P3D Stereo cameras: Report from the Ginza

[Steve Madsen <tomio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone--

I was in Tokyo last weekend (25-26 July 1998), and I found a 
number of stereo cameras.  I've written up my findings and am posting
in case someone may be interested in such things; at any rate
it may be useful to have this "snapshot" of the current market
in the archives for future reference.

The only European format 35mm stereo cameras I saw in Tokyo were
two Busch Verascopes.  No Belplascas, no Iloca Is, no FEDs, at
least not in the stores I visited.

Except for Kimura camera, all the stores are located within a fifteen
minute walk of each other in the Ginza.  (Kimura is in Shinjuku.)

Note 1: Giving compass directions in Tokyo's Ginza gets confusing
        because the street grid is at roughly a 45 degree angle from
        a north-south orientation.  For the purposes of this document,
        the elevated railway tracks run "north-south", and Tokyo
        station is to the north.  The standard JNTO (Japanese
        National Touist Information) Tokyo map (English) should be good
        enough to find all the stores mentioned herein, both in Ginza
        and in Shinjuku.

Note 2: When the camera name is blank, for example:
          Kodak                34,000
                               24,000
        it means this store had two Kodaks, one for 34,000 yen and one
        for 24,000 yen.  

As of this writing, divide by 140 to get approximate US dollars.



(Formerly Diamond Camera), Yurakucho Station
============================================
Location: Basement of Yurakucho Denki Building, west side of 
          Yurakucho station (next station south of Tokyo station)
          Actually two stores, right across the corridor from each other.
Notes:    Diamond is still located at Shimbashi station (next station 
          south of Yurakucho) but the 3D equipment moved to the
          basement of the Yurakucho Denki building in May 1998.

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Delta                18,000
Kodak 3.5            38,000
                     45,000
Owla                 53,000
Realist 3.5          39,000
Realist 45           36,000         (similar to Iloca Stereo Rapid)
Revere 33            68,000
Stereo Coronet       15,900         127 film
Stereo Graphic       45,000         Wray; f4
                     38,000         Graflex; f4
TDC Colorist II      68,000
TDC Stereo Vivid     48,000
Tower Stereo         35,000         (Iloca Stereo II, as sold by Sears,
                                     according to www.stereoscopy.com)
Videon               28,000
Videon II            42,500
Viewmaster Personal  40,000
                     55,000         with flash
Wirgin Edixa         65,000
                     31,200
                     31,000
Wollensak           138,000

Viewer                     Price (yen)    Comments
------                     -----------    --------
Kodaslide Stereo Viewer I   28,000         with box
Kodaslide Stereo Viewer II  38,000         
Realist Red Button          26,000
Realist Green Button        37,000
Realist R5-1 film roll      70,000        This is blue enamel steel
                                          and looks pretty industrial;
                                          takes an uncut roll of 
                                          transparencies for viewing.



KatsumiDo Camera, Ginza
=========================
Location: On Harumi Dori Ave on the South side of the street.
Notes:    Near Sukiya camera.

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Sputnik               88,000
TDC Colorist II       58,000

(Katsumido also had what looked like an Italian Duplex Super 120;
 sorry but I don't remember the asking price for this one)



Sankyo Camera, Ginza
=========================
Location: Just north off Harumi Dori Ave on the East side of the street.
Notes:    Five minute walk east of Katsumi-do and Sukiya camera.
          There is another Sankyo camera on the north side of Harumi
          Dori, near the police box, forty seconds walk from this
          Sankyo.  (This other Sankyo had a Widelux, but no stereo gear)

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Kodak                34,000
                     24,000
Iloca II             33,000
Mikroma              59,000         16mm Russian
Realist 2.8          75,000         Sorry, no lens info available.
                     55,000
Realist 3.5          29,000
Revere 33            55,000
                     46,000
Tower                39,000       
Viewmaster Personal  55,000
Wirgin Stereo        29,000  
Wollensak           125,000



Sukiya Camera, Ginza
=========================
Location: On Harumi Dori Ave on the South side of the street.
Notes:    Two stores in same building: the main entrance is on the
          first floor on Harumi Dori; the other store is in the basement,
          with a door around the side (west side of building)
          Very close to Katsumido Camera.

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Busch Verascope     125,000
                     95,000
Iloca II             38,000
Kodak                32,000
                     32,000
Mikroma              35,000         16mm film, Russian
Realist 2.8          48,000
                     45,000
Revere 33            30,000         Marked down from 42,000
TDC Stereo Colorist  30,000
Viewmaster Personal  26,000




Utsuki Camera, Ginza
=========================
Location: On Sotobori-Dori Ave., just south of Harumi Dori Ave on the
          East side of the street.
Notes:    

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Iloca II             28,000
Realist 3.5          33,000
Wirgin Edixa         38,000

They also sell what appears to be the steal-the-light realist format
viewer which Reel 3D sells for US$3.25, for about 3000 yen.


Kimura Camera, Shinjuku
=========================
Location: Northeast of Shinjuku station
Notes:    "My City" Department store is on the east side of Shinjuku
          station.  Follow the road in front of My City, going north;
          it bends towards the tracks (to the west) a bit, then comes
          to a large intersection labelled "Shinjuku Ogado Higashi"
          (for reference, the tall, narrow "Pele" building is on the 
           north side of the intersection).  Kimura camera is on the
          southeast corner of this "Shinjuku Ogado Higashi" intersection;
          film and supplies on the first floor, used equipment on 2F.

Camera               Price (yen)    Comments
------               -----------    --------
Universal Stereall    15,000

Note that they only had one stereo camera here, arguably one of the
worst ever manufactured.  But Kimura has a very excellent selection
of used Super and Single 8mm film equipment, including lots of Goko
"editors", so is an interesting place to have a look around.


Thanks to Shilo Teshima, whose faxed map from a few years back, of 
camera shops having stereo equipment, again proved useful during
this visit.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of the shops mentioned in
            this document.  A lot of the equipment is sold as-is,
            no refunds, no exchanges; you might want to ask if you
            can shoot a test roll on-premises (Lemon's Ginza store is 
            conveniently located for quick processing) before making
            an (irreversible) decision to purchase a classic camera.




Steven J. Madsen, Research Engineer
Tel: +81-6-908-6835   
Fax: +81-6-904-7104  
E-mail: tomio@xxxxxxxxxxxx   
Web:    http://www.mew.co.jp/vr-showroom/momi/sceneg.html (Japanese)
Virtual Reality R&D Group, Chuo Kenkyusho (CRL) 5F (MIC 5740)
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd., 1048, Kadoma, Osaka 571  JAPAN
VR$B3+H/<<(J, IS Bldg 4F, $B>>2<EE9)(J($B3t(J) $B")(J571 $BBg:eI\Lg??;TBg;zLg??(J1048


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