Template:Japanese prewar and wartime 6×6 TLR The Kiko Flex (キコーフレックス) is a Japanese 6×6 TLR, made by Kigawa Seimitsu and distributed by Kikō Shōji in 1943.[1]
Description[]
The Kiko Flex is a copy of the 1936 Rolleicord models. The focusing is done by moving the front plate back and forth. The film advance is probably semi-automatic. The focusing and film advance knobs are on the photographer's right, and there is a round window at the top of the right-hand side plate, certainly for an exposure counter. The focusing knob is surrounded by a depth-of-field plate. There is a button underneath, which is certainly the shutter release. It seems that there is a lever on the right-hand side of the viewing hood, perhaps releasing a mirror for eye-level reflex viewing.
The nameplate is shaped like the nameplate of the early Rolleicord and is inscribed KIKO FLEX in capital letters.
Advertisements and other documents[]
The Kiko Flex was offered for ¥305 in an advertisement dated July 1943.[2] The lens was announced as an Erinar 75/3.5 and the shutter as a Kikō Compur[3] giving 1–300 speeds.
The camera was also mentioned in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943.[4] This time the lens was given as a three-element Kiko (キコー) 75/3.5 made by Kigawa and the shutter as a Comex (コメックス) giving T, B, 1–300 speeds, made by an unknown manufacturer.[5]
It seems that no surviving example has surfaced yet.
Notes[]
- ↑ Date: advertisements listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.335.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Shashin Bunka, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.66.
- ↑ Roman version inferred from the katakana キコーコンパー.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 124.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Lb8, shutter item 18-Q-5.
Bibliography[]
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Item 58.
- "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Item 124.
The Kiko Flex is not listed in Sugiyama.