Notes

The Primo Jr., released in 1958 by Tokyo Optical Co. (better known as Topcon), is widely celebrated as one of the absolute finest examples of a baby twin-lens reflex (TLR) camera ever manufactured. During the late 1950s, a sudden and passionate industry trend emerged surrounding the 4×4 super-slide format, kicked off by the release of the Rolleiflex 4×4 (the famous Grey Baby Rollei). Tokyo Optical responded by pouring their highest-tier engineering and optical expertise into a scaled-down masterpiece to beat the German competition.

The Primo Jr. is designed around 127 roll film, producing twelve square exposures that measure 4 by 4 centimeters. In the late 1950s, this was marketed as the super-slide format. The brilliant trick was that a 4×4 centimeter transparency film slide could be mounted in a standard 2 by 2 inch cardboard frame, meaning photographers could project massive, incredibly detailed medium-format images using a standard, cheap 35mm slide projector. For modern film collectors, shooting a Primo Jr. means sourcing specialized 127 film or utilizing a film slitter to slice standard 120 roll film down to the correct width.

Depending on where you find a working model today, the Primo Jr. might be hiding under a completely different nameplate. While sold natively in Japan as the Primo Jr., Tokyo Optical struck an exclusive distribution deal with the powerful marketing firm Beseler in the United States. Because of this, the exact same camera was imported to the American market rebranded as the Sawyers Mark IV. Both variants are identical under the skin, sporting the same brilliant Topcor glass and heavy, die-cast metal construction.