Nagaoka camera?

[Oren Grad]

OK, had a chance to go digging in my literature collection.

Here's a Nagaoka Seisakusho ad from the January, 2001 issue of Nippon Camera. Although it's a fuzzy little half-tone that doesn't scan too well, the camera shown on the far right has the new-style "Since 1911" labeling. The old- and new-style badges really do come from one and the same company.

For those who are curious, the cameras shown in this ad are pinhole cameras, though the text refers to his full range of hand-made cameras and accessories.

[Oren Grad]

The article also said that he was working for another camera builder before he set up his own company, so maybe that's the derivation of the 1911 date.

The Google translation is pretty garbled, but if I'm parsing the Japanese correctly he essentially inherited the factory at which he had been working, as the owner did not have an heir. As the other employees left, he took on more and more of the actual camera building himself. I hope that someone who reads Japanese fluently can check me on that.

[aphcl84]

I heard back from the owner and he gave me the address for the supposed second company and it's the same location. I think sharktooth might have the right idea as to why the cameras changed so drastically.