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| Tougodo Optical Co, Japan The company name is variously transliterated as Tougodo, Tougo-do or Togodo; I chose the first as more widely used (although the company's own packaging sometimes favours "Togodo"). Like Taiyodo (q.v.), Tougodo made many TLRs under a range of names. In addition to the ones here, McKeown identifies a further five variants. Sugiyama (Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras, Tokyo, 1985) has a few more.
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Crownflex An interesting one. Sugiyama, McKeown and Kadlubek all have a "Crown flex" by Kobayashi Seiko, which looks nothing like this in Sugiyama's picture. To my analysis, this is very clearly a basic early red-window Toyocaflex with a variant name badge. I've never seen another of these. This one is in superficially fairly good state, but has unfortunately been dropped at some time and has a misaligned lens board and some minor dents on the viewer. |
Hobiflex The guides both agree on this one. There are three variants in Sugiyama, four in McKeown. This one is a late "Model III". It has geared lenses and is presumably a fairly early Tougodo product, basic but tidy.
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Kinoflex This is clearly a Tougodo camera, but what an oddball! The shutter - which looks as if it is an original fitting - is a German Prontor, with bog-standard Tri-Lausar lenses. Some complicated research led me to this being a special rebadged model made for the Dutch market. A small badge inside (see pictures page) says it was sold by Zaalberg Bros, a firm in the camera/cine equipment business, run at one time by a certain N A Kroese at Oude Leliestraat 13 in Amsterdam. So, the working assumption unless/until anyone provides me with better information, is that Zaalberg had the Kinoflex made by Tougodo for Dutch market purposes, and specified the Prontor shutter to move it a touch upmarket. I've never seen or heard of another of these. |
Lionflex If you can spot any difference between this and the Crownflex above (apart from the nameplate that is), you're doing better than me. This is a classic case of badge engineering in the grand tradition pioneered by the motor industry. Whether Tougodo made these two rebadged Toyocaflexes for different distributors or markets, I don't know. This one turned up in Belgium in early 2005. I have never heard of another; McKeown doesn't mention it, and at the time of writing, there is no mention of it anywhere on the Web - which makes it one of the very rarest cameras in my collection.
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Metarflex McKeown has this, but with the name misspelt (Metraflex). It is very near to identical with the late Toyocaflex (below); there are only minor cosmetic differences - notably the Rollei-type Bay 1 lens mounts, which indicate a later date than the Metascoflex.
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Metascoflex This essentially an early model of the Metarflex, with the same lens name. It doesn't have the Rollei-style bayonet lens surrounds.
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Metascoflex II The Metascoflex II was little changed, with the synch. plug just moved down the front of the camera. This one is mint and came with its box and case intact.
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Mirroflex This is a rebadged middle period Toyocaflex Ib (see below). Whether it was made for a distributor is unclear McKeown fails to attribute this to Tougodo.
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Proskar McKeown doesn't attribute a maker, but I think this one is so close to the late Toyocaflex as to be almost without doubt a Tougodo product. Nice camera. |
Toyocaflex (early) These seem to have been Tougodo's biggest-selling TLRs. This one doesn't exactly match any in Sugiyama, but I think it's a late model I or an early Ib. |
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Toyocaflex Ib (middle) The main difference between this and the previous one is the nameplate, which Sugiyama identifies clearly with the later Ib, but the shutter is the early type... |
Toyocaflex Ib (late) The key change on this is the introduction of the Rollei-style Bayonet 1 lens mounts for filters, etc. The shutter inner trim is changed a little to fit the surrounds |
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Tougodo's Mystery TLRs! I originally had all the cameras below on a separate page under the heading "The Mystery TLRs". They all clearly came from the same manufacturer, since the similarities are so great. I knew that McKeown identified just one of them (Skyflex) as a Tougodo model, but it - and the others - differ significantly from Tougodo's standard style, and all of these cameras are essentially identical. |
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My regular correspondent, Terry Hardy, who knows an awful lot about Japanese TLRs, was always convinced that all of these were in fact made by Tougodo and belong on that page. He reckoned the evidence is in the body mouldings and the case markings. At that time, I wasn't wholly satisfied with that explanation and left it open. There was another possible further clue; the "Accura" name was used on a number of fairly common TLR accessories (filters and close-up lenses) from Japan. It is more than possible that these are associated with the Accuraflex. Although that is otherwise identical to the others below, it is the only one given a dedicated lens (by name if not in reality). I also knew that the Accuraflex was rebadged for sale by USC in America as the Auto-Forty model (see my US page). All this series have serial numbers (atop the nameplate) in the range 58000 to 66000, which is a heck of a coincidence to me - I think the manufacturer started numbering around 55000 to make sales look bigger. Most of them have Tri-Lausar lenses, and all in identical housings; all have the same unique opening latch (see picture) and all have the same rather crude shoe sliced off an unusually-shaped aluminium extrusion. Anyway, what finally clinched it for me and persuaded me that these are indeed all Tougodo products was when I bought the DAFLEX shown below. It is the same as all the others, but came with its original carton, on which is proudly displayed Tougodo's name as the manufacturer. Q.E.D. - they're Tougodos, and they belong here. This is still an odd batch of cameras, and it's not at all clear why Tougodo made them - possibly for sale overseas via distributors? If you know any more PLEASE LET ME KNOW and I'll publish the details here!
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|  All the mystery TLRs have this base design  All the mystery TLRs have this crude shoe  The DAFLEX carton which resolved the mystery! |
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Accuraflex Some commentators talk about "Accura" as a camera company, but I've seen no evidence to back this up - I think it's just another variant name which appealed to a Japanese ear!
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Deitzflex Listed by McKeown, but not attributed. He says there had been only one recorded sale - in 1990 - so this may be one of the rarest in my collection. It's a very clean one from a retirement sale in the US.
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Hacoflex I was quite confused about this one for a while, but the body and components are identical to the Accuraflex and the others here.
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Miloflex Even McKeown doesn't seem to know anything about the Miloflex, but again it's the same design and components as the other ones here.
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Skyflex 2 Sugiyama doesn't identify maker, McKeown says Tougodo. Again, it's the same essential model as all the others.
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Zenoflex VI No one seems to know this one! The nearest similar name is the Zenobiaflex from Dai-ichi, but there's no similarity, so I don't think they're related. Neither Sugiyama nor McKeown even mention it, but it's the same design as the others here - but why "VI"?! |
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Daflex (or "D A Flex") A real rarity - I've never seen another, although the carton says it's a Model II (probably it wasn't in reality - I've concluded that all these names are made up and the batch seems to be homogeneous with no variations but the nameplate). The plate says Daflex, but the box says D A Flex. Could that be short for "District Attorney" - Japanese cameras had some pretty odd names in the 'fifties? I often wondered if some of them weren't down to GI's trying to kid the natives... |
