed by the distributor Ōhashi Shashinki-ten. In this document, the name is written in katakana script only, and the Roman name "Baby Sport" is hypothetical.[1]

Context[]

The Baby Sport seems crudely made and was very inexpensive: the price is given as ¥3 in the June 1932 advertisement, and the camera is described as "for young boys, young girls and beginners".[2] It is however notable for being the second known Japanese camera specifically made for 3×4cm exposures, predating the Baby Pearl by at least two years, and only preceded by the Light sold in 1929 by the same company.

Description[]

The Baby Sport has a brick-shaped body and a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The viewfinder is a simple wireframe hinged at the front, with a retracting eyepiece on the rear. The film is advanced by a knob at the top left, as seen by the photographer. It is not clear if the back is removable or if it has a hinge on the right.

The lens is a meniscus; the shutter has Time[3] and Instant settings and the release lever is on the shutter casing itself. Markings are visible on the shutter plate, but they are illegible in the only available picture.

Notes[]

  1. The camera is called "Baby Sports" in Lewis, p.43, but the Japanese word supōtsu (スポーツ) may as well correspond to "Sport" in the singular.
  2. Advertisement in Asahi Camera June 1932, p.A15.
  3. The advertisement has teiji 定時, probably meaning "Time", but it can conceivably mean "Bulb" exposures.

Bibliography[]

The camera is not mentioned in Sugiyama.

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