The Tsubame is a Japanese subminiature camera made in the late 1940s or early 1950s by an unknown company, and only known from an entry in Sugiyama.[1]
Description[]
The Tsubame takes 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm. It is slightly better than the average Hit-type camera, and has some strange features. It has a waist-level finder only, contained in the middle of the top housing, and no direct vision finder. There is a body release on the right of the viewfinder (as seen by the photographer), an unusual feature on Hit-type models.
The film is advanced by a knob on the left, with numbers engraved at the top, certainly a crude form of exposure counter. It is not known if there is a red window on the back or if the frame spacing relies on these numbers only. The back is probably hinged to the left, and there is a spring-loaded latch on the right. The leatherette covering is clear-coloured and has a decorative pattern.
The lens is a fixed-focus Tsubame Anastigmat 20mm f/4.5, and the aperture is reportedly adjustable from 4.5 to 9. The shutter has B, 100, 50, 25 speeds selected by turning the rim.
Documents[]
No document mentioning the Tsubame has been found, and the only example known so far is pictured in Sugiyama.[2] This book gives the name "Tsubame" (meaning "swallow" in Japanese) but it is unconfirmed: in the picture, no marking is visible except for the lens name.
Various sources describe a "Swallow" subminiature with a waist-level finder only, whose features exactly correspond to the Tsubame.[3] None provides a picture, and they might make a confusion with the English translation provided in Sugiyama for "Tsubame".
Notes[]
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 5154.
- ↑ Sugiyama, item 5154.
- ↑ See this page at Subclub.org and this page at Submin.com.
Bibliography[]
- 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 5154.
The Tsubame is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
Links[]
In English:
- Swallow among 17.5mm cameras at Subclub.org, mentioning a version with a waist-level finder only, perhaps corresponding to the Tsubame
- Swallow at Submin.com, mentioning a version with a waist-level finder only, perhaps corresponding to the Tsubame