Canon LTM Canon 6x6 on 120 film camera...yep there is one

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
byways...

byways...

Peter and Ian,
It's fascinating that there can be so many "nooks and crannies" involved in our hobby. I've been enjoying the fingerprint camera story, and the WWII interplay certainly adds a new potential to the saga.
Having too much free time, I can explore the various links with avid curiousity!
All my life, I've invested in the books involved in my field or my hobbies. I've never been dissapointed in the knowledge I've gained, or the byways I delved into in the hunt.
Peter, wouldn't a lens of this type be simple, and not requiring any of the exotic glass? From what I've gathered recently, there was a fair amount of glassmaking that was done in pre-war Japan, from the mid-20's or so.
At least, keep us informed of the developements as they unravel.

Harry
 
Just an interesting peripheral addition to the story, highlighting trade in photographica between Japan and Germany during the war... Dr Paul Wollf was the doyen of Leica photography. In it's various forms his book Meine Erfahrungen mit der Leica [ English trans. My First Ten Years With A Leica, 1935] had classic status. New versions were published in 1939 and 1942, and according to this online bibliography - http://www.imagere.com/paulwolff/paulwolffbibliography.htm - the material was shipped to Japan for republication. It's a reminder of just how important photography was in projecting the image of Germany -

Meine Erfahrungen mit der Leica, Neue Bearbeitung, Breidenstein Verlagsgesellschaft, Frankfurt, 1939. Hard cover, dust jacket. 178 gravure photos, including 4 color shots by Dr. Wolff. A totally new book than the similarly-titled 1934 publication. According to the researches of Shoichiro "Fritz" Takeda, the existence of an edition in Japanese of this 1939 Meine Erfahrungen was confirmed, then obtained. It was published divided into two separate books, the first being Leica Shashin (Leica Photography) published in 1941 by Bancho Shobo. This publisher is an affiliate of Schmidt Shoten, the sole agent of Ernst Leitz in Japan. The other book was called Leica Shashin no Kansei (The completion of Leica Photography) which came out in 1942 by the same publisher. Allegedly, the negatives were imported from Germany for publication of these books. Images in the two Japanese books are identical to the German edition, except that they are printed sometimes in a different order, size, or tonality. The dustjacket photo (the famous reversed image of Dr. Wolff with his Leica) and layout is identical; the photo for the dustjacket of the second Japanese volume is a reproduction of one of the color shots inside.

Cheers, Ian
 
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HI Ian and others,

Besides captioning photos for my upcoming book on Canon RF lenses I usually get diverted onto other subjects such as the FPC (Fingerprint Camera) and "the BOOK' once again get put aside. Can't say I dont have "a one track mind".

Anyway I have sourced some interesting information around the time the FPC camera was being produced. To date the literature I own or have procured maybe of some interest to others on this list.

1. John Baird's "History of the Japanese cameras"
2. Peter Dechert's book "Canon RF cameras 1933-68"
3. Yoji Miyazaki's book "Canon Rangefinder Cameras". Mostly Japanese but with a section in English. Yoji once worked for Canon Inc.
4. "Japanese Optics" from a detailed mission by the US Navy in Dec 1945 into Japanese Optics between 1942-44. Brilliant.
5. Declassified documents (1988) of Blockade-Running between 1941-44 via the "Enigma" in Bleachly Park in the UK after they were able to decipher Axis messages between the Far East and Germany. Mostly dealing with the submarine delivers of goods between both Axis parties during 1943-44. Gives goods + tonnage + sunk + arrived + personal + time/departure/arrivals of the subs. VERY informative.
6. Jeff Alexander’s academic journal on "Nippon Kogaku and the Imperial Japanese Navy 1917-45"
7. PhotoGuide Japan. Great website has a time line of Japanese photo history.
8. “Nikon Catalogus” a very informative Holland website on Nippon and Nikon history.
9. LOTS of info from Jocko’s links in a previous email...thanks.

As well I have found out how the FPC was used which was a surprise to me.

Below is a chart which I am working on to whittle the time when SK Canon produced the FPC camera, to date it looks like it was sometime after July 1940 but before December 1941. Bit more work to do.

OK How do I attach an Excel chart?

Peter K
 
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