Japanese 4.5×6 folders
Between the 1930s and the 1950s, a good number of Japanese companies, some of them very small, produced a quantity of 4.5×6 folders.
Prewar and wartime
Inspirations
Many 4.5×6 folder models appeared before the war, but most of them were copies of German designs. The Ikonta, Nettar and Baldax were the most successful German models are were copied most often.
The Ikonta appeared in 1932 and was the first camera to take 4.5×6 exposures on 120 film. It was directly copied by Prince for the Semi Prince and was the inspiration for the Semi Minolta by Molta (one of the first cameras to have the Minolta name), both launched in 1934 and disputing the distinction of being the first Japanese 4.5×6 camera.
The Baldax appeared in 1933 and existed in two body variants, for #00 size and #0 size shutters, and the large variant also existed in 6×6. The first Japanese copy was probably the Semi Proud by Proud-sha in 1935. The body of the Semi Proud was sold to Takachiho for the Semi Olympus (I) released in 1936 or 1937, the first camera to have the Olympus name and one of the first Japanese folders to have a four element lens.
Main trends
Most 4.5×6 folders have a vertical folding body. The viewfinder is usually on the left as seen by the photographer holding the camera vertically. This makes it easier to hold the camera in the right hand.
The first generation of Japanese 4.5×6 folders had the shutter release on the lens housing itself. Most of them were upgraded at some time with a "body release", that is a release button located on the body and mechanically linked to the shutter. The body release is usually located near the hinge of the folding bed, and thus it is tripped by the left hand fingers.
Most prewar models were equipped a folding optical finder, making it large enough without being a bulk. Some cameras had a tubular optical finder and a limited number had a top housing containing the viewfinder. There was a short-lived vogue at the beginning of the 1940s to make dual finder models having both an eye-level finder and a brilliant finder, often place side by side in a small housing.
The first models had two red windows in the back, placed to match the series of numbers intended for 6×9 format, each number having to be read twice, once in a window then in the other. On a few early models these windows had no protective cover. However the use of panchromatic emulsions was becoming more common and these were rapidly upgraded with red window covers. After a few years the film makers began to sell 120 rollfilm with another series of numbers specific to the 4.5×6 format, and the camera makers sold enhanced models with only one red window. It seems that one of the first Japanese 4.5×6 cameras to have a single red window was the Semi Condor in 1939.
Postwar period
After the war, many models switched from a folding optical finder to a viewfinder enclosed in a top housing, giving a more modern look. The Baldax copies became rare and most models now had a body styled after the Ikonta. Some makers, like Daido or Mihama, made both 4.5×6 and 6×6 models, but the 4.5×6 folders tended to be abandoned first. In general they were considered to be cheaper models, and very few received the advanced features of the last Japanese folders, like the coupled rangefinder or automatic film advance. An exception was the Pearl III by Konishiroku; and its successor the Pearl IV had one of the most advanced designs for any format of folder.
By about 1960, all the Japanese 4.5×6 folders had disappeared. In the 1970s, Fuji unexpectedly launched a 4.5×6 folder again, the rangefinder Fujica GS645. It was the last 4.5×6 folder produced in any country. The later autofocus Fuji GA645 and the rangefinder Bronica RF645 descend in some way from the early 4.5×6 folders, but they no longer have bellows.
