Miniature Hit camera made by Tougodo Company
Made by Tougodo Company in Japan, 1950-1969.
Summary
2004/44/10-4
Miniature 17.5mm camera made of gold coloured metal with brown leather covering. There is a simple film winder at the top along with view finder. The shutter is at the side of the fixed lens. The hinged back opens to reveal the film chamber.
Dimensions
33 mm
50 mm
33 mm
Production
Hit cameras from which all the others are termed even though the first appeared about 1950, several years after the Midget and Mycro cameras of 1939. Hits were made by the Tougodo Co, founded in 1930, by Masanori Nagatsuka and named after Admiral Tougo of the Japanese Navy.
Variations include single shutter speed with a sliding bar door lock and ones with speeds of I (1/50th) and B and all having a fixed aperture of f11 and a snap shut door lock or sliding bar. The front nameplate surround is black or white and different fonts. Variations in the engravings on the top of the camera and a version with gold finish as well as the chrome.
The camera engraved with Made in Occupied Japan also has a film counter dial, which is rare on HIT style cameras. As the MIOJ period was from 1947 to 1951 this was one of the earlier models.
The packaging and instructions seen with many HIT cameras is also seen with cameras of other names, an indicator that Tougodo Co also produced many of these.
http://www.submin.com/17.5mm/collection/hit/index.htm (23/6/2004)
Variations include single shutter speed with a sliding bar door lock and ones with speeds of I (1/50th) and B and all having a fixed aperture of f11 and a snap shut door lock or sliding bar. The front nameplate surround is black or white and different fonts. Variations in the engravings on the top of the camera and a version with gold finish as well as the chrome.
The camera engraved with Made in Occupied Japan also has a film counter dial, which is rare on HIT style cameras. As the MIOJ period was from 1947 to 1951 this was one of the earlier models.
The packaging and instructions seen with many HIT cameras is also seen with cameras of other names, an indicator that Tougodo Co also produced many of these.
http://www.submin.com/17.5mm/collection/hit/index.htm (23/6/2004)
Tougodo Company 1950-1969
Cite this Object
Miniature Hit camera made by Tougodo Company 2016, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 17 October 2017, <https://ma.as/346141>
{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/346141 |title=Miniature Hit camera made by Tougodo Company |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=17 October 2017 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}
This object is currently on display in Store 2 at the Museums Discovery Centre.