Taiyodo Koki & the Beauty Camera Company

This humble little camera (launched in June 1955) was the first and only 35mm viewfinder made by Taiyodo Koki. This may be a bit of a Chinese whisper (possibly a politically incorrect term today - but hey ho), but a 2018 Japanese blog entry($) claims that a November 2004 feature in CCN magazine (see Books), described Taiyodo Koki's 1955 advertising as stating that the 35 was "Japan's first camera with a one-set lever" (i.e. a wind-lever that also cocked the shutter). The 35 may not have been the first, but it was certainly one of the earliest (the Minolta A was a few months before). It's true that most cameras of this time had knob winders that simply advanced the film.

 

The Beauty 35 (ビューティ35) was rebadged* as the Milo 35 (or Mil-O 35) for Miller Outcalt (a photographic equipment seller based in Santa Monica, USA), and the Ward 35 for Montgomery Ward (a Chicago based department store chain which is reputed to be the first mail order catalogue operator).  It was also rebranded* by Taiyodo as the Gen 35, presumably at a later date and apparently for sale in Canada (Thanks to Alan Bradshaw for bringing the Gen 35 to my notice). The quadruple identity of the 35 is arguably the most interesting thing about it, because there were a number of differences between the variants.

* Rebadged equipment is produced by the original manufacturer, sometimes with cosmetic or specification changes to meet the distributors' requirements, but the product or model names are changed by the maker. Rebranded equipment is an identical camera made to be sold by the manufacturer themselves in different markets.

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a) Different lenses. The Ward was fitted with a "Ward" branded, f/2.8, four-element, 45mm lens (which stopped-down to f/22) with a minimum focusing distance of 3 feet. The Beauty, Gen and Milo had a "Beauty" branded, f/3.2, 45mm triplet (which stopped-down to f/16) with a minimum focusing distance of 3.5 feet.

b) Different shutters. The Ward had a German five speed Prontor shutter (1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300 +B). The Beauty, Gen and Milo all had a Japanese NKS-FB Prontor-type shutter (made by Taron) with eight speeds (1 sec., 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300, +B).

c) Different features. The Beauty, Gen and Milo had a self-timer, while the Ward did not. The viewfinders were also different, with the objective lens of the Beauty and Milo being completely mirrored, while the Ward's was clear with only perimeter mirroring and a larger eyepiece. Some Gen 35s had a wholly mirrored viewfinder objective, while others did not. None of the models had a self-resetting frame counter. The accessory-shoe featured a knurled end-stop, which was actually a rotatable frame-counter setting wheel, deployed after film had been loaded. However, on some Beauty 35s - including mine - the stop on the accessory-shoe was merely a fixed post, and the frame-counter had to be wound to zero (minus 2), using the film advance lever, before a film was loaded (I am grateful to Brian Parkin [Industrial Museum website($)] for bringing the Beauty frame-counter setting wheel to my notice). I have since found an on-line copy of the Beauty 35 manual, which describes the counter setting feature.

d) Different designs. The Beauty, Gen and Milo shared a two-piece wind-arm with a knurled tip and inset leatherette panel, plus a matching black leatherette trimmed rewind knob, while the Ward's wind-arm was a smooth, unclad, one-piece construction, and its rewind control was similarly naked. The Ward and Gen's film-type reminders had red and yellow ASA film speed options, while the Beauty and Milo's were black and white film-type segments (see Figure 4). The Gen 35 (Figure 5) had a unique black overlaid lens barrel plate showing the shutter speed scale.

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I've only ever seen five Gen 35s: one here($), a second on a Hungarian auction site (listing since deleted), and Alan Bradshaw's which was found in Canada, where an advertisement by the department store "Simpson's" appeared in a July 1957 edition of the Saskatchewan Leader-Post newspaper, offering the Gen 35 for $56.95 (equivalent to £21 & 10s in GB Sterling) with a clip-on light meter, flash gun and gadget bag (link at the foot of this page). The fourth can be seen alongside a Ward 35 at cameracollector.net($)* (model info shamelessly copied from this site, however the errors are original work) and a fifth appeared on eBay-Canada (seller montreal.classic.camera) with an absolutely comical price tag (£1,600 - July 2022). It is currently still offered at the reduced price of £750 (11th April 2024) ... good luck with that!

 

* Meanwhile the Gen 35 at cameracollector.net (seller ir100) was offered for sale on eBay-Canada for a far more realistic £23 (discovered March 2024), which proved over-ambitious and was reduced to £11 (April 2024). Sadly, the shipping cost quoted to me by ir100 was a ludicrous £45 (twice what it would cost me to post the item from the UK to Canada and - obviously - four times the cost of the camera).  I wonder if montreal.classic.camera will buy ir100's Gen 35 for C$20, and re-advertise it for US$950?

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Sales

35s do not have camera body serial numbers (and lens numbers are unreliable for dating cameras), but I would guess that around 30,000 were made (on the basis that the serial numbers of the replacement model started at that number). Unsurprisingly, the 35 is best known under its Ward badge, in which guise it sold for $29.95 (which would have been equivalent to £10 &15s in GB Sterling). In Japan, the price of the Beauty 35 was 8,000 Yen. It would appear that, based on specification enhancements and advertising material, the Beauty came first (1955), followed by the Ward/Milo (1956), and lastly the Gen (1957).

 

The 35 is a rare camera in all its guises, but especially the Milo variant (I have found only 3 examples on the Internet), followed by the Gen 35 (5 examples seen "in the wild").

 

Prior to 1957, no Japanese cameras were imported into the UK, but it's interesting to note that the English spelling of "colour" (as opposed to the American "color") was used on the film-type reminder for the Beauty and Milo. While the Gen, Milo and Ward 35s were marked "made in Japan", the Beauty was not, indicating that it was produced for the home market.

 

​I own a Beauty 35, which was added to my collection in March 2019 at the cost of £9.00 (plus p&p). It's not in great condition and has many mechanical issues. The focus adjustment turns without altering the focus. The shutter speed selection dial is very stiff. The film transport winds-on, but the shutter release disengages the interlock without tripping the shutter. The film receiving spool is gummed-up with what looks like contact adhesive. The rewind knob turns but will not retract (for film cassette insertion). The self-timer setting arm is seized, and the viewfinder reflecting frame lines are out of alignment and almost invisible ... but on the outside it looks nice!