Minoltaflex Automat prototypes

See also the 1937 Minoltaflex (I), the Minoltaflex Automat and the postwar Minoltaflex II and III.

The company Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (predecessor of Minolta) made a prototype of 6×6cm TLR camera in 1943. The markings on the camera itself simply identify it as a Minoltaflex; many sources report that it was made for military use and refer to it as the military Minoltaflex (see below). The camera has an interchangeable lens, and was certainly the first 6×6cm TLR in the world to have such feature.

Description

The Minoltaflex wartime prototype has the classical TLR shape, but it is somewhat larger than the production Minoltaflex (I) and Minoltaflex Automat. The dimensions are 198×146×100mm and the weight is a hefty 1,360g.

Film loading, advance and viewing

The camera takes 6×6cm pictures on 120 film or 24×36mm pictures on 35mm film. There is a sprocket shaft permanently installed under the exposure chamber, and a removable reducing mask for the smaller format; this was probably complemented by adapters allowing to insert 35mm film cassettes in the spool compartments. There are two film flanges on the photographer's left, which can be pulled out to insert the film rolls.

The film is advanced by a folding crank on the photographer's right, and there is a small round window for an exposure counter placed above. The internal disc placed behind the window has 0, S, two dots, then graduations from 1 to 12. The film advance is coupled with the shutter cocking mechanism, and it is certainly unlocked automatically when the shutter is tripped. A small button is visible on the advance side, at the top rear, certainly used to reset the exposure counter. It is said that the position of the first exposure is set via a red window, but its position is unconfirmed.

The viewing hood contains a magnifying lens, hinged to the front part, and a large Albada finder hidden under a cover flap. It is said that this Albada finder has a frame for the 150mm tele lens. (The integration of an Albada finder in the viewing hood was certainly inspired from the German Ikoflex III and Contaflex.) The camera is identified by a MINOLTAFLEX nameplate attached in front of the viewing hood.

Focusing, shutter and lenses

The front casing is fixed and has a wheel protruding on each side. The wheel on the photographer's right drives the focusing helix of the viewing and taking lenses; that on the left selects the shutter speed. The shutter is fully contained behind the front casing; it is said to be a Crown-Rapid (T, B, 1–400) but the sources disagree on its size: it is either the #0-size shutter used on the Auto Semi Minolta or the #1-size shutter used on the Auto Press Minolta. In any case, no self-timer control is visible, and the corresponding mechanism was perhaps removed. The selected speed is displayed in a small window at the top of the front casing, above the viewing lens. The release button is at the bottom of the front casing, under the taking lens, and is actuated by the photographer's right-hand fingers; there is a hole for a cable release on the opposite side.

The fixed viewing lens is reported as a 75/3.2. The taking lens is interchangeable; two lenses are known to exist, a standard and a tele, respectively reported as 75/3.5 and 150/5.6. The nature of the lens mount is unclear; one source mentions Leica screw mount, but this is unconfirmed. All the lenses have an all-chrome finish, and have no marking whatsoever. The two taking lenses have a knurled ring at the base, serving as a grip to mount and unmount them; this ring also contains the focusing helix, at least on the standard lens, but no distance scale is visible anywhere. (One source reports that the standard lens focuses down to 0.8m but this is unconfirmed.) The standard lens has another knurled ring at the front, controlling the diaphragm but lacking an aperture scale. The tele lens has two rows of finer knurls at the middle of the barrel, the front of which certainly corresponds to the aperture ring. The viewing lens also contains a diaphragm controlled by a knurled ring at the front of the barrel, similar to that of the standard taking lens; again no aperture scale is visible.

Some sources say that the lenses were called Rokkor but this is unconfirmed; maybe they did not receive any specific name. If the standard lens was indeed a Rokkor, it might be an early occurrence of the lens of the postwar Semi Minolta III (1946), which would be mounted on the Minoltaflex II in 1950.

Experimental model, reportedly made for the military

Many sources say that the camera was made for military use. An official chronology published in September 1958 by Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō mentions the model as the "military twin-lens reflex" (軍用二眼レフ), and says that it was made during the war, with no more precision. The fifty-year history book says that the camera was experimented in 1943 as the "Military portable twin-lens camera" (軍用手持二眼写真機). The latter name sounds like the official names given by the Japanese Army to the cameras belonging to its official inventory. However the TLR camera supplied to the military was perhaps one of the two regular production models, either the original Minoltaflex or the Minoltaflex Automat. Awano suggests the latter, but an interview of Tashima Gizō reports that the civilian "Flex" (surely meaning the original Minoltaflex) was supplied to the military as the "portable camera type 99 or something" (99式だったか何かの手持ち写真機).

The presence of a permanent sprocket shaft allowing to use 35mm film as well as 120 film perhaps means that the camera was made with the wartime film supply problems in mind. (A conversion kit to use 35mm film in TLR cameras, called the Banzaikin, also appeared in Japan around 1944, perhaps for the same reasons.) This feature might have been a requirement from the military, as well as the ability to mount a tele lens, but nothing is known for sure. In any case, it is extremely probable that the camera was made at experimental level only, and was not actually supplied to the military: the camera pictured so far is not fully functional because of the lack of any distance or aperture scale, and the absence of any lens marking is unusual too, even on a military model. It is unclear whether one or more prototypes were made; in any case the estimations given in some sources are probably too optimistic.

Available pictures

The available pictures contain a mystery. One picture appears in Minolta's fifty-year history book (1978) and other sources, showing a complete camera with the tele lens attached and the standard lens standing aside. It is the only known picture of a complete example. It may be older than 1978, but it does not look like it was taken during the war.

All the other pictures found so far show an incomplete example, lacking the advance crank and the two side plates, and coming with the standard lens only. This example reportedly belonged to the Minolta Gallery in the mid-1980s. At least two sets of pictures show the camera in that condition, taken with an interval of various years; this probably discards the hypothesis of a temporary removal of the said parts.

The complete camera might have been dismantled at some time, to become the incomplete example pictured in the 1980s. Or these might be two different prototypes, one of them complete and the other unfinished. The current fate of this or these cameras is unknown.

Bibliography

• Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Senzen no Minoruta kamera" (戦前のミノルタカメラ, Prewar Minolta cameras). 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.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.13–7. (Shows a single picture of the wartime prototype, compared with other Minoltaflex.)
• Francesch, Dominique and Jean-Paul. Histoire de l'appareil photographique Minolta de 1929 à 1985. Paris: Dessain et Tolra, 1985. ISBN 2-249-27685-4. Pp.27 and 88–9.
• Minolta Camera. Minolta 50-nen no ayumi (Minolta・50年のあゆみ, Minolta 50-year history). November 1978. Pp.6–7 and 65.
• "Minoruta no gun'yō kamera" (ミノルタの軍用カメラ, Minolta military cameras). 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.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). P.18.
• Saeki Kakugorō (佐伯恪五郎). "Tashima Gizō-shi ni kiku" (田嶋義三氏に聞く, "Asking Tashima Gizō"). 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.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.76–9.
• Scheibel, Anni Rita and Joseph. 70 Jahre Minolta Kameratechnik — Von der Nifcalette bis zur Dynax 9. Stuttgart: Lindemanns Verlag, 3rd edition, 1999. ISBN 3-89506-191-3. P.29.
• Shashin Kōgyō no.77 (September 1958). "Hensen kamera ichiran-pyō" (変遷カメラ一らん表, Table of camera evolution.) P.295. (This is a chronology of Minolta cameras from the Nifcarette onwards. This document is reproduced in this Flickr page by Rebollo_fr.)
• 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. Item 2015.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Minolta Camera: nigan-refu kamera" (Minolta Camera: 二眼レフカメラ, Minolta TLR cameras). 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.12, October 1988. No ISBN number. Minoruta kamera no subete (ミノルタカメラのすべて, special issue on Minolta). Pp.25–30.
• Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Minoruta I-gata to II-gata." (セミミノルタⅠ型とⅡ型, "Semi Minolta I and II") In Camera Collectors' News no.116 (February 1987). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. (Contains a reproduction of the chronology in Shashin Kōgyō no.77 and no other information on the camera.)