K.K. Lustre Camera (㈱ラスターカメラ, Rasutā Kamera) was a Japanese camera maker in the mid-1950s. Its main address in early 1955 was Setagaya-ku Matsubara-chō (世田ヶ谷区松原町) 1–42 in Tokyo and the address of the plant was Shimoochiai (下落合) 353 in Yono (a city which was recently merged into Saitama).[1] The Tokyo address soon became the company's Tokyo service station, and the headquarters moved to the Yono address.[2] The company perhaps changed its name to Lustre Kōki K.K. (ラスター光機㈱) in 1956.[3]
The company made the Lustreflex TLR cameras and perhaps some versions of the Elegaflex and Echoflex. It also certainly made the Lustre and Lustre-Rapid shutters mounted on some of these cameras. The company's logo was the name Lustre written inside a doublet lens scheme.
It seems that the company was renamed Hara after its president Hara Giichi, at some time between 1958 and 1961, with a similar address: Shimoochiai 461 in Yono (Saitama); the Halma Flex, Halma Auto and Halma 44, as well as their Prinz and Tower name variants, are attributed to Hara, and all trace seems lost after 1964.[4] The full name was perhaps Hara Seisakusho, and the initials "H.S." are found on the accessory shoe of the Prinz Auto.[5]
Camera list[]
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Made by Lustre:
- Lustreflex
- Eleger Reflex and Elegaflex (first generation, semi-automatic second generation)
- Echoflex (semi-automatic)
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Made by Hara:
- Halma Flex, Prinz Flex and Prinz Auto
- Halma Auto
- Halma 44, Prinz 44 and Tower 44B
Other cameras equipped with a Lustre shutter:
- Poppy Six II (isolated example)
Notes[]
- ↑ Source: advertisements dated April and May 1955, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.204. The full address in Yono was Saitama-ken Kita-Adachi-gun Yono-chō Shimoochiai (埼玉県北足立郡与野町) 353.
- ↑ Source: advertisement dated June 1955 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.205.
- ↑ This name is given in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.413 (item 1749) for the Lustreflex M.
- ↑ All this is reported by Koji Namikawa in this page at tlr-cameras.com, based on documents about the camera inspections for export.
- ↑ The message by Koji Namikawa says "Hara Factory Ltd", perhaps a translation of "Hara Seisakusho".
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.
Links[]
In English:
- Halma and Prinz TLRs at Barry Toogood's tlr-cameras.com