B Pearlette
The B Pearlette or Pearlette B is a Japanese folding camera taking 4×6.5cm exposures on 127 film. It was released by Konishiroku (predecessor of Konica) at the end of 1935.[1]
Contents
Description of the body
Despite its name, the B Pearlette has nothing in common with the strut-folding Pearlette. It is a cheaper camera, self-erecting with a folding bed. The body has a sharp octogonal profile and there is a folding frame finder attached to the side. The back is hinged to the bottom. There is a nameplate attached to the top of the lens standard, marked Pearlette. B or B. Pearlette depending on the examples.[2]
Lens and shutter equipment
The shutter is an everset Primer giving B, 25, 50, 100 speeds selected by an index at the top. The shutter plate is black, marked Primer at the top and ROKUOH-SHA at the bottom. The lens is a simple meniscus and the aperture scale is at the bottom, marked U.S. with 16, 32, 64 settings (corresponding to f/16, f/22 and f/32 in the usual aperture scale).
Advertising
The camera was featured in the new products column of the November 1935 issue of Asahi Camera and briefly advertised at the end of 1935.[3] An advertisement dated December 1935[4] lists the camera as the B Pearlette, for ¥9.50.
Notes
- ↑ Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338.
- ↑ See Sugiyama items 1147 and 1148 for one example of each.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338.
- ↑ Published in Photo Times, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 82.
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 171.
- 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). P. 49 (brief mention only).
- 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. 544.
- 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. Item 1147–8.
