Auto Semi Minolta
The Auto Semi Minolta (オート・セミ・ミノルタ) is a Japanese 4.5×6 folding rangefinder camera, released in 1937 and offered at least until 1942.[1] It was made by Chiyoda Kōgaku (the predecessor of Minolta) and distributed by Asanuma Shōkai. This camera was inspired by the Weltur and it is completely different from the viewfinder Semi Minolta, with which it only shares a few parts.
Contents
Description
The body of the Auto Semi Minolta is largely copied from the Welta Weltur, in particular the folding struts and the focusing system are identical. The focusing is controlled by a small knob placed on the right of the folding bed, moving the whole lens and shutter assembly (unit focusing).
The range- and viewfinder is contained under a top housing, whose shape is again inspired by the Weltur. Both devices are combined and share the same eyepiece at the right end of the camera. The Auto Semi Minolta was certainly the first serial-produced Japanese camera to have a combined range and viewfinder, only preceded by the Olympus Standard and perhaps the Lord prototypes.
The name Minolta is engraved between the rectangular viewfinder window and the round rangefinder window. The same Minolta engraving is present on a small black plate inside the folding bed, covering the focusing mechanism. Above the top housing there is an Auto Semi engraving, the serial number and an accessory shoe. The front leather is embossed Minolta.
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| Film advance mechanism, with close-ups of the unlock button and folding bed release. (Image rights) |
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The Auto Semi Minolta has an automatic film advance device inspired by Plaubel products like the Roll-Op folder or the rollfilm backs of the Makina. It is placed in a housing at the right end of the bottom plate, near the back latch. This housing supports a big advance knob and a large and thin exposure counter disc, with 1 to 16 graduations facing a red-dotted index. On the back, there is a sliding button to unlock film advance, and the same housing also supports the folding bed release. The case of the Auto Semi Minolta has a flap to cover the advance knob and exposure counter.[2]
Back view
(Image rights)
The tripod screw is located at the opposite end of the bottom plate. The back is hinged to the left, with a red window protected by a vertically sliding cover, probably used to set the first exposure. The film chamber contains two pivoting cradles, one on each side, maintaining the film spools in place.
All the cameras have a Promar 75mm f/3.5 lens, said to be made by Asahi Kōgaku like the Coronar lens of the Semi Minolta.[3] The aperture scale is screwed to the bottom of the shutter plate.
Evolution
The Auto Semi Minolta somewhat evolved during its production run. The shutter was first a Compur then a Crown II made by Chiyoda itself. The use of an imported Compur at the beginning probably indicates that the company was not yet ready to make the Crown II when the camera was released.
Compur shutter
Auto Semi Minolta n°4606, Promar Anastigmat Nippon f/4.5 lens, Compur shutter, early back latch.
Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights)
Front view showing the peculiar shutter release.
Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights)
On the first version, the shutter is a Compur S with T, B, 1–250 speeds and a self-timer, and the shutter release is on the folding bed. The shutter plate is engraved as usual Deckel-München at the top and COMPUR at the bottom, with an FD logo (for Friedrich Deckel) on the right. The advance knob has a convex top and a single grooved row.
This version is pictured in advertisements dated October and November 1937 and January and March 1938.[4]
Crown shutter
Auto Semi Minolta n°7208, Promar Anastigmat Nippon f/4.5 lens, Crown shutter, no self-timer, early back latch.
Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights)
The second version has a Crown shutter giving T, B, 1–400 speeds. The shutter release has moved to the top plate, above the hinge of the folding bed. This version appears in advertisements dated January, July and November 1939 and April 1940.[5]
The shutter is consistently advertised as a Crown II. It is externally a copy of the Compur-Rapid and it is probable that the mechanism is too. The speed rim is engraved CROWN–RAPID and the shutter plate is marked CROWNII–TIYOKO at the top. Tiyoko is an alternate writing for Chiyoko, itself an abbreviation of the company name Chiyoda Kōgaku.
Advance knob, old and new type.
(Image rights)
The camera usually has a self-timer exactly similar to the one mounted on the Compur. Of the advertisements cited above, only the one dated January 1939 does not explicitly mention this device. However at least two examples are known without the self-timer button (one is pictured in this page). In both cases, the hole in the shutter housing is present and it seems that the part is simply broken.[6]
Supply spool cradle,
old and new type.
(Image rights)
Most examples have a new type of advance knob with a flatter top and three grooved rows, but one is known with the old type of knob.[7] Minor variations are known in the folding bed release button (striated or flat tip) but they perhaps occurred independently.
Inside the camera, the cradle for the supply spool is different from the corresponding part in the Compur model. It also seems that the actual size of the picture frame was slightly reduced (from 44×58mm to 43×57mm). It would be further reduced on later examples, to 42×55mm. It is possible that edge sharpness was considered insufficient and that the image size was slightly cropped as a result.
New back latch
Auto Semi Minolta n°14792, Promar Nippon f/4.5 lens, Crown shutter, self-timer, late back latch.
The shutter's synch post is perhaps not original.
Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights)
Back latch, old and new type (seen from behind).
(Image rights)
The third version has a modified back opening and no holding strap. These parts were presumably modified in mid-1940, at the same time as the back latch of the Semi Minolta II. This version is pictured in an advertisement dated March 1942.[8] The shutter is advertised as a Crown RS but it has identical CROWNII markings and no apparent modifications.
One example has been observed[9] without the CROWNII and TIYOKO markings (only the intermediate hyphen is present), but it also seems to have an incomplete lens engraving and it surely left the factory by mistake with unfinished markings.
Like for the Semi Minolta II, the lens engraving was changed at some time from Promar Anastigmat Nippon to Promar Nippon.
A late example, pictured in this page, is known with a synchronized shutter and a PC synch. It is not known if this is original.[10] The speed rim is unmarked on this example.
Price
The price was ¥195 in late 1937 and early 1938, ¥210 in early 1939, ¥255 in late 1939 and ¥290 in 1942. The Auto Semi Minolta was among the most expensive Japanese cameras (see Japanese prices).
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342. The Auto Semi Minolta was featured in the new products column of the November 1937 issue of Asahi Camera.
- ↑ See the pictures in this page at With Zakka.
- ↑ Lewis, p. 182.
- ↑ October 1937 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Tanimura, p. 12 of Camera Collectors' News no. 118 and p. 21 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 12.
November 1937 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 97.
January 1938 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Tanimura, p. 15 of Camera Collectors' News no. 118.
March 1938 advertisement published in the 23 March 1938 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. The shutter type is sometimes faintly recognizable. - ↑ January 1939 advertisement published in the 5 January 1939 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in Gochamaze. (The shutter type is faintly recognizable.)
July 1939 advertisement published in the 26 July 1939 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in Gochamaze.
November 1939 advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 98.
April 1940 advertisement published in the 17 April 1940 issue of Asahi Graph, reproduced in Gochamaze. - ↑ Something similar occurs with the exposure counter index. Tanimura says in Camera Collectors' News no. 118 that the Crown model has a black painted dot instead of the protruding red-dotted pin, but it seems that the part is actually missing in the example pictured and that the black dot is the attaching hole.
- ↑ Example with old type of knob pictured in this page at kefk.net.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Hōdō Shashin, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 98. Another advertisement probably dated 1942 is reproduced in Nostalgic Camera by Toshio Inamura.
- ↑ In an eBay auction.
- ↑ Francesch, p. 81, says that a magnesic flash was sold as an accessory but this is unconfirmed.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Item 275. (See also the pictures on pp. 11 and 425.)
- Francesch, Dominique and Jean-Paul. Histoire de l'appareil photographique Minolta de 1929 à 1985. Paris: Dessain et Tolra, 1985. ISBN 2-249-27685-4.
- Fujioka Shunichirō (藤岡俊一郎). "<Ōto semi minoruta> bunkai-ki" (<オートセミミノルタ>分解記, "'Auto Semi Minolta' dismantling notes"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.76, June 2005. ISBN 4-257-13078-4. Kurashikku kamera katachi to kinō 'supuringu kamera hen' (クラシックカメラ形と機能「スプリングカメラ編」, special issue on spring cameras). Pp. 116–21.
- The Japanese Historical Camera. 日本の歴史的カメラ (Nihon no rekishiteki kamera). 2nd ed. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2004. P. 32.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). Pp. 54 and 182.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 672.
- Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 9.
- Scheibel, Anni Rita and Joseph. 70 Jahre Minolta Kameratechnik — Von der Nifcalette bis zur Dynax 9. Stuttgart: Lindemanns Verlag, 3rd edition, 1999. ISBN 3-89506-191-3. Pp. 24–5.
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Items 1205–1206.
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Supuringu kamera <semi minoruta>" (スプリングカメラ<セミミノルタ>, "'Semi Minolta' self-erecting camera"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp. 19–24.
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Minolta I-gata to II-gata (sono 2)." (セミミノルタⅠ型とⅡ型(その2), "Semi Minolta I and II (part 2)") In Camera Collectors' News no. 118 (April 1987). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
Links
General links
In English:
In German:
In Japanese:
- Auto Semi Minolta in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
- Auto Semi Minolta at With Zakka
- Auto Semi Minolta in the Map Camera Museum
- Auto Semi Minolta in the Kitamura Camera Museum
Original documents
In Japanese:
- Advertisements reproduced in the Gochamaze website:
- Advertisement for the Minolta range published in the 23 March 1938 issue of Asahi Graph
- Advertisement for the Auto Semi Minolta published in the 5 January 1939 issue of Asahi Graph
- Advertisements for the Auto Semi Minolta published in the 26 July 1939 and 17 April 1940 issues of Asahi Graph
- Advertisement for the Auto Semi Minolta published between 1942 and 1945, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page by Toshio Inamura.
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