Idea No.1

This is a work in progress.

The Idea No.1 (アイデア一号) are Japanese plate folders made by Rokuoh-sha, the manufacturing branch of Konishiroku (predecessor of Konica). They exist in meishi (5.5×8cm), daimeishi (6.5×9cm) and tefuda (8×10.5cm) size, and replaced the Idea A and Idea B series in 1923.

See also the other Idea models.

Description

The Idea No.1 models have a mixed construction, with a wooden main body and a metal folding bed. The folding struts are quite large, and there is a handle at the top of the main body. The front standard mainly consists of a U-shaped metal part, and has no visible movement ability. The brilliant finder is attached to the top of the lensboard, straight in the middle. The bellows have single extension, and there is a distance scale on the photographer's left. The name N°1 IDEA is sometimes inscribed at the bottom of the front standard; at least some examples also have an IDEA embossing in the top handle, and an Idea logo on the ground glass hood.

The larger tefuda (8×10.5cm) model has a focusing wheel on the photographer's right, and a rigid brilliant finder covered by a hood.

The smaller meishi (5.5×8cm), then daimeishi (6.5×9cm) model, has no focusing wheel but a lever in front of the lens standard, whose exact purpose is unknown. The brilliant finder is collapsible and has a square window.

Commercial life

Advertisement in Ars Camera November 1924. (Image rights)

Advertisement in Ars Camera June 1926. (Image rights)

Advertisement in Ars Camera December 1926. (Image rights)

Advertisement in Ars Camera February 1927. (Image rights)

Advertisement in Ars Camera May 1927. (Image rights)

Bibliography

• Ars Camera. Advertisement by Konishiroku Honten in November 1924, June and December 1926, February and May 1927. No page numbers.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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). P.538.
• 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 1092–95.
• 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:

• Idea No.1 at Asacame
• Idea No.1 in the first page of the Yamada Camera Museum
• Pages of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website:
  • Idea cameras, with an advertisement for the Idea No.1
  • Idea No.1 in the camera list