Kinsi

The Kinsi (キンシ) is a 3×4 strut folding camera, made by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now Ricoh) from 1941 to c.1943. It was produced in Riken's Ōji plant.

See also the Semi Kinsi, a 4.5×6 bakelite camera, variant of the New Olympic II.

Name

The name Kinsi (pronounced kinshi) can be written 金鵄, then meaning "golden kite". Sugiyama says that the name comes from the Kinshi kunshō (金鵄勲章) or "Order of the Golden Kite", a Japanese military award. Riken used many such "patriotic" names at the time. In all the advertisements observed, the name is written in katakana: キンシ. On the camera itself, it is written "Kinsi".

Description

The Kinsi is a strut folding camera, inspired by the Dolly 3×4 camera made by the German company Certo. The camera has a folding optical finder in the middle of the top plate, and the advance knob is on the left, as seen by the photographer. The front standard is opened by a button on the right of the viewfinder, easily confused for a shutter release. There is a folding leg, allowing the camera to stand vertically on a table. The name Kinsi is embossed in the front leather. The back is hinged to the left and retained by a sliding button on the right. It contains two uncovered red windows to control the film advance.

The shutter is an everset Licht, made by Seikōsha, providing 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds. This variant of the Licht shutter has a thread and needle release device (a crude replacement for a self-timer). The lens is a front-cell focusing Kinsi Anastigmat 5cm f/4.5. It has three elements and was made by Riken. Lens numbers are known with five digits; they are mostly in the 10xxx to 16xxx range, but at least one example perhaps has a number in the 20xxx range.

Advertisements and other documents

The Kinsi was announced in advertisements for the Olympic Four dated March and April 1940, together with the Gaica and Roico. In these documents, the camera is only announced for future release (予告); no price is indicated and no picture is provided.

Advertisement by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō in Asahi Camera April 1940. The Kinsi is mentioned among other future cameras. (Image rights)

The camera appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and in January 1941, under the name "Kinsi I" (¥48). Pictures of the Kinsi are displayed in advertisements dated January and February 1941 for the Riken camera range, with no further detail.

Advertisement by Doi Shōten in Asahi Camera April 1941. The Kinsi I appears at the top. (Image rights)

In advertisements dated February and April 1941, the camera is described as Kinsi I (キンシⅠ型), and offered for ¥48 (case ¥5.70 extra). Advertisements dated March, October and November 1942, show the higher price of ¥56.80.

The camera still appears in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production, again under the name "Kinsi I". There is no record of a Kinsi II.

Pictures

Kinsi I, Kinsi Anastigmat 5cm f/4.5 lens no.15662. Pictures courtesy of Bruce Benedict. (Image rights)

Bibliography

Original documents

• Asahi Camera. Advertisement by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō in April 1940, p.A86.
• Asahi Camera. Advertisement by Doi Shōten in April 1941, p.509.
• "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 165.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 1, section 4B.

Recent sources

• Arimura Katsumi (有村克巳). "Rikō Ryakushi" (リコー略史, Ricoh short history). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.6–7.
• 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 70. (See also the advertisements for items 47 and 323–4.)
• Fujishima Kōichi (藤島広一). "Shattā ni yoru nendai shibetsu" (シャッターによる年代識別, Dating a camera from its shutter). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.8, September 1986. No ISBN number. Supuringu kamera (スプリングカメラ, special issue on spring cameras). Pp.21–4. (Contains a picture of a Kinsi but no other detail.)
• 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.828.
• Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.25.
• 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 1076.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.8–11.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Senzen no kamera 2: Supuringu kamera" (戦前のカメラ2・スプリングカメラ, Prewar cameras 2: folding cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.16–9.

Links

In Japanese:

• Pages of the Ricoh official website:
  • Kinsi in the camera list (copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum)
  • article about wartime camera names
• Pages at Asacame:
  • Riken 127 film cameras
  • Page with a Kinsi in the A-Z 127 film cameras
• Prewar Japanese 127 camera page including the Kinsi, and a page about the thread-and-pin selftimer at Nekosan's site (with some English)
• Kinsi in the Kitamura Camera Museum
• Advertisements reproduced in the Japanese camera page, the small format camera page and the camera company page of the Gochamaze website:
  • Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the January 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the February 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Kinsi I and Olympic Four published in the April 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Kinsi I published in the 18 November 1942 issue of Asahi Graph