This Nifcarette is the first camera that I got 4 years ago for only $15.00, in an attractive flea market in Pittsburgh, USA. It is the starting of my classic cameras collection as well. Although later on I was more focus in cameras manufactured by Eastman Kodak Company, this is a singular Japanese aged camera (circa 1930) made by Nichidoku Shashinki, that according to some specialists, it is the precursor of the well-known Minolta camera.
With the name Nifcarette embossed in the leather cover, this vertical folder camera takes 4×6.5cm exposures on 127 films. It has a shutter Pronto, a prolonged succession of leaf shutters appeared in 1912, modified in 1929 and made by the German company Gauthier . Lens are also imported from Germany, thus only the body was made in Japan.
There are more than a few combinations of shutters and lens according model and year. My camera (Shutter Pronto and Wekar Anastigmat f/6.3 lens) seems to be a Nifcarette 1930 model B, available in four versions. Within model B, there was a dual modification called Sirius Bebe in 1931. Other models are Nifcarette A and Nifcarette D, a simpler version of the previous ones.
The actual price is unclear. I have been looking for one Nifcarette online for the last two months but I couldn’t find any on the market. Regarding the initial price in 1930 (from 30 ¥ to 75¥) to buy a Nifcarette in working condition should be costly. There is a free camera appraisal website (http://www.classic-camera.com/) that can help you determine the value of your camera.
