The Glico pistol camera is a Japanese subminiature shaped as a toy pistol, taking 10×14mm pictures on 16mm film in Minolta cassettes.
Description[]
The camera is rather a toy than a credible reproduction of a pistol. An eye-level viewfinder is integrated at the top. The film is advanced by a small knob on the photographer's right, and the advance is apparently manually controlled by watching the numbers engraved on the knob. The shutter is tripped by a trigger on the handgrip. There is a small selector on the right, below the viewfinder, switching between Bulb and Instant exposures. The lens is deeply recessed in a rectangular fairing at the front, imitating a pistol's nozzle. It has a fixed focus and aperture, and has no marking.
Origin[]
It is said that the Glico pistol camera was offered by the company Ezaki Glico, certainly together with some of its confectionery products.[1] The date is given as 1946 in Sugiyama,[1] but this is a sure mistake: the 16mm film Minolta cassettes were not yet produced at the time, and the camera looks much later, perhaps from the 1960s.
Notes[]
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 5115.
The Glico pistol camera is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
Links[]
In English:
- Brief mention of the Glico lighter camera among 16mm film cameras at Subclub.org
In Japanese:
- Glico pistol camera pictured among other toy cameras at the AJCC website