 Takayama usually used a "vest-pocket" Kodak camera (a very compact folding model taking 127 film) with a single-element lens (a "tangyoku" lens in Japanese).These cameras (and Japanese derivatives such as the Rokuoh-sha Pearlette and Minolta Vest) were popular in Japan at the time for snapshot use, and called "ves-tan" (ベス単, in Japanese pronunciation "besutan") cameras; "ves" coming from "vest" and "tan" from "tangyoku.