Minoltaflex Automat prototypes

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This is a work in progress.

See also the 1937 Minoltaflex (I), the 1941 Minoltaflex Automat and the postwar Minoltaflex II and III.

The company Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (predecessor of Minolta) made several 6×6cm TLR prototypes in the wartime and early postwar period, to replace the Minoltaflex Automat. Three types are known, called "type A", "type B" and "type C" in the current page.[1] All have interchangeable lenses; they were certainly the first 6×6cm TLR in the world to have such feature.

Military camera

There are hints that the company made a military TLR with interchangeable lenses during World War II. This camera is only known through later documents, and no picture has been positively identified, though it is possible that the camera corresponds to the "type A" prototype (see below).

Documents from the 1940s and 1950s

The earliest document mentioning a military Minolta TLR is an article by Kitano Kunio in the June 1949 issue of Kohga Gekkan. The article shows pictures of the "type B" prototype (see below), and the author says that the camera was based on a previous model, specially made for the military during the war.[2]

An official chronology published in September 1958 by Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō mentions a "military twin-lens reflex" (軍用二眼レフ) made during the war with an interchangeable 75/3.5 lens and a Crown #1 shutter (T, B, 1–400).[3] The document shows no picture, and is known to contain mistakes about earlier Minolta models.

From the 1960s

The camera is not mentioned at all in the company's 35-year history book, published in 1963,[4] but it is described in the first Minolta camera annual (ミノルタカメラ年鑑) published the same year.[5] The document says that the camera was made in 1943; it gives a full description but shows no picture.

According to the specifications given in the document, the military TLR has semi-automatic crank advance with a red window for the first exposure only. There is a focus knob moving the front standard back and forth. The minimum distance is 0.8m, and there is a depth-of-field scale. The shutter is a self-cocking Crown-Rapid #1 (T, B, 1–400). The standard taking lens is be a Rokkor 75/3.5 (four elements in three groups, Tessar-type) closing to f/32, interchangeable with a 150/5.6. The lens mount is described as a "Leica mount" (ライカマウント). The viewing lensas a View Rokkor 75/3.2 triplet, and there is an automatic parallax correction mechanism in the viewfinder. This description was written twenty years after the camera was made, and may contain mistakes. The fact that the book shows no picture of the camera, unlike other models, has been interpreted as an indication that no example was kept by the company.[6]

From the 1970s

The military camera is briefly mentioned in Minolta's 45-year history book, published in 1973. It is described as made in 1943, with a Crown-Rapid (T, B, 1–400) and a Rokkor 75/3.5, interchangeable with a 150/5.6.[7]

The 50-year history book, published in 1978, seems to be the first document to show a picture of the "type B" prototype (see below) identified as the military TLR.[8] The 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).[9] The latter name sounds like the official names given by the Japanese Army to the cameras belonging to its inventory. It is however dubious that the interchangeable-lens prototype ever received such name. It might correspond instead to the regular production models, either the original Minoltaflex or the ordinary Minoltaflex Automat: an interview of Tashima Gizō reports that the civilian "Flex" was adopted as the "portable camera type 99 or something" (99式だったか何かの手持ち写真機),[10] and Awano says elsewhere that the camera actually supplied to the military was the ordinary Automat.[11]

After the publication of the 50-year history book, the military TLR was identified with the "type B" prototype in many later publications,[12] until an article by Awano dated August 1998 demonstrated that this identification was surely wrong.[13]

"Type A" prototype

This is a work in progress.

Document

The "type A" prototype was featured in the June 1947 issue of Kohga Gekkan as the "Minoltaflex New Automat" (ミノルタフレックス新オートマット); the magazine contains two pictures of the camera and one of the lenses.[14]

The "type A" also appears in a book by Kitano Kunio on Rollei-type cameras dated August 1947.[15] The book contains one of the pictures published in June, and a different picture of the tele lens. The text says that the "Minoltaflex Automat" was "recently made with interchangeable lenses",[16] but that the "interchangeable-lens model shown here has been abandoned, and a newer product should appear soon".[17] The description mentions semi-automatic film advance with a red window for the first exposure, a Rokkor 7.5cm f/3.5 taking lens and a Konan-Rapid shutter (1–300, B).

Finally, the same picture of the camera was reproduced in the December 1949 issue of Photo Art, in an article on Japanese cameras.[18] The quality of the reproduction, shown below, is poorer than in the June 1947 magazine. The article briefly mentions the "Minoltaflex New Automat" (ニューオートマット) among Rollei-type cameras, but does not give any specifications.

Description

The pictures published in Kohga Gekkan June 1947 are by far the sharpest ones. They show a massive TLR camera, larger than the regular Minoltaflex Automat and with a different body casting.[19]

There is an advance crank on the right-hand side — as seen by the photographer — together with a small window for an exposure counter, and a sliding button engaging the advance mechanism after the first exposure is positioned. The front standard moves back and forth for focusing, and a distance knob is visible on the left-hand side. There are strap lugs on the sides, identical to those of the regular Automat. The back latch is silver coloured and looks more modern.

The viewing hood is flatter than on the Automat and certainly flips up inwards for eye-level framing. It seems that the central part flips up separately in the opposite direction, perhaps giving the correct field of view for telephoto pictures. There are lugs on the side of the hood, certainly to attach some accessory. The nameplate strangely has no marking except for the maker's name in kanji characters (千代光, Chiyokō, an abbreviation of Chiyoda Kōgaku) and No.2602 (not legible in the reproduction shown above).

The shutter appears to be located behind the front plate. There is a large speed ring, whose settings are legible as B, 1–300. The release button is placed at the bottom of the front standard, and is surrounded by a small ring, which is perhaps a shutter lock. There is a plug on the other side, certainly for a cable release.

The markings on the viewing lens are barely legible as MINOLTAR 1:3.2 f=7.5cm. The standard lens is engraved ROKKOR 1:3.5 f=75mm TIYOKŌ No.26036, and the tele lens has 1:6.3 f=150mm. The details of the lens mount are not visible. The rear elements of the standard lens protrude behind the mounting flange, a further indication that the shutter is recessed inside the camera. The tele lens has a sort of clamp on the side, apparently catching a small pin barely visible under the viewing lens (see picture above). It is possible that this pin controls some internal part in the viewfinder, but nothing is known for sure. Both lenses are predominantly black with a silver ring, certainly for aperture control.

"Type B" prototype

This is a work in progress.

Description

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;[20] 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.[21] The film advance is coupled with the shutter cocking mechanism,[22] 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.[23]

The viewing hood contains a magnifying lens, hinged to the front part, and a large Albada finder hidden under a cover flap.[24] It is said that this Albada finder has a frame for the 150mm tele lens.[25] (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.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] The nature of the lens mount is unclear; one source mentions Leica screw mount, but this is unconfirmed.[31] 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.[32] (One source reports that the standard lens focuses down to 0.8m but this is unconfirmed.)[33] 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.[34]

Some sources say that the lenses were called Rokkor but this is unconfirmed; maybe they did not receive any specific name.[35] 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.


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.[36] 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.[37] This example reportedly belonged to the Minolta Gallery in the mid-1980s.[38] 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.[39]

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.

"Type C" prototypes

This is a work in progress.

Notes

  1. This naming convention was introduced by Awano in Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  2. Kitano, p.49 of Kohga Gekkan June 1949: 戦時中軍用機として特に製作したものから発展したタイプで[...].
  3. "Hensen kamera ichiran-pyō", p.295 of Shashin Kōgyō no.77 (reproduced in this Flickr page by Rebollo_fr).
  4. 35-nen no ayumi.
  5. Extract of Minoruta kamera nenkan reproduced in Awano, p.4 of Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  6. Awano, pp.2–3 of Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  7. 45-nen no ayumi, p.89.
  8. Minolta 50-nen no ayumi, p.6.
  9. Minolta 50-nen no ayumi, p.6.
  10. Tashima Gizō, interviewed by Saeki Kakugorō on p.78 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  11. Awano, p.17 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  12. "Minoruta no gun'yō kamera", p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12; Tanaka, p.26 of the same; Sugiyama, item 2015; Francesch, pp.88–9.
  13. Awano, Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  14. Column in Kohga Gekkan June 1947, reproduced in Awano, pp.5–6 of Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  15. Extract of Rorai-gata kamera, reproduced in Awano, p.7 of Camera Collectors' News no.254.
  16. Extract of Rorai-gata kamera, reproduced in Awano, p.7 of Camera Collectors' News no.254: 新しく、レンズ交換型も作られているが、これまでのものは交換出来ない.
  17. Extract of Rorai-gata kamera, reproduced in Awano, p.7 of Camera Collectors' News no.254: ここに示した”交換型”は製造中止で、近くこれ以上の新鋭機が生れる筈である.
  18. Column in Photo Art December 1949, p.41.
  19. The body casting of the "type A" and "type C" are certainly the same, and pictures in Camera Collectors' News no.254 showing the "type C" along with a regular Automat reveal that the latter is smaller.
  20. Picture and caption on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  21. Pictures on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  22. Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12. One of the pictures on p.18 of the same magazine shows the internal coupling cam.
  23. Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  24. Picture and caption on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  25. Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  26. Controls described on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  27. #0 size: caption on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12. #1 size: Tanimura, p.26 of the same magazine, and "Hensen kamera ichiran-pyō", p.295 of Shashin Kōgyō no.77 (the latter is reproduced in this Flickr page by Rebollo_fr).
  28. Caption on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  29. Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12, Scheibel, p.29.
  30. 75/3.5 and 150/5.6: Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12, Scheibel, p.29. The tele lens is mentioned as a 105/5.6 in Francesch, p.89, but this is surely a mistake.
  31. Leica screw mount: Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12. Francesch, p.89, also mentions a screw mount.
  32. Focusing helix: picture and caption on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  33. Scheibel, p.29.
  34. Pictures and captions on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  35. The name Rokkor is reported for the taking lenses in Scheibel, p.29, Francesch, p.89, and Sugiyama, item 2015. Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12, uses the name Rokkor for both the 75mm taking and viewing lenses; however the viewing lens of the postwar Minoltaflex II was called Minolta-Anastigmat and the name Rokkor would be used for the f/3.2 viewing lens only from the Minoltaflex III onwards (1954).
  36. Minolta 50-nen no ayumi, p.7, and Tanimura, p.26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  37. Pictures in Francesch, p.88, Sugiyama, item 2015, and on pp.17–8 and 26 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12.
  38. Sugiyama, item 2015.
  39. The pictures published in Francesch, p.88, and in Sugiyama, item 2015, were taken before 1985, whereas it seems obvious that the pictures published on p.18 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.12 were taken specially for that magazine, in 1988.

Bibliography

Original documents

  • Kitano Kunio (北野邦雄). "Mittsu no kokusan ōtomāto" (三つの国産オートマート, Three Japanese Automat). In Kohga Gekkan vol.8 no.6, June 1949. Pp.48–53.
  • Photo Art December 1949. "Ōru kokusan kamera" (オール国産カメラ, All of Japanese cameras). P.41.

Early historical accounts

  • Minolta Camera. 35-nen no ayumi (三十五年のあゆみ, 35-year history). November 1963. (This book does not mention the military TLR.)
  • Minolta Camera. 45-nen no ayumi (45年のあゆみ, 45-year history). October 1973. P.89.
  • 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.
  • 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.)

Recent sources


Nifca, Molta and Chiyoda prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
folding plate cameras
Nifcaklapp | Nifcasport | Sirius | Arcadia | Lomax | Eaton | Happy
folding rollfilm cameras telescopic bakelite cameras
Nifcarette | Sirius Bebe | Semi Minolta | Auto Semi Minolta Minolta Vest | Baby Minolta | Minolta Six
strut-folding cameras TLR cameras
Nifca-Dox | Minolta | Auto Minolta | Auto Press Minolta Minoltaflex | Minoltaflex Automat | Minoltaflex military prototype