Nippon Camera
Est. 1940
Nippon Camera
Nippon Camera identifies the early Japanese Leica-type camera lineage that preceded the Nicca name. The maker began as Kogaku Seiki, produced the rare Nippon rangefinder during the 1940s, became Nippon Camera Works after the war, and adopted the Nicca Camera Works name in 1949. LeicaLensList keeps Nippon Camera as a separate collector-facing Make because surviving Nippon-engraved cameras predate the better-known Nicca models and are normally catalogued under their original marking.
The Nippon cameras use the Leica 39 mm screw mount and follow the Barnack-style layout, with a coupled rangefinder, separate viewfinder and focal-plane shutter. They are therefore directly relevant to LTM and M39 collecting, while their low production and transitional company markings require careful attribution.
History
Origins and Early Production
Kogaku Seiki was established in Tokyo in 1940 by personnel with experience in the Japanese precision-camera industry. Its first known camera, the Nippon, appeared in 1942 and was closely derived from the Leica III concept. Wartime and immediate postwar production was limited, so surviving bodies are uncommon.
Nippon Camera Works
The business adopted the Nippon Camera Works name in 1948. Cameras from this transition can carry Nippon or early Nicca-related markings, and model chronology is not always reflected by a clean serial-number break.
Transition to Nicca
In 1949 the company became Nicca Camera Works. Nicca continued the Leica screw-mount system and developed it through synchronized, lever-wind and hinged-back models before Yashica acquired the company in 1958.
Product Lines
Nippon Rangefinder
The principal collector model is the Nippon, a 35 mm coupled-rangefinder camera with Leica-style slow and fast shutter-speed controls and an LTM/M39 lens mount. Documented examples were supplied with Japanese 50 mm lenses including Xebec-marked optics.
Transitional Cameras
Late Nippon and early Nicca cameras share parts and design features. The engraved maker and model, serial number, top-plate details and baseplate markings should be recorded together rather than assigning a camera from appearance alone.
Technical Characteristics
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Company lineage | Kogaku Seiki, Nippon Camera Works, Nicca Camera Works |
| Historic base | Tokyo, Japan |
| Main LLL relevance | Early Japanese Leica-copy cameras using LTM/M39 |
| Principal camera | Nippon |
| Camera type | 35 mm coupled rangefinder |
| Lens mount | Leica Thread Mount, LTM, L39, M39 |
| Collector caution | Nippon Camera is not Nippon Kogaku, later Nikon |
Market Reception
Nippon cameras are important to collectors as scarce wartime and early postwar Japanese Leica copies and as the starting point of the Nicca lineage. Originality, engraved identity and matching period lenses materially affect attribution and value. Reworked top plates, mixed components and uncertain serial interpretations should be documented rather than silently normalized.
Sources
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