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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 | Walz
4×4 Adler Four | Rosen Four
rigid or collapsible
3×4 Baika | Baby Chrome | Comet | Cyclon | Gelto | Baby Germa | Gokoku | Hamond | Baby Hawk | Kinka Lucky | Lausar | Light | Baby Light | Molby | Mulber | Olympic | Baby Ōso | Peacock | Picny | Ricohl | Rorox | Shinko Baby | Slick | Baby Sport | Tsubasa Arawashi | Baby Uirus | 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 Loren (ローレン)[1] is a Japanese 3×4 folding camera made by Earth Kōgaku from about 1940.

Sources[]

The Loren is mentioned in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, for ¥44 with no further detail.[2] It is reportedly featured in a column of the October 1941 issue of Asahi Camera.[3] It also appears in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production, which states that the camera was made and distributed by Earth.[4]

Very few surviving examples have been observed so far.[5]

Description[]

The Loren is a vertical folder with a folding optical finder, very similar to the Baby Pearl by Konishiroku (itself inspired by the Baby Ikonta). The advance knob is to the bottom right (as seen by a photographer holding the camera horizontally). The back is hinged to the left. The name LOREN is embossed in the front leather.

The lens is a Loren Anastigmat 50mm f/4.5. It has three elements and was made by Earth.[6] The shutter gives B, 25–100 speeds and was made by Earth too.[7] The name LOREN is inscribed at the top of the shutter plate; the marking at the bottom ends in H KOHGAKU and is certainly EARTH KOHGAKU.

Notes[]

  1. Sugiyama, item 1160, and McKeown, p.253, both call the camera "Baby Loren", but Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.344, gives "Loren", certainly from an original magazine article.
  2. "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku", type 1, section 4A.
  3. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.344.
  4. "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 174.
  5. One example is pictured in Sugiyama, item 1160, in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.344 (same picture as in Sugiyama), and in Zaisu, p.6 of Camera Collectors' News no.57 ("Zaisu Ikon" is certainly the pseudonym of "Y. Saji" reported as the owner of the camera pictured in Sugiyama). Another example has been observed in an online auction.
  6. "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Jc2. The document says that the maximum aperture is f/4, perhaps by mistake.
  7. Shutter speeds: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), shutter item 12-V-7; Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.344; Sugiyama, item 1160. Made by Earth: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), shutter item 12-V-7.

Bibliography[]

Original documents[]

Recent sources[]

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