Camerapedia
Register
Advertisement

Yamasaki Kōgaku Kenkyūsho (山崎光学研究所, meaning Yamasaki Optical Laboratory) is a Japanese lens maker.

See also the company Yamasaki Seiki Seisakusho which made the Bonny cameras in the first half of the 1940s and is probably unrelated, and the Congo Camera taking no-need-darkroom film stock.

History

K. Yamasaki (山崎光七),[1] founder of the company, was a former employee of Asanuma Shōkai.[2] He opened a camera shop called Shūzandō Yamasaki Shōten (秀山堂山崎商店) in 1924 and worked in the shop's basement after business hours to develop a camera lens.[3] The result of this hard work was the Congo 210/4.5 lens released in 1931.[4] Yamasaki has used the name "Congo" (コンゴー, Kongō) for its lenses since that date. The Japanese word kongō (金剛) conveys the idea of indestructibility and is found as a compound in the word "diamond" (金剛石, kongōseki); however it is said that the lenses were actually named after the Japanese battleship Kongō (金剛, usually spelled "Kongo" in English contexts), built in Britain as a battle cruiser in 1911 and sunk in 1944,[5] itself named after the 1112m-high Mt Kongō (金剛山, Kongō-san) on the Ōsaka/Nara border.[6]

The company was incorporated as K.K. Yamasaki Kōgaku Kenkyūsho (㈱山崎光学研究所, Yamasaki Optical Co., Ltd.) in 1955.[7] It is based in Hino-shi, suburban Tokyo (山崎光学研究所) since 1972.[8] It has concentrated on lenses for large-format cameras.

Yamasaki seems to buck stereotypes about Japanese companies. It caters for a niche market, advertises little, and sells directly via mail and its website; the FAQ in its website answers just three questions, of which the first is of why the prices are so low.[9]

The Company has ceased operation after 89 years since its foundation in 1924. The official announcement can be seen on the Japanese version of the official website, the current 'representative director' (代表取締役) Keizo Yamasaki announced "due to the shutters for Congo lens has been discontinued, the Yamasaki Optical Co., Ltd. will cease operation from April 2013. (ユーザーの皆様には永い間お世話になり有難うございました。

このたび大判レンズ用のシャッターの製造が終了したため、弊社はレンズの製造ができなくなりました。

 平成25年4月末をもって営業を終了いたします。

株式会社 山崎光学研究所

                    代表取締役 山崎啓三)[10]". However this message is only displayed on the Japanese version of the website, the English version remains unchanged since 2009's last modification[11]. With the company ceasing operation the website also changed its domain to http://www.jck.net/congo/index.html, however it still exists and is accessible.

Cameras fitted with Congo lenses

Congo lenses

A prewar advertisement for the Congo lenses lists the following:[12]

  • 150/4.5 (¥42)
  • 180/4.5 (¥50)[13]
  • 210/4.5 (¥58)
  • 300/4.5 (¥135)
  • 210/6.3 (¥28)
  • 300/6.3 (¥75)

The catalogue by Asanuma Shōkai dated July 1938 mentions Congo f/4.5 four-element lenses and Congo f/6.3 triplet lenses lenses, along with a Wide-Angle Congo 12cm f/7 covering kabine format, advertised as the first Japanese wide-angle lens.[14]

The catalogue by Asanuma Shōkai dated October 1941 gives the following list of Congo lenses:[15]

  • 150/4.5, tefuda format, four elements (¥71.90);
  • 180/4.5, kabine format, four elements (¥84);
  • 210/4.5, kabine format, four elements (¥101.10);
  • 210/6.3, kabine format, three elements (¥41.65).


An advertisement by Yamasaki dated 1960 still mentions Asanuma Shōkai as authorized dealer and shows the following product lines:[16]

  • large format camera lenses, from 135mm to 300mm, 12 models
  • small format camera lenses, from 35mm to 150mm, 13 models
  • enlarging lenses, from 50mm to 135mm, 7 models
  • projection lenses for 8mm movies: 18/1.2, 19/1.6, 25/1.4

The current lens range (as of 2005) consists of:[17]

  • Commercial Congo 90/3.5 (6×9cm)
  • Commercial Congo 105/4.5 (6×9cm)
  • Commercial Congo 135/4.7 (3×4")
  • Commercial Congo 135/4.7 (4×5")
  • Commercial Congo 150/4.5 (4×5")
  • Commercial Congo 150/6.3 (4×5")
  • Commercial Congo 180/6.8 (5×7")
  • Commercial Congo 210/6.3 (5×7")
  • Commercial Congo 240/6.3 (5×7")
  • Commercial Congo 250/6.3 (6×8")
  • Commercial Congo 300/6.3 (8×10")
  • Commercial Congo 360/6.8 (10×12")
  • Tele-Congo 300/8 (4×5")
  • Tele-Congo 400/8 (4×5")
  • Tele-Congo 500/9.5 (4×5")
  • Wide Angle Congo 90/6.3 (4×5")
  • Wide Angle Congo 120/6.3 (5×7")
  • Soft Focus Congo 150/4 (4×5")
  • Soft Focus Congo 200/4 (Cabinet size)
  • Alto-W 180/5.6 (5×7")
  • Alto-W 210/5.6 (6×8")

Notes

  1. The first name perhaps reads Kōichi. See Baird, p.59.
  2. Yamasaki history page; Inoue, p.130; Baird, p.59.
  3. Name of the shop: Inoue, p.130. 1924 date: Yamasaki history page and Baird, p.59. Working after office hours in the basement: Inoue, p.130; Baird, p.59.
  4. Yamasaki history page; Inoue, p.130. Baird, p.59, says 1932.
  5. Niimi, p.102; Inoue, p.130.
  6. See this page about the battleship.
  7. Yamasaki history page.
  8. Yamasaki history page.
  9. Yamasaki Optical FAQ.
  10. http://www.jck.net/congo/index.html
  11. http://www.jck.net/congo/index_e.html
  12. Advertisement by Asanuma Shōkai for the Congo lenses, reproduced in Inoue, p.130.
  13. Seen in Jan. 2011 in a Japanese online auction with sn 13237 (part of an Asanuma kabine-format camera).
  14. Catalogue by Asanuma Shōkai dated July 1938, p.10.
  15. Catalogue by Asanuma Shōkai, dated October 1941, p.16. The number of elements is mentioned on p.7.
  16. Advertisement published in Asahi Camera Annual '60.
  17. Congo lens specifications in the Yamasaki official website.

Sources / Further reading

Links

In English:

In Japanese:

Advertisement