Focabell

Focabell-A with Mirax-B reflex housing and Supreme 10.5cm f/2.8 lens head. Picture courtesy of eBayer toolchest. (Image rights).

The Focabell (フォーカベル) is a bellows system, made by Orion Seiki and later Miranda Camera. It originally formed a system with the Mirax reflex housing and Supreme lens head, but it was also offered for other SLR cameras, and finally became part of the Miranda SLR system.

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 normally a Focabell nameplate screwed to the focusing stage, with the company name Orion Camera Co. or Miranda Camera Co., and another plate screwed further to the rear, with the serial number and the words Made in Japan. Isolated examples are known without the rear plate, and even with a simple Bell engraving on the front plate. 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. The Focabell was thus released in late 1952 or early 1953. The name was certainly derived from "Focusing Bellows". The original version has Orion Camera Co. markings, lever locks on the left-hand side and no bayonet mount.

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. 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, actually Leica screw mount) and "close-up sliding support" (複写滑走盤, i.e. Focaslide).

Advertisements by Matsushima in Asahi Camera November 1953. (Image rights).

In addition to the advertisement by Summit, the November 1953 issue of Asahi Camera also contains an advertisement by Matsushima, perhaps indicating that Orion changed its main distributor. The document gives a short price list:

• model A, for Mirax, ¥12,000;
• model B, for "Telyt" (Visoflex), ¥13,500;
• model C, for Exakta, ¥15,000.

Advertisements by Matsushima in Asahi Camera. Top left: January, February and August 1955. Top right: March 1955. Bottom: April 1955. (Image rights).

Matsushima continued to distribute the Mirax and Focabell for some time, and advertisements are found in the January to April 1955 issues of Asahi Camera, and again in August.

Advertisement by Matsushima in the June 1955 special issue of Photo Art. (Image rights).

The June 1955 special issue of Photo Art contains a full-page advertisement by Matsushima, which also mentions the manufacturer's name Orion Seiki, and describes the Focabell on two places, including a full price list:

• model A, for Mirax, ¥12,000;
• model B, for "Telyt box" (Visoflex), ¥13,500;
• model C, for Exakta, ¥15,000;
• model D, for Contax S, ¥14,000;
• model E, for Reflex-Korelle (small mount), ¥14,000;
• model E', for Reflex-Korelle (large mount), ¥19,000;
• model F, for Meister-Korelle, ¥19,000;
• model G, for Primarflex (bayonet mount), ¥19,000;
• model H, for Asahiflex, ¥13,500;
• model I, for Hasselblad, ¥19,700;
• model J, for Rectaflex, ¥15,000.

Focabell-H with Supreme 10.5cm f/2.8 lens head, on an Asahiflex. From the front cover of Shashin Kōgyō July 1954. (Image rights).

Column in the June 1955 special issue of Photo Art. (Image rights).

These early Focabell were sold in a beautiful red box, similar to that of the Mirax and Supreme lenses, with FOCABELL and the name of the lens mount inscribed on the lid. That for the Focabell-G is curiously marked PRIMA REFLEX instead of "Primarflex" or "Primar Reflex".

Orion Focabell-A bellows no.531018 (single mount) with Mirax-B and Supreme-C 10.5cm f/2.8 lens head. Pictures courtesy of Igor's Camera Exchange. (Image rights).

Into the Miranda system

The production of the Focabell continued after the introduction of the Miranda SLR, for which it was the standard bellows system. The Orion Camera Co. marking was changed to Miranda Camera Co. when the company name was changed from Orion Seiki to Miranda Camera. It is said that the external bayonet mount was only added after the adoption of the new markings. The unit pictured below corresponds to that version, with Miranda markings, lever locks and dual mount. (It is later than the Mirax-B and Supreme lens head pictured with it.)

Miranda Focabell-A bellows (dual mount) with Orion Mirax-B and Supreme-C 10.5cm f/2.8 lens head. Pictures courtesy of eBayer toolchest (Image rights).

At the period, the Focabell was fully integrated into the Miranda system, and it is not known if it was still offered for other camera mounts as well. The standard lens head became the Soligor Miranda 135mm f/3.5. The bellows was now supplied in a red cardboard box, less luxuous than the previous jewel case, inscribed FOCABELL and MIRANDA CAMERA CO. LTD., TOKYO on the lid.

The next step was the addition of a magnification scale between the two rails. The scale gives both the magnifying ratio and the distance in feet. The scale is graduated for a 50mm standard lens on one side, and for the short barrel 135mm f/3.5 on the other side (inscribed f=135mm Short Barrel). This short barrel lens replaced the Supreme 10.5cm f/2.8 lens head, and was certainly introduced simultaneously with this version of the Focabell.

The final version of the dual-rail Focabell has wheels instead of levers on the left-hand side, to lock the three sliding standards.

Single-rail Focabell

The robust dual-rail Focabell was substituted by flimsier single-rail models at some time. Many variations exist, most of which have a folding rail. Some are pictured in this page of the Miranda Historical Society. The last version was called Focabell-S.

Bibliography

• Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Summit Shōkai in September 1953 (p.190), October 1953 (p.217) and November 1953 (p.194).
• Asahi Camera. Advertisements by the photo department of Matsushima in November 1953 (p.59), January 1955 (p.229), February 1955 (p.190), March 1955 (p.180), April 1955 (p.211) and August 1955 (p.206).
• 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.
• Photo Art rinji zōkan: Kamera no chishiki (フォトアート臨時増刊・カメラの知識, Photo Art special issue: Knowledge of cameras). October 1955, no.87 of the magazine. "Kakubu no kikō to sono sōsa. 14: Kamera ni toritsukeru akusesarī no chishiki. Renzu zenmen ni. b: Hojo satsuei kigu, renzu." (各部の機構とその操作・14・カメラに取付けるアクセサリーの知識・レンズ前面に・b・補助撮影器具・レンズ. Mechanism and operation of all the parts. 14: Knowledge of the accessories attached to the camera. In front of the lens. b: Accessory photographic instruments, lenses.) P.47. (Short mention only, with a small picture.)
• Shashin Kōgyō no.26, July 1954. Picture on the front cover.

Links

In English:

• Pages of the Miranda Historical Society:
  • 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
• Focabell-G for Primarflex in Koujiya Camera's blog