The Highking Camera and Special Camera are Japanese cameras taking 3×4cm exposures and using the no-need-darkroom process.
See also the Special Camera plate folder.
Description[]
From what appears in the available pictures, the Highking Camera and Special Camera are identical but for the markings on the shutter plate and another minor detail. They are shaped as roll-film folding camera with rounded ends and a handle at the top. The body and the folding bed are made of wood. The standing leg also acts as a latch for the folding bed. The front standard is manually pulled out of the body and slid back and forth by hand on two rails for focusing. There is a distance scale and a brilliant finder on the photographer's left. Prominent metal fittings are visible on the body edges, with two characteristic stripes running on each body side and joining the front and rear body edges.
Special Camera[]
The Special Camera is known from two examples, pictured in Sugiyama and in McKeown.[1] The shutter plate is inscribed Special Camera at the top and MADE IN JAPAN at the bottom.
Highking Camera[]
The Highking Camera is known from a single example pictured in Sugiyama.[2] It has an additional metal strip riveted to the front of the body, above the opening of the folding bed. The shutter plate is inscribed Highking Camera at the top and MADE IN Y.S. CO. at the bottom. This is certainly why the camera is attributed to an otherwise unknown "Y.S. Co." in Sugiyama. The name originally intended for the camera was perhaps "Hiking Camera", and "Highking" is perhaps the result of a typo.
Notes[]
Bibliography[]
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P.899.
- 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. Items 4040 and 4071.