Focabell
The Focabell (フォーカベル) is a bellows system, made by Orion Seiki and later Miranda Camera.
Dual-rail Focabell
Description
The original Focabell is a robust dual-rail bellows assembly. It has three sliding standards, individually locked by a lever or by a knob on the left. The rear standard holds the rear end of the bellows and the rear mount, which can rotate 90 degrees for vertical pictures. The middle standard is for the tripod thread. The front standard holds a focusing stage, controlled by a knob on the right for fine focusing, and supporting the front end of the bellows with the front lens mount.
There is a Focabell nameplate screwed to the focusing stage, with the company name Orion Camera Co. or Miranda Camera Co. Another plate screwed further to the rear has the serial number and the words Made in Japan. Known numbers have six digits, of which the first two might correspond to the year of production.
Early commercial life
The Focabell was released by Orion Seiki some time after the Mirax reflex housing. An article in the June 1952 issue of Shashin Kōgyō by Ogihara Akira, founder of the company, says that a bellows system was planned for the near future.[1] The Focabell was thus released in late 1952 or early 1953. The name was certainly derived from "Focusing Bellows".[2]
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| Advertisements by Summit Shōkai in Asahi Camera September 1953. (Those dated October and November 1953 are nearly identical.) (Image rights). |
The Focabell appears in advertisements placed by the distributor Summit Shōkai in the September to November 1953 issues of Asahi Camera.[3] A long list of lens mounts is provided: Mirax, Exakta, Asahiflex, Primarflex, Meister Korelle, Reflex Korelle, Contax S, "Telyt box" (i.e. PLOOT / Visoflex I) and "close-up sliding support" (複写滑走盤, i.e. Focaslide).
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Summit Shōkai in September 1953 (p.190), October 1953 (p.217) and November 1953 (p.194).
- Asahi Camera. Advertisement by the photo department of Matsushima in November 1953 (p.59).
- Ogihara Akira (荻原彰). "Mirakkusu ni tsuite" (ミラックスについて, About the Mirax). In Shashin Kōgyō no.1, June 1952. Pp.26–7. (Briefly mentions a bellows system under development.)
- Photo Art rinji zōkan: Kamera akusesarī zensho (フォトアート臨時増刊・カメラアクセサリー全書, Photo Art special issue: All the camera accessories). June 1955, no.80 of the magazine.
- Advertisement by the photo department of Matsushima Megane-ten on p.22.
- "Zukai: Akusesarī no mekanikku. 12: Bōen, sessha, fukusha sōchi. Mirakkusu to Fōkaberu." (図解・アクセサリーのメカニック・12・望遠・接写・複写装置・ミラックスとフォーカベル. Drawings: accessory mechanisms. 12: Telephoto, close-up and reproduction devices. Mirax and Focabell.) P.51.
- "Shashin no kaimi wa sessha to bōen satsuei kara: Purokusā, Ōtoappu, Refubokkusu, sonota." (写真の快味は接写と望遠撮影から・プロクサー・オートアップ・レフボックス・その他, Because the appeal of photography comes with close-up and telephoto pictures: Proxar, Auto-Up, reflex housing, etc.) Pp.118–20.
Links
In English:
- Pages of the Miranda Camera website:
- Focabell bellows system
- Focabell and Mirax outfit among rare items
In Japanese:
- Pages of the Miranda Society Japan:
- Focabell bellows system
- Focabell among macro lenses
- Text-only details on the Focabell among telephoto lenses
