The Lord IV A 35mm camera

[Stephen]

A lesser known Japanese 35mm camera from the mid 1950's, a Lord IV A camera, by Okaya Optic Co.

These are a bit unusual, they have features that are superior to other budget compact cameras made in Japan at the time, but they were a modestly priced camera.
.
It seems the factory owner was an enthusiast about cameras, and had the ambition to make a Leica clone, but never got around to it. The main models were all rangefinders, with a fixed semi wide lens, this model having a F3.5 40mm lens.

The oddities include a film cutter blade, like an Exakta reflex, and indicators that the shutter is set, by the release popping up with a red ring visible.

The other item is the re-wind crank, which is very sophisticated, folding away into the stem after use.

It has a two stroke film winding crank, and has double exposure allowed deliberately, with a separate button.

The interior is also very unusual, it is so well made! all the parts are precise, and all are blackened or painted black, locking nuts on shafts, and generally top engineering quality. the rangefinder is fully adjustable, both up and down as well as setting, and it very soundly made.

The lens appears to be their own production, marked "Highkor", a three element that works well, sharp and reasonable contrast. It has a button on the lens to allow a click stop to engage at the hyperfocal setting. The shutter is Seikosha MX.

It seems they stopped production in the general slump in the late 1950's in camera makers, but continued in making parts for others and until recently were making CCD elements for digital cameras.

Stephen.

[Berndt]

Interesting read and camera. Thanks for introducing this one here !!!

[daveh]

The strange thing about Lord is that the name had already been used by Tōkyō Kōgaku (Topcon as it was to become) in the late 1930s.

Interesting - love that rewind crank - thanks for posting.

[Stephen]

These Lords were, by the way, rarely seen in the UK, they, like most early Japanese post war productions came under the general import restrictions, (not just from Japan), brought in after the war.

This makes collecting Japanese a spot difficult in the UK.... till Ebay came along, before these makes only turned up in London Camera stores, usually purchased from tourists or US servicemen on a tour of duty in the US camps that were so common then.

The Government put a large import duty on after the restrictions eased in the mid 1950's, and they attracted high rate purchase tax. Cameras were definitely a very luxury item then, new ones had retail price maintenance, which set the retail price, no discounts or reductions. This lead to a large second-hand camera and lens market thriving, and kept many shops in business along with developing and printing.

To sell a cheap camera it had to be built cheaply, and this was not possible with UK made items, leading to poor designs from Coronet etc. The high taxes broke up the camera trade, and UK makers finally turned to importing the Japanese made cameras. A major player was Rank Photographic that imported Mamiya under the Rank Mamiya label, and the Stanley Kalms group, Dixons, who started discounts as well as importing low cost "own brands".

Ensign closed as they had not invested in new models, same with Kershaw, although AGI went on and are still in business.

Stephen.

[daveh]

Stephen, Lloydy worked for the Kalms group, if I remember correctly.

[Stephen]

Sept 23, 2012 9:30:08 GMT -5 daveh said:

The strange thing about Lord is that the name had already been used by Tōkyō Kōgaku (Topcon as it was to become) in the late 1930s.

Interesting - love that rewind crank - thanks for posting.

I think the name was chosen to sound part of Lordomat, the German make. Topcon were not alone, the are some Lord pre-war folding cameras from another Japanese maker, not Okaya Optical.

The rewind crank is nearly unique and must have been somewhat costly to make..........plus adding a film knife cutter.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

The film cutter, it is sharp! it was used to cut off film, but of course lacks the removable take up spool or double cassette needed....they lost the plot there!



and all metal interior, well made and solid.



Stephen.

[Stephen]

Better shot of three of the items, the metal transport parts, the film cutter blade at top, and the special double exposure button at the top right. This also disconnects the film counter.



Stephen.