Difference between revisions of "Baby Pearl"
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== Bibliography == | == Bibliography == | ||
| − | * {{Showa10}} Items 168 and 680. (See also the advertisements for item 170.) | + | * {{Showa10}} Items 168 and 680. (See also the advertisements for item 170 and the picture p. 428.) |
* {{Lewis}} | * {{Lewis}} | ||
* {{McKeown12}} Pp. 537–8. | * {{McKeown12}} Pp. 537–8. | ||
Revision as of 21:29, 25 September 2006
Template:127 Japan The Baby Pearl is a Japanese 3×4 folding camera, made from 1934 to 1950 by Rokuoh-sha, later Konishiroku (the predecessor of Konica).[1]
Body
The Baby Pearl is a vertical folding camera, with curved struts and a folding optical finder. It is inspired by the Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta, but it is not a dead copy. The back is hinged to the left, and there is an advance knob under the body. The bed opening button is close to the advance knob on most examples except the last ones with body release. Film advance is controlled via two red windows in the back. There is a metal part between the two red windows that could be a sliding cover or some element of the pressure plate. It is said that the camera was revised in 1935, but the nature of the modifications is unknown.[2] The above description applies to post-1935 cameras.
The camera is embossed BABY PEARL in the leather covering, and it has been observed with black or metal trimming. It is said that the chrome trim was available from 1938.[3]
Shutter
The shutter is a Rox, made by Rokuoh-sha, later Konishiroku, and giving B, 25, 50, 100 speeds. The speed is selected by a small lever on top of the shutter housing. The Rox shutter is usually everset, but the last postwar examples have a cocking shutter and a body release and bed opening button symmetrically placed around the viewfinder.[4]
The shutter plate is marked ROX at the top and Rokuoh-sha or Konishiroku at the bottom. The company changed its name in 1943, and it is said that all the postwar examples are marked Konishiroku while all the prewar ones are marked Rokuoh-sha.[5] The lens and shutter markings usually match, but at least one example has been observed[6] with a Konishiroku lens and a Rokuoh-sha shutter, maybe not original.
Lens
An advertisement dated January 1939[7] gives four lens options:
The f:3.8 lens is said to have been introduced in 1937.[9] Advertisements dated May and September 1939[10] only list the Optor lenses. It is probable that the Optor was a triplet and the Hexar a Tessar-type four element lens. The lens bezels are chrome or black, it seems that the black ones are only found on prewar examples.
The Baby Pearl is usually observed with a 50/4.5. Here are the lens markings observed so far:
- Rokuoh-sha NoXXXXX Optor 1:4.5 f=50mm;
- Rokuoh-sha NoXXXXX Hexar Ser.1 1:4.5 f=50mm;
- Konishiroku NoXXXXX Hexar 1:4.5 f=50mm.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Miyazaki, pp. 10–3.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338.
- ↑ Miyazaki, p. 12–3, with a picture of a Baby Pearl equipped with a body release.
- ↑ Miyazaki, p. 12–3.
- ↑ In a Yahoo Japan auction.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 82.
- ↑ This price is barely legible.
- ↑ Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 338.
- ↑ Advertisements published in Asahi Camera, 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. Items 168 and 680. (See also the advertisements for item 170 and the picture p. 428.)
- 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).
- 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). Pp. 537–8.
- Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X.
Links
In Japanese:
- A-Z 127 film cameras at Asacame, with the Baby Pearl on this page
- The Baby Pearl in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
- Baby Pearl, small picture at Ken's website
- Baby Pearl specs and picture at the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website
