Kinsi

From Camerapedia.org

Japanese Baby (3×4) and Four (4×4) (edit)
folding	3×4	Baby Balnet | Doris | Baby Doris | Baby Germa | Kinsi | Baby Leotax | Loren | Baby Lyra | Baby Pearl | Baby Pilot | Baby Rosen | Baby Suzuka | Baby Virus | Walz
	4×4	Adler Four | Rosen Four
rigid or collapsible	3×4	Baika | Baby Chrome | Comet | Cyclon | Gelto | Baby Germa | Gokoku | Hamond | Kinka Lucky | Lausar | Light | Baby Light | Molby | Mulber | Olympic | Baby Oso | Peacock | Picny | Ricohl | Rorox | Shinko Baby | Slick | Baby Sport | Tsubasa Arawashi | Zessan
	3.5×4	Kenko 35
	4×4	Alma Four | Andes Four | Anny 44 | Arsen | Balnet Four | Bonny Four | Freude | Kalimar 44 | Auto Keef | Kraft | Letix | Mykey-4 | Olympic Four | Roico | Royal Senior | Seica | Terra Junior | Vero Four | Welmy 44 | Yashica Future 127
unknown		Baby First | Baby Lyra Flex
Japanese SLR, TLR, pseudo TLR and stereo models ->
Japanese 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6, 6×6 and 6×9 ->

The Kinsi (キンシ) is a 3×4 strut folding camera, made by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now Ricoh) between 1941 and 1943.^[1]

The New Olympic II (a 4.5×6 bakelite camera) also has Kinsi engravings, see Semi Olympic.

Contents 1 Name 2 Description 3 Advertisements and other documents 4 Notes 5 Bibliography 6 Links

Name

The name Kinsi (pronounced kinshi) can be written 金鵄, then meaning "golden kite".^[2] Sugiyama says that the name comes from the Kinshi kunshō (金鵄勲章) or "Order of the Golden Kite", a Japanese military award.^[3] Riken used many such "patriotic" names at the time.^[4] In all the advertisements observed, the name is written in katakana: キンシ. On the camera itself, it is written "Kinsi".^[5]

Description

The Kinsi is a strut folding camera, inspired by the Dolly 3×4 camera made by the German company Certo.^[6] The camera has a folding optical finder in the middle of the top plate, and the advance knob is on the left. The button on the right of the viewfinder releases the front standard. There is a folding leg, allowing the camera to stand vertically on a table. The name Kinsi is embossed in the front leather. The back is hinged to the left and contains two red windows to control the film advance.

The lens is a front-cell focusing Kinsi Anastigmat 5cm f/4.5. It has three elements and was made by Riken.^[7] The shutter is an everset Licht, made by Seikōsha, providing 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds. This variant of the Licht shutter has a funny device: there is a hole at the bottom of the shutter plate, where you can introduce a needle, held by a long thread. The picture is taken when you pull the thread, so you can take pictures of yourself. This is explained with pictures on this page by Nekosan.

Advertisements and other documents

The Kinsi was announced in advertisements for the Olympic Four dated March and April 1940, together with the Gaica and Roico.^[8] The camera was listed in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the name "Kinsi I" (¥48).^[9] It was pictured in advertisements dated January and February 1941 for the Riken camera range, with no further detail.^[10] It was described as the Kinsi I (キンシⅠ型) in advertisements dated February and April 1941, where it was offered for ¥48.^[11] In advertisements dated March, October and November 1942, the description was identical but the price was ¥56.80.^[12]

The camera was still described in the "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943, under the name "Kinsi I" again.^[13] There is no record of a Kinsi II.

Notes

1. ↑ Made by Riken: "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa"), item 165. This page of the Ricoh official website says otherwise, certainly by mistake.
2. ↑ This page of the Ricoh official website gives the word 金鴉 (read kina), certainly by mistake.
3. ↑ Sugiyama, p. 11. For a description of the military award, see this Japanese Wikipedia page and this English Wikipedia page.
4. ↑ See this article of the Ricoh official website.
5. ↑ The camera is called "Baby Kinshi" by mistake in Sugiyama, item 1076 and in McKeown, p. 828.
6. ↑ This page of the Ricoh official website says that the Kinsi was a copy of the Zeh Goldi, that is obviously not true, the Goldi being of the folding bed type. Tanaka, p. 18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 14 and this page at Asacame say that it is a copy of the Dolly.
7. ↑ "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa"), lens item Jc11.
8. ↑ Advertisements published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 64 and 104.
9. ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 1, section 4B.
10. ↑ Advertisement published in Gakusei no Kagaku January 1941 and advertisement published in Gakusei no Kagaku February 1941, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
11. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera February 1941, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 104. Advertisement published in Gakusei no Kagaku April 1941, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
12. ↑ Advertisement published in Shashin Bunka March 1942, reproduced in Tanaka, p. 10 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 14. Advertisement published in Shashin Bunka October 1942, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 58. Advertisement published in Asahi Graph 18 November 1942, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
13. ↑ "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa"), item 165.

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. Item 70. (See also the advertisements for items 47 and 323–4.)
• Fujishima Kōichi (藤島広一). "Shattā ni yoru nendai shibetsu" (シャッターによる年代識別, Dating a camera from its shutter). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 8, September 1986. No ISBN number. Supuringu kamera (スプリングカメラ, special issue on spring cameras). Pp.21–4. (Contains a picture of a Kinsi but no other detail.)
• "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. Item 165.
• "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. Type 1, section 4B.
• McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 828.
• Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 25.
• Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 1076.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp. 8–11.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Senzen no kamera 2: Supuringu kamera" (戦前のカメラ2・スプリングカメラ, Prewar cameras 2: folding cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no. 14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp. 16–9.

Links

In Japanese:

• Pages of the Ricoh official website:
  • Kinsi in the camera list (copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum)
  • article about wartime camera names
• Pages at Asacame:
  • Riken 127 film cameras
  • Page with a Kinsi in the A-Z 127 film cameras
• Prewar Japanese 127 camera page including the Kinsi, and a page about the thread-and-pin selftimer at Nekosan's site (with some English)
• Kinsi in the Kitamura Camera Museum
• Advertisements reproduced in the Japanese camera page, the small format camera page and the camera company page of the Gochamaze website:
  • Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the January 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the February 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Kinsi I and Olympic Four published in the April 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku
  • Advertisement for the Kinsi I published in the 18 November 1942 issue of Asahi Graph

Riken prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
rigid or collapsible
Vest Adler | Gokoku | Semi Kinsi | Letix | Olympic | Semi Olympic | Super Olympic | Vest Olympic | Ricohl | Roico | Seica | Zessan
folders	pseudo TLR	TLR
Adler | Adler Four | Adler Six | Gaica | Heil | Kinsi	Chukon Ref	Ricohflex A | Ricohflex B