Idea B and Idea Snap

This is a work in progress.

The Pocket Idea B (ポケットアイデアB号), Idea B (アイデアB号) and Idea Snap (アイデアスナップ) are Japanese plate folders made by Rokuoh-sha, the manufacturing branch of Konishi or Konishiroku (predecessors of Konica). The Pocket Idea B was first released in tefuda size (8×10.5cm), and later evolved as the Idea B. A smaller Idea B model was also released in meishi size (5.5×8cm), along with the cheaper Idea Snap. All these cameras were cheaper alternatives to the Idea A series, and both lines were replaced in 1923 by the Idea No.1.

See also the other Idea models.

The tefuda models

Description

The tefuda models have an all-wooden vertically folding body, with a handle at the top. The bellows have single extension, and there is a distance scale on the photographer's left. Variations are known in the shape of the folding struts, of which at least three types exist — straight, thin and large. The front standard has two masts supporting the lensboard, and allows vertical movements only. There is a brilliant finder attached to the folding bed, to the photographer's left, with a retracting hood. The Pocket Idea B has a small POCKET IDEA nameplate attached to the base of the lens standard.

Pocket Idea B

It is said that the Pocket Idea B was introduced in August 1909, together with the Pocket Idea A1.

In the December 1911 catalogue by Konishi Honten, the camera is called "Idea Pocket Hand Camera" in English and "Pocket Idea Camera B Hand Camera" (ポケット、アイデヤ、カメラB號手提暗箱) in Japanese script. It is offered for ¥15 with a rapid meniscus lens (迅速単玉), a simple Time and Instant shutter, and three double-sided plate holders. In the illustration, the camera has straight folding struts with an apparent spring, and has a square lensboard.

It is said that the camera was modified in March 1916 with a shutter made by the company itself; at least one original illustration also suggests that the folding struts were modified with a thinner shape. Surviving examples are known with the words MANUFACTURED BY ROKUOH-SHA TOKYO inscribed on the shutter plate, around the lens, and sometimes with the RK logo of Rokuoh-sha on the T, B, I speed dial. The aperture scale is graduated in the Uniform Scale, from US 4 to US 64 (i.e. f/8 to f/32).

Idea B

It is said that the camera became the Idea B (アイデアB号) in July 1920, with a revised rounded lensboard. An advertisement dated 1922 for the "Idea B" mentions the ability to take film plates or a film pack, and offers two versions:

• meniscus (単玉) lens, Ultex shutter, ¥28;
• RR lens, Ultex shutter, ¥32.

The camera comes with three double-sided plate holders and a case, and the film pack holder is offered as an accessory for ¥6.50.

Surviving examples are known with the newer lensboard, larger folding struts, and a round The Idea nameplate on the left. They have the following lens and shutter combinations:

• unknown lens, Ultex shutter (T, B, 100, 50, 25);
• Wollensak Rapid Rectilinear lens, Deltax shutter (T, B, 100, 50, 25).

These cameras do retain the POCKET IDEA nameplate; the name change perhaps applied to the catalogues and advertisements only, and was perhaps not followed by a change in the camera markings.

Bibliography

• Kikuoka Sei (菊岡清). "Konica history 3. Meiji 41-nen – Taishō 12-nen." (Konica history 3. 明治41年–大正12年. From Meiji year 41 (1908) to Taishō year 12 (1923).) 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.24–32.
• Konishi Honten. Saishin Shashin Kikai Mokuroku (最新写真器械目録, Latest catalogue of photographic apparatus). Published on December 18, 1911. Recent reprint.
• 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.23.
• 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. Items 1083–4 (misidentified as "Pocket Idea A-1").
• Tanaka Yoshirō (田中芳郎). "Meiji–Taishō jidai no Konishi Honten no kamera wo shiru tame no hon" (明治・大正時代の小西本店のカメラを知るための本, Books about the Konishi Honten cameras of the Meiji and Taishō eras). 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.92–4.

Links

In Japanese:

• Pocket Idea B in Neco's camera collection, with more pictures here, here and here
• Idea Snap in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Pages of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website:
  • Idea cameras, with enlarged illustrations of the Pocket Idea B, Idea B (tefuda) and Idea Snap
  • Shutter of the Pocket Idea B
  • Pocket Idea B, Idea B (meishi) and Idea B (tefuda) in the camera list