Crown shutter
The Crown are Japanese leaf shutters made by Molta Shōkai, then Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (the predecessors of Minolta), in the 1930s and early 1940s. They exist in many models and in three different sizes.
Contents
Crown in #0 size
The Crown first appeared as an everset shutter in #0 size, successor of the Lidex. Three versions were made, differing by the range of speeds and by the presence or absence of a self-timer. On all three, the release lever is at the top left (as seen from the front). The early shutter plate is all black, with the name CROWN engraved at the bottom, the words Patents(J.N.)–Pending then Patents–Nippon engraved at the top, and an MTS logo on the right. The late shutter plate has three metal stripes on each side, the words PATENTS–NIPPON in capital letters at the top and no MTS logo; the name CROWN is now inscribed on a larger aperture scale screwed to the bottom.
The Crown A, mounted on the Minolta and Auto Minolta, gives T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 speeds and has no self-timer.
Crown A on the Auto Minolta. Left: old shutter plate. Picture courtesy of S. Montagna. (Image rights) Right: new shutter plate. Picture courtesy of A. Apra. (Image rights) |
The Crown B has a slightly reduced speed range, omitting the 1s and 1/2s settings, and the Crown S is similar with an added self-timer. They were mounted on the Happy and on the Minolta Six; the latter always has the newer shutter plate.
Crown B on the Happy. Left: old shutter plate. Right: new shutter plate. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights) |
The Crown C is a simplified version giving T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds, only mounted on the Minolta Six and only known with the newer shutter plate.
Crown shutter on the Minolta Six. From left to right: Crown C, Crown B and Crown S. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights) |
Crown in #00 size
The Crown shutter was released in #00 size for the Semi Minolta.
The Crown E
The Crown E was mounted on the original Semi Minolta. It is everset, with the release lever at the top left (as seen from the front), and has a small disc acting as an exposure counter. This disc advances each time the release is tripped and it can be manually reset. It is graduated from 1 to 8 with an intermediate stop between two consecutive numbers so that each number is used twice, as it appears in the red windows. The disc makes two full turns during the 16 exposures and each numbered position is shared by two numbers: 5/1, 6/2, 7/3 and 8/4. The patent for this device was filed on April 16, 1934 and published on October 13 of the same year.[1]
Crown E on the original Semi Minolta. Left: 1/100 top speed, early shutter plate. Right: 1/200 top speed, late shutter plate. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights) |
The Crown E exists in two versions: the early one gives T, B, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 speeds, and the late one adding 1/200 top speed. The shutter plate evolved the same as on the #0 size models: all the examples with 1/100 top speed and most examples with 1/200 top speed have a black shutter plate, engraved Patents–Nippon at the top and CROWN at the bottom, and having an MTS logo on the right. The late examples with 1/200 top speed have a newer shutter plate with three metal stripes on each side, the words PATENT–NIPPON at the top and CROWN at the bottom in block letters, and no MTS logo.
The Crown B
The Crown B in #00 size was mounted on the Semi Minolta II. The release lever has moved to the bottom left, to fit the body release mechanism, and the exposure counter disc has been removed; the range of speeds (T, B, 5–200) and the design of the shutter plate are the same as on the late Crown E. The Crown B in #00 size only exists with the newer shutter plate, and the plating of the speed rim switched from nickel to chromium at some time. The very late examples are not everset any more, and have a cocking lever added to the top left.
Crown B on the Semi Minolta II. Left: everset, nickel plated. Middle: everset, chrome plated. Pictures courtesy of eBayer hbpartner. (Image rights) Right: with cocking lever. Picture courtesy of Jamie Bushley from www.virtualcameramuseum.com. (Image rights) |
Crown-Rapid, in #0 and #1 size
Other versions
To be continued.
List of cameras equipped (not exhaustive, and not implying that all the versions have a Crown shutter):
Notes
- ↑ Patent reproduced in Tanimura, pp.5–7 of Camera Collectors' News no.131. An extract is also reproduced on p.19 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
Bibliography
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Minolta I-gata gaibun." (セミミノルタⅠ型外聞, "Things heard about the Semi Minolta I") In Camera Collectors' News no.131 (May 1988). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
- 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.