Koniflex

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The Koniflex is a 6×6 TLR produced by Konishiroku in the early 1950s.

The Koniflex is slightly unusual in its 85mm lenses (rather than the customary 75–80mm). The View Hexar viewing lens is f/3.0 (and, thanks to a condenser, the screen is fairly bright); the taking lens is a Hexanon f/3.5 with five elements in three groups, said to be similar in design and characteristics to the Voigtländer Heliar.[1] The entire lens assembly moves in order to focus. One can focus "beyond infinity" in order to retract the lens assembly further within the body; this not only saves some space but also locks the shutter. (When focusing, there is a tangible "click" as one passes the infinity setting, so there is little or no danger of accidentally misfocusing.)

The shutter is a Seikosha-Rapid (B, 1–400).

The Koniflex uses semi-automatic film advance (unusually, for either 120 or 620 film); you align the start mark against two red dots, close the back, and use a knob on the right[2] to wind until winding stops as "1" appears in a small window on the left; after cocking and firing the shutter (below and to below and to the left of the taking lens respectively), you press the button within the wind knob, release it, and wind on till stopped as "2" appears in the window — and so forth.

An accessory shoe is on the left. The finder hood contains a large magnifying glass and the front of the hood can be flipped out of the way to create a sports finder.

The original Koniflex (sometimes referred to as Koniflex I) was released at the end of 1952. It has a Kodak-style flash terminal. Its dimensions when closed are 145(H)×98(W)×104(D) mm., and it weighs 960g; it takes 39.5mm screw or 40.5mm push-on filters.[3] It was priced at ¥47,000, unusually high for a TLR.

Minor improvements were made in mid-1955: baffles to cut internal reflections, a double exposure lock (with override at the front centre of the left-hand side), and an improved catch to hold the back closed. The flash terminal is now PC. (This camera is now often referred to as the Koniflex II; Konishiroku did not call it this at the time, and the nameplates of both versions simply say KONIFLEX.) With the release of the improved version, the price of the original was dropped to ¥41,500.[4] Later examples of this improved version had further refinements to the finder.[5]

A small number of the later Koniflex models was exported to north America and sold, as a Tele-Koniflex, together with an attachment lens set. The taking lens is a Hexanon 135/4.5; the viewing lens a View Tele-Hexar 135/4. The lens set has the same serial number as the body for which it was intended.[6]

The Koniflex was the only 6×6 TLR that Konishiroku ever sold. (It had created a prototype "Sakura-flex" in 1940.[7]) Stock of the Koniflex ran out in 1958, by which time its price had sunk to ¥32,000. Total production was less than 13,000.[8]

Konishiroku used the name Koniflex-35 for a prototype 35mm SLR that it completed in 1957 but that it never put into production:[9] the first SLR it would market would be the Konica F.

Notes

  1. Heliar comparison: Nakajima.
  2. "Left" and "right" in this discussion are from the point of view of the photographer taking a photograph.
  3. Hagiya, p. 128.
  4. Miyazaki, p. 134.
  5. The cut-out in the front of the finder hood — the front when erected; the top of the hood when closed — is slightly smaller, and the area outside the cut-out is also covered with leather. Miyazaki, pp. 134–5.
  6. Miyazaki, p. 135.
  7. Miyazaki, p. 132.
  8. Miyazaki, p. 135.
  9. Konika-Minoruta-ten, p. 25.

Sources / further reading

  • Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Items 516–7. (See also the advertisement for item 514.)
  • Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Koniflex I" (コニフレックスI). In Miryoku saihakken: Nigan refu: Firumu kamera ha e no messēji (魅力再発見・二眼レフ:フィルムカメラ派へのメッセージ, Fascination rediscovery: TLRs: A message to film cameras). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppansha, 2006. Pp. 128–9.
  • Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005.
  • Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年:コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X
  • Nakajima (中島章年). "Koniflex" (コニフレックス). 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.35, November 1995. Nihon no kamera 50nen (日本のカメラ50年, special issue on 50 years of Japanese cameras). P. 107.
  • Ozaki Sankichi (尾崎三吉). Konifurekkusu no tsukaikata (コニフレックスの使い方, How to use the Koniflex). Tokyo: Amico, 1953.
  • Watakushi no ni-gan-refu kamera-ten (私の二眼レフカメラ展, Exhibition of twin lens reflex cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 29.

Links

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