Echt

From Camerapedia.org

Echt (エヒト) logo. Picture by JPG. (Image rights)

Echt was a brand name used on Japanese products from the late 1930s. It seems that these were first made by a company called Ishii, whose manufacturing branch named itself after the Echt products in the early 1940s.

Contents 1 History 2 Cameras 3 Accessories 4 Notes 5 Bibliography

History

The brand name Echt (エヒト, Ehito) was perhaps first used by the Japanese company Ishii Shōkai (石井商会) in the late 1930s: an advertisement dated December 1939 says that Ishii was the maker and distributor of the Echt products (エヒト製品製造発売元), and shows the ECHT logo, with the letters E, H, T circled by a large oval C.^[1] The address of the company was Ginza Nishi 6-chōme (座西六丁目).^[2] It was offering film cassettes for 35mm cameras, a complete close-up device for the 6×6 Super Ikonta, said to "replace the Contameter" (コンタメーター代用) and a focusing rail apparently copied on a Zeiss Ikon accessory.

The Kraft 4×4 camera was made by the same company which made the Echt accessories. The official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941 even mentions a camera called Echt (エヒト) along with the Kraft I and Kraft II, of which it was perhaps a name variant.^[3] In January 1942, the Kraft camera and the Echt (エヒト) enlarger were jointly advertised by Echt Kōgaku Kōgyō Y.K. (ヱヒト光学工業有限会社, literally reading Ehito Kōgaku Kōgyō Y.K. and meaning Echt Optical Industries) and Y.K. Ishii Shōkai (有限会社石井商会, meaning Ishii Trading).^[4] The two companies had the same physical address and were obviously closely related.^[5] The company names certainly indicate that Echt was the manufacturer and Ishii the distributor. However the Kraft camera was mentioned in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production as made by Ishii and distributed by Echt, perhaps by mistake.^[6]

It is not known if the Echt and Ishii companies survived the war or not.

Cameras

• Echt (unconfirmed)
• Kraft I and Kraft II

Accessories

Echt "automatic focusing copying device" for Contax. Picture by JPG. (Image rights)

Various Echt accessories have been observed so far:

• a set of filters for the Leitz Summar 5cm f/2 lens; it is contained in a box marked ECHT–Filtersatz and each individual filter is marked Summar 1:2 F5cm;
• a small copy stand called "Echt repro device for Leica" (エヒトライカ用接写装置) in the user manual; it is similar to that advertised in 1939 but with an adapting ring for the Leitz Elmar 5cm f/3.5, marked ECHT Elmar 3.5; the name ECHT WORKS and the address GINZA TOKYO are inscribed inside the box, together with the ECHT logo and the Japanese characters エヒト;
• a copy stand for the Contax, called "automatic focusing copying device" (自動焦点式接写器) and copied on the reproduction stand 5520/1 made by Zeiss Ikon; the green velvet covering inside the box shows the ECHT logo, the Japanese characters エヒト, the device name, the company name ECHT KOGAKU and the address GINZA TOKYO; the name ECHT WORKS is inscribed on parts of the device itself.

Notes

1. ↑ Advertisement on p.7 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.41 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
2. ↑ The address was more precisely Ginza Nishi 6-chōme Taimei Shōgakkō Mae (座西六丁目泰明小学校前), "facing the Taimei school".
3. ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 1, section 10.
4. ↑ Advertisement in Shashin Bunka reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.68.
5. ↑ The address of Ehito was Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza Nishi-6-chōme (Kikuhon building) (東京市京橋区銀座西六丁目菊本ビル) and the address of Ishii was the same with no mention of the Kikuhon building.
6. ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), items 151–2.

Bibliography

• Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7.
• "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in Shōwa 10—40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10〜40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935—1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Pp.108—9.
• Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.41, corresponding to p.7 of the December 15, 1939 issue.