Canon 1950 importance/history
Canon 1950 importance/history
Thanks to all of you who have so far contributed to this thread. I'll try to catch up!
First, the camera thought to be a Canon 1950
IS a Canon 1950. I've already been in touch with the owner on that one.
Second, as stated (maybe not clearly enough?) in my article in Shutterbug last year, my chapter on the 1950s in the "Canon RF Cameras" book has become outdated; that article in Shutterbug was intended to update the chapter. It turns out that Canon 1950s were not all Canon IV types; there were also some Canon III types made withing that 200-camera serial range. And since only about 50 of the Canon IV-types were imported to the US through Skinner, the remaining 150 examples of the 1950 cameras don't have the reference on the baseplate about being serviced in San Francisco. Thus the "Skinner Camera" is simply one subset of the Canon 1950s; the others are, so to speak, the "Non-Skinner 1950 Model IV" and the "1950 Model III".
Sometime near the end of 1950 the Canon IIB construction was changed. The most obvious sign of this, as my book explains, was the new position of the top cover retaining screw below the accessory shoe: centered now instead of offset. But since a lot of IIB internal parts hadn't yet been used up, Canon continued to produce the new form of IIB simultaneously with the more "modern" IIC for at least another year. It was these late IIB versions that Skinner sold during the years beginning in 1950: he
DEFINITELY was not an official Canon outlet before 1950, and didn't advertise Canons till the 1950 Model IV was in his hands. So far as I can tell, in fact, there exist more of the late IIBs than the IICs.
The 1950 models were
IMPORTANT because they introduced a new shutter mechanism, an improved rangefinder mechanism, and other improvements. The take-up spool with extendable tip came a year or so later. But all the Canons produced until 1955-56 were essentially one or another version or slight improvement of the Models III and IV, whose prototypes are to be found within that batch of serials between 50,000 and 52,000. The first major change afterward was the further-improved shutter found in the "-2" models of 1955-56.
I hope all this helps!
Peter
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burninfilm said:
Hello. I am very interested in hearing your explanation of what makes the “Skinner Canon IV-1950" cameras such an important part of Canon history. You stated in an article that this series of cameras was the first to be "designated particularly for the western markeplace" (Shutterbug, February 2006,
http://www.shutterbug.net/equipmentreviews/35mm_cameras/0206classic/index1.html). Furthermore, you go on to state in the same article that previous sales of Canon cameras were mainly conducted through the PX system. However, in sources from 1950 and 1951, one can find references from the Skinner company to imported IIB cameras before the introduction of the “Skinner Canon IV-1950", showing that there likely was a large amount of Canon cameras sold through an official western distributor before the 1951 introduction of the Canon IIC (the name Skinner applied at first to early Canon IV type cameras).
Thank you for your time.
