"Soiki Kogaku 5cm f3.5" Misspelled Lens

[Rangefinder Man]

Hello All
I wanted to show this lens before I sell it to a fellow collector. It is a misspelled Seiki Kogaku lens that came with a Canon S-II SK #15158. It was noticed by a fellow Canon collector and Peter Kitchingman took this photo of it when I let him have it for a week. It is a very rare item as there is no written evidence of a misspelled Seiki Kogaku/Canon RF lens from Peter's research, another major Canon collector or from a major Canon authority. The lens is a early version and most proberly bought by a US armed forces personal.

 

[Carzee]

What if its spelt right and all the others are wrong? 🙂

btw -your lowest sig line has a spelling mistake...

 

[Rangefinder Man]

That would be scary! I have a Hansa lens hood spelt "Hansa Lens FO0D"
I don't think that would be tasty! I would image it would be hard to learn a new language like Japanese or English for Japanese people.

What if its spelt right and all the others are wrong? 🙂

btw -your lowest sig line has a spelling mistake...

 

[John Shriver]

A friend of mine has an S-II engraved "Canon Camera ompany". Missing 'C'.

 

[CanonRFinder]

Typical case of the day after a SAKE holiday😀

 

[payasam]

I once had a cigarette lighter which was made in GFRMANY, a real or ersatz Ronson.

Three decades ago the Indian market was flooded with a variety of shoddy goods marked "Made in USA". It turned out that the abbreviation stood for Universal Small-industries Association.

 

[Rangefinder Man]

Can you get photos of the camera and send them to Peter Kitchingman from
http://www.canonrangefinder.com/ as he would be interested in it and it maybe put in his book.


Andrew.

A friend of mine has an S-II engraved "Canon Camera ompany". Missing 'C'.

 

[raid]

...unless the Russian gentleman forging the lens was weak in English.

 

[harry01562]

...unless the Russian gentleman forging the lens was weak in English.

Why would you say that Raid? Is it perhaps the slightly odd look of the lettering? I'd be interested in PK's thoughts on the lens, after seeing it close-up.

Harry

 

[CanonRFinder]

HI Harry,

I is a DINKY DI S-K Canon lens and certainly not a copy but the misspelt "Seiki" is unsual. The guy probably had a SAKE hangover from the festivities the day before.....:bang:

 

[jdos2]

I've a friend that showed me his "eica" engraved lens. I think it was a Summilux 50mm, so hard to duplicate otherwise...

 

[harry01562]

HI Harry,

I is a DINKY DI S-K Canon lens and certainly not a copy but the misspelt "Seiki" is unsual. The guy probably had a SAKE hangover from the festivities the day before.....:bang:

Thanks, Peter. It certainly seemed a tad odd. The Seiki actually came out as Solkl on the lens. Had to be either early Monday or late Friday production.
I have no idea what sequence is involved in production, but the stamping must take place before the lens is assembled. Can't be many with an error as large as this one, and I never saw another. Maybe the person doubled as the quality control desk as well :angel:

Harry

 

[Charles Woodhouse]

Hi Peter K,Andrew,Fellas, I finally paid Andrew for this very early Seiki S-II and 'Soiki' Serenar a week ago, and now it's waiting for a complete shutter rebuild because not only are the curtains shot,but the tapes are made out of the same sixty year old curtain material. But first I have to finish a customer's Canon S-II from hell that had been refitted with two different types of curtains,and the second curtain material had reacted with the metal of pressure plate,shutter crate and baffles.What a mess.
Anyway,back to the Soiki. In Peter's excellent photo it certainly looks like Solkl,but all the markings are engraved,and looking at the two i's obliquely with an 8X loupe I can make out a raising and then lowering of the engraving as the i's were dotted.
Also the oval of the o doesn't quite join where the horizontal stroke of the e is missing,again seen obliquely.Another small point-the engraving of just the numerals in the serial number is done with a finer tool.
The camera itself has some Canon S (or S-1) parts such as the top plate with apertures for the the S rangefinder sensor,the body shell with hole and plug for checking backfocus,and corresponding hole in the pressure plate,the base plate with rivetted internal alignment plate,and the range/viewfinder body which has been converted from an S rangefinder body. Also because there is no rear fixing bracket for the top cover on an S the rear screw hole in this cameras top cover has been plugged with a screw and nut.