A little slide show of Nagaoka-san in his workshop

[Oren Grad]

Spotted this recent (9/26/14) posting on a Japanese website:

Nagaoka Kei-ichiro-san, 76 years old

http://oikohken.or.jp/photo/?p=883

長岡さんは「木製カメラを愛用してくれる人がいる限り、つくり続ける」と決めている。

"Nagaoka-san has decided, 'As long as there are still people who love wooden cameras, I will continue to make'..."

Yes, that second slide sure looks like a reflex camera. If I'm reading the second to last paragraph correctly, it's a 4x5 SLR that he made, which currently sits in Fujifilm's Photo History Museum.

Sorry I don't have time just now to slog through a dictionary and generate a passable translation of the whole article. Google Translate butchers it pretty badly. Perhaps there's a fluent Japanese reader lurking who can help.

[John Kasaian]

Wonderful! Just wonderful. Thanks for posting this.

[David Karp]

Thanks Oren. I did not know that Nagaoka cameras were still made!

[Tin Can]

What about the completed camera in the pics? Looks very interesting and very different.

[Tim Meisburger]

I wish I could get in touch with him. It would be great if I could buy the hardware for the 8x10 I am making.

[Taija71A]

____

Thank-you, for posting this URL Oren. Greatly appreciated! :)
I too, was not aware that Nagaoka Seisakusho Cameras... Were still being made.

-Tim.
_________

[Sal Santamaura]

Oren, I wonder if my post in the other thread


http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?118926-Fuji-50-4x5-from-japan&p=1201833&viewfull=1#post1201833

inspired you to start this one. With luck the fluent Japanese reader you're hoping for will also be going to Japan and can start the ball rolling on Wholeplate Nagaokas for both of us. :)

[Drew Wiley]

Nice. I'll try to find the link to last year's Festool's international woodworking contest. The number two winner made a gorgeous wet plate camera, which in itself
is not terribly unique, but also with a fold-up matching mahogany portable film room (instead of traditional coating tent), and that was the clincher.

[Steve Goldstein]

A few months ago I was (note tense - :) ) searching for a Nagaoka 5x7 and a Japanese colleague was able to contact Nagaoka-san on my behalf. While he is indeed still making cameras, he said he couldn't make 5x7s any longer because he was out of many (apparently outsourced) parts the demand didn't justify getting more. I didn't inquire specifically about other formats.

I'm not clear if my friend spoke directly with Nagaoka-san or to his agents at Ohban Camera.

[neil poulsen]

Very nice selection of images.