Leotax No. 13744: Unveiling The History Of A Classic Camera

The Leotax camera was the Japanese equivalent of the popular Leica M3, a rangefinder camera with excellent optics and precision. The Leotax was first made in 1938 by Shōwa Kōgaku, a company founded by Nakagawa Kenzō, a former engineer of Konishiroku. The Leotax was a Leica-style 35mm camera initially made with an uncoupled rangefinder. The company was renamed Leotax Camera K.K. in 1956 or 1957 and continued to produce cameras until 1961. The Leotax No. 13744 was likely produced during this period.

The Leotax was a Leica-style 35mm camera

The Leotax was designed as a Japanese counterpart to the Leica, as Nakagawa Kenzō had a special fondness for Leica cameras. However, he faced challenges due to the numerous patents Leica had registered for its products. The original Leotax camera featured an uncoupled rangefinder mechanism that had to be manually set on the lens by adjusting a control dial on the camera's top.

Over time, Shōwa Kōgaku introduced improvements to the Leotax. In 1942, with the introduction of the Leotax Special A and Special B, the company adopted a coupled short-base rangefinder, likely to circumvent Leica's patents. This change required moving the viewfinder to the extreme left of the top cover when viewed from the rear.

The Leotax competed with the Leica M3, which featured the superior bayonet mounting system for its lenses. Despite the lower price of the Leotax models, they couldn't compete with the Leica M3's excellence. The introduction of the single-lens reflex camera, with its advanced features, further diminished the appeal of interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras like the Leotax.

Between 1940 and 1961, Leotax produced about 20 different models, with an estimated total production of less than 50,000 units. The Leotax is often considered one of the best Japanese-made Leica copies in terms of craftsmanship.

The company Shōwa Kōgaku was founded in 1938 by Nakagawa Kenzō

The company Shōwa Kōgaku, later renamed Leotax Camera, was a Japanese camera maker founded in January 1938 by Nakagawa Kenzō. For the first year of its business, it was known as Kyōei-sha, based in Nippori, Tokyo. Nakagawa, a former engineer of Konishiroku, obtained financial support from Minagawa Shōten. By the end of 1938, Nakagawa had renamed his company G.K. Shōwa Kōgaku. The company's most emblematic product was the Leotax, a Leica-style 35mm camera, initially made with an uncoupled rangefinder. However, during its early years, the company's main activity was the production of the Semi Leotax 4.5x6cm folding camera.

Nakagawa was very fond of folding German cameras and sought to build his own model, which he wanted to call the Letax, a combination of the names of two of his favourite 35mm rangefinders, the Ernst Leitz Leica and Zeiss-Ikon Nettax. Due to trademark issues, the name was changed to Leotax. The first Leotax cameras were folding "Semi" models that shot 4.5cm x 6cm images on standard 120 roll film. This style of camera was very popular and easy to make.

Shortly after, the company released a 35mm rangefinder Leotax that was hand-built by Nakagawa in a small workshop, with the exception of the rangefinder, which was outsourced to Nihon Kosokki Kogyo, and the lens, which was made by Fujita. Despite receiving funding from Minagawa, the cameras were sold by a different Japanese distributor, as Minagawa's contracts with existing camera makers prohibited them from selling a competing model.

In early 1939, Yasuo Minagawa joined the company and took over production of the remaining cameras. It is believed that somewhere between 50 and 100 of these original Leotax cameras were produced. In late 1939 or early 1940, Nakagawa Kenzō went to war, and a Mr Eiji Suzuki joined the company and took over production.

In 1942, with the introduction of the Leotax Special A and Special B, the company adopted a coupled short-base rangefinder with a scissor strut arrangement for the sensor arm, presumably to circumvent Leica patents. This sensor arm arrangement necessitated moving the viewfinder of the original Leotax from just above the lens to a position at the extreme left of the top cover as viewed from the rear. These cameras emulated the Leica III with exposure times of up to 1 second.

In 1956 or 1957, the company was renamed Leotax Camera K.K. and continued to produce cameras until 1961. The last model was the Leotax G, an advanced camera inspired by the Leica M3.

The Leotax was initially made with an uncoupled rangefinder

The uncoupled rangefinder was located on the top plate of the camera, where an accessory shoe would be on a Leica. The rangefinder distance wheel was off to the right, immediately next to the shutter speed dial. The front of the camera had only two windows, suggesting that one had to be a combined viewfinder and rangefinder window, which, if true, would have been a pretty advanced feature at the time.

The uncoupled rangefinder was replaced by a coupled short base rangefinder in 1942, with the introduction of the Leotax Special A and Special B. This was done to circumvent Leica patents.

The company's main product was the Semi Leotax 4.5x6cm folding camera

The Leotax camera was the brainchild of Nakagawa Kenzō, a former engineer for Konishiroku. In January 1938, he founded a company called Kyoei-sha, based in Nippori, Tokyo. With financial support from Minagawa Shoten, he set out to develop a Japanese version of the Leica camera. The result was the Leotax, a Leica-style 35mm camera with an uncoupled rangefinder. However, during its early years, the company's main product and most prolific camera was the Semi Leotax 4.5x6cm folding camera.

The Semi Leotax was a compact folding camera produced by Showa prior to World War II. It was Shōwa Kōgaku's most emblematic product, and the first Leotax cameras were of this folding "Semi" model. The Semi Leotax was a vertical folder, a copy of the 4.5x6 Nettar, with plain diagonal struts. The shutter release was on the right side of the camera, and the back was hinged to the left, locked by a sliding bar on the right. The lens was a 7.5cm f/4.5 or f/3.5, focused by turning the front cell. The folding bed had a bulge to accommodate the lens front rim. The company was also making improved Semi Leotax models after World War II, as well as the Gemflex subminiature TLR.

The original Semi Leotax, released in 1940, had manual film advance, driven by a key or a knob. This version is known only from advertisements and no surviving example has been observed. The more advanced version with auto-stop film advance was perhaps released in late 1940 or early 1941. The advance mechanism was on the right of the bottom plate, with a tripod mount socket on the other side. The film counter could display up to 16 shots from a 120 roll film.

The Semi Leotax was distributed by Misuzu Shōkai before and during World War II. The lens was made by Fujita and the shutter by Nippon Kōsokki or Tōyō Kōki Seizō. The camera was also produced after the war, with some modifications, such as the reduction of red windows from two to one. The production of the camera was perhaps resumed in 1949, with the earliest advertisements dated September and October of that year. The camera was mentioned in the December issue of Photo Art, which still described it as having auto-stop advance.

The Leotax was the most well-known of the small Japanese companies that tried to copy the Leica camera

The Leotax was produced by Shōwa Kōgaku, a Japanese camera maker founded in January 1938 by Nakagawa Kenzō, a former engineer of Konishiroku. The company was later renamed Leotax Camera K.K. in 1956 or 1957 and continued to make cameras until 1961.

The Leotax was a Leica-style 35mm camera, initially made with an uncoupled rangefinder. The company's founder, Nakagawa, was a fan of Leica cameras and set out to develop a Japanese counterpart. However, he ran into problems due to the many patents that Leica had registered for its products. The Leotax had an uncoupled rangefinder mechanism that had to be manually set on the lens by rotating a control dial on the top of the camera—a less-than-ideal solution, but one that worked.

Leotax cameras were sold at a much lower price than Leica cameras, offering a more economical way to get into interchangeable lens 35mm rangefinders. Despite their lower cost, Leotax cameras were well-regarded and faithfully recreated the Leica shooting experience.

In 1961, the company filed for bankruptcy, largely due to the large quantities of the Leica M3 that had come onto the market. The Leica M3 featured a superior bayonet mounting system for its lenses, which the Leotax lacked. Despite their lower prices, Leotax models couldn't compete with the excellence of the Leica M3.

In total, Shōwa Kōgaku produced no more than 50,000 cameras during its lifetime, with the Leotax being its most emblematic product.

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