Daiichi Kogaku: Zenobia

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The Zenobia (ゼノビア) is a series of Japanese 4.5×6 folders, successors to the Waltax. They were made from 1952 to 1957 by Daiichi Kōgaku, later Zenobia Kōgaku; and they were distributed by Hattori Tokei-ten at least until 1955. All the Zenobia models have a body copied from the Ikonta A and inherited from the Waltax. Two companies sold modified and rebadged Zenobia cameras: Union Kōgaku offered the Union Semi, also called Union C-II, in 1953–4 and Walz the Walcon or Walcon Semi in 1954–5. In both cases the lens and shutter are different and there are other minor changes. The Zenobia C and Zenobia P are continuations of the Waltax Senior, without double-exposure prevention. According to Kokusan kamera no rekishi, both appear in the Japanese camera announcements column of the January 1952 issue of Asahi Camera. The C has a synchronized D.O.C.–Rapid shutter with B, 1–500 speeds, the P I has a synchronized NKS shutter with B, 1–200 speeds and the P II is the same as the P I with a self-timer. The D.O.C.-Rapid is a copy of the Compur and the NKS is a copy of the Prontor, so it is possible that "C" stands for Compur and "P" for Prontor, but this is only a guess. It is the only appearance of the Zenobia P mentioned by Kokusan kamera no rekishi. A Zenobia with NKK shutter to 1/200 has been reported to exist, but no picture has been observed yet. Shortly afterwards in 1952, the Zenobia C I and C II were advertised together. They are explicitly mentioned as an improvement of the Waltax. The lens is a four-element Tessar-type coated Hesper 75mm f/3.5. (Many people seem to believe that the Hesper has three elements and the later Neo-Hesper four, but the advertisements clearly state otherwise.) The C I is the new name of the C and it is offered for ¥14,000[3] with a D.O.C.-Rapid B, 1–500 shutter (advertised as a Compur-Rapid copy), synchronized with an ASA bayonet connector. The C II is offered for ¥15,000 with a Seikosha-Rapid shutter having similar specifications.