The Planet is a Japanese 6×6cm folding camera, distributed in 1952–3 by Tsukada Shōji and Tōkō Shashin, and certainly made by Tōhō Kōgaku, the maker of the Toho Six.
Various accessories were offered around 1948 by Taiyōdō under the brand Planet, but these are certainly unrelated.
Description[]
The Planet Special Six I is a horizontal folder, with three-part folding struts inspired from the 6×6 Ikonta. Its main body is perhaps the same as on the Toho Six. The viewfinder is contained in the middle of the top housing, and the words Planet and SPECIAL SIX I are engraved above. There is an accessory shoe on the right, as seen by the photographer. The folding bed release is on the left, and the shutter release is at the usual location on the right.
The film is advanced by a knob at the left end of the top plate. The opposite side of the top plate has a smaller decorative flange. The back is hinged to the right and contains two red windows placed one above the other, protected by horizontally sliding individual covers. The upper red window is for 4.5×6cm exposures and the middle red window is for 6×6cm; the cover housings are accordingly engraved 4.5X6 and 6X6. The company name TOHOKOGAKU is embossed in the leather under the red windows.
The shutter is a synchronized TSK (B, 1–200, self-timer), perhaps having a PC socket. The lens is a front-cell focusing Planet 80/3.5, and the aperture scale is above the shutter housing.
Commercial life[]
The Planet was advertised from November 1952 to March 1953 in Ars Camera.[1] The November 1952 advertisement was placed by Tsukada Shōji, but the camera was reportedly also distributed by Tōkō Shashin.[2] The camera is listed as the "Planet" (プラネットカメラ) and is offered for ¥10,000 (case included). It is represented by a mere drawing, showing the TSK shutter and the lens name Planet Anastigmat. The only surviving example observed so far corresponds to this version, with the Planet Special Six I markings.[3]
The Planet was featured again in the August 1953 issue of Kohga Gekkan, this time under the name "Planet Six" and with an NKS shutter (B, 1–300).[4]
Notes[]
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.362.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.174. Tōkō Shashin: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.362.
- ↑ Example observed in an online auction.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.362.
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 778.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), ISBN 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.79 (brief mention only).
The Planet is not listed in Sugiyama.