Miranda

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Miranda was a Japanese company, which made a long line of 35mm SLR cameras.

History

Early period

The company's founders were Ogihara Akira (萩原彰, 1920–1992[1]) and Ōtsuka Shintarō (大塚新太郎, 1921-2005[1]). Ogihara studied aeronautical engineering in the Imperial University of Tokyo during World War II, and worked on pulse jet engines for the Japanese Navy in the University's aeronautical research center.[1] He notably developed the pulse jet engine of a manned flying bomb inspired by the German V1,[1] certainly the Ka-10 (カ10) engine for the Baika (梅花). Ōtsuka graduated from the same department one year after Ogihara, and worked on the compressor of the Ne-20 (ネ20) engine for the Kikka (橘花) jet fighter.[2]

When the war ended, all sort of military research was halted in Japan, and Ogihara started a small camera workshop in a room of the former aeronautical research center.[2] He was offering repairs and modifications for professional cameras, notably making Leica mount barrels for older lenses or military camera lenses.[2][1] At the time, Ōtsuka was working on gas turbines for civilian applications; he soon became aware of Ogihara's activities and partnered with him.[2]

3496027111_4d785c2857_m_d.jpg
Logo of Orion Seiki. Drawing by Jeffrey Felton. (Image rights).

Ogihara founded the company during the period, under the name Orion Seiki Sangyō Y.K. (オリオン精機産業有限会社[1], meaning Orion Precision Products Industries Co., Ltd.), perhaps in 1947 — some sources say 1946 but this seems too early.[3] The company was named after the constellation of Orion, because Ogihara had a special interest in astronomy.[1] Its early logo consisted of the word ORION with three stars and an arc; the three stars correspond to Orion's belt, and the arc is often associated to the figure of the mythological fighter Orion in drawing the constellation.

The company's first product[2] was the Coupler, an adapter designed by Ōtsuka[2] to use Contax lenses or Nikon lenses on Leica screw mount cameras while keeping the rangefinder coupling. The next products, released in the early to mid 1950s, were the Mirax reflex housings, Supreme lenses and Focabell bellows. These were first distributed by Summit Shōkai, then by Matsushima, ruled by Mikami Makoto (三神誠). In addition to these early products, it is said that Orion Seiki worked as a subcontractor for Yashima Kōgaku, on the production of microscopes.[1] Furthermore, at some time in the mid-1950s, the company may also have produced the Orion Six 6×6 folder in small quantities.[4]

From Orion to Miranda

In 1954, the company presented the Phoenix 35mm SLR prototype to the Japanese photographic press. Ogihara and Ōtsuka were developing an SLR camera for various years, and the Phoenix was mainly developed as a promotional product to advertise the future camera.[5] Ogihara visited various distributors to obtain funds for the development of the production camera,[5] but the only one who accepted was Mikami, who provided financial support to the company.[6] Orion Seiki was renamed Orion Camera (オリオンカメラ) in 1955, with an equity base of 3 million yen[7] (the name "Orion Camera Co." was perhaps already in use for some time as an English translation of Orion Seiki). The production SLR was released the same year as the Miranda T, the first Japanese 35mm SLR camera commercially available with a pentaprism.[8]

The company finally named itself Miranda Camera K.K. (ミランダカメラ㈱) after its main product in 1957.[9] On the Japanese market, the early Miranda were still distributed by Matsushima for some time, then perhaps by the company itself.[10] The distribution was briefly taken over by Ricoh from early 1959, as prominently announced in early advertisements for the Miranda B.[11] It is said that the decision was directly taken by Ricoh's founder Ichimura Kiyoshi (市村清).[1] The agreement was however short-lived: the sales of the Miranda camera abruptly stopped on the domestic market in mid-1959 for an unknown reason,[1] and the Miranda cameras were made for export only for a few years.[12] The US importer by Allied Impex (or AIC), owner of the Soligor brand, notably used on the lenses for the Miranda cameras.

In 1960, the company dropped the original dodecagonal body for a rounded body on the late Miranda D. It also released the Automex, with a built-in external selenium meter, and new lenses with internal diaphragm actuation and a cam transmitting the aperture setting to the body.

Into Allied Impex

It is said that the company set up its own lens factory in 1963[1] (earlier lenses were supplied by various manufacturers, except for the first Supreme). The company returned the Japanese market in autumn 1964,[13] but the US importer Allied Impex gradually took control, and was fully owning the company by the late 1960s.[14]

The Sensorex model was released in 1967, with TTL exposure metering. It is said that a new factory was opened outside Tokyo in 1970 or perhaps 1971.[15] In 1971, the company introduced the Sensorex EE with shutter-priority automatic exposure and a new set of viewfinders. Upgraded as the EE-2 in 1976, it would be the last Miranda with interchangeable viewfinder.

In 1972, the company released its only non-SLR camera, the Sensoret compact rangefinder. In 1975, it made an attempt at a compact SLR with fixed prism and electronically controlled shutter, called the Miranda dx-3. None of these met a great success, and the Miranda company went bankrupt on December 10, 1976[16] and stopped camera production the same month.[17]

The Miranda brand was re-used in the 1980s for cheap SLR cameras (apparently made by Chinon), lenses, flashguns or point-and-shoot cameras.[18]

Serial numbers

Early products by Orion and Miranda have six-digit serial numbers. The first two look like they might indicate the year of production, but this is certainly misleading.[19] They might correspond to type numbers instead, perhaps somehow related to the release year.

Camera list

35mm SLR

45836808_32d5dfc10e_t.jpg
  • Miranda A, AII
  • Miranda Automex I, II
  • Miranda Automex III
  • Miranda B, C
  • Miranda D
  • Miranda dx-3
  • Miranda DR
  • Miranda EE-2
  • Miranda F, FM,
  • Miranda Fv, FvT
  • Miranda G
  • Miranda GT
  • Miranda Laborec
  • Miranda Laborec III
  • Miranda Laborec Electro-D
  • Miranda Memoflex
  • Miranda MS-1
  • Miranda MS-2
  • Miranda Pallas TM
  • Miranda Pallas TM-II
  • Miranda RE-II
  • Miranda S
  • Miranda Sensomat
  • Miranda Sensomat RE
  • Miranda Sensomat RE-II
  • Miranda Sensomat RS
  • Miranda Sensorex, Sensorex C
  • Miranda Sensorex II
  • Miranda Sensorex EE
  • Miranda ST
  • Miranda T and TII (including the early versions marked "Orion Camera Co.")
  • Miranda TM / Soligor TM
  • Mirax Laborec
  • Mirax Laborec II

35mm rangefinder

  • Miranda Sensoret / Soligor Sensoret

35mm point and shoot

  • Miranda A-X

6×6cm folder

  • Orion Six (attribution incertain, see the discussion in the page)

Other

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Main page of the Miranda Society Japan.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Hagiya, p.9 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.64.
  3. ↑ The year 1946 is found in the historical section of the Miranda dx-3 user manual, p.2, available in PDF format at butkus.org. It actually seems that all the years quoted in the user manual are one year too early (see the bibliography section of this page). Other sources mentioning the same date, such as McKeown, p.688, might be based on that same document, see e.g. this page of the Miranda Historical Society which quotes the user manual verbatim.
  4. ↑ See the discussion in the page on the Orion Six.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hagiya, p.10 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.64.
  6. ↑ Hagiya, p.11 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.64.
  7. ↑ Hagiya, p.11 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.64. The advertisement by Matsushima in the June 1955 special issue of Photo Art, reproduced in this Flickr page, still gives the name "Orion Seiki", and the renaming probably took place later.
  8. ↑ McKeown, p.688, says 1954 for the release of the Miranda T, but this is a mistake.
  9. ↑ Hagiya, p.11 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.64. The first advertisement mentioning "Miranda Camera" reported in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.370, is in the May 1957 issue of Asahi Camera. The year 1956 found in the user manual of the Miranda dx-3, p.31, available in PDF format at butkus.org, is one year too early (see the bibliography section of this page).
  10. ↑ The advertisement dated October 1955 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.200, was placed by Matsushima whereas those dated October 1957 and February 1959 reproduced on p.306 were placed by Miranda Camera.
  11. ↑ Advertisement dated March 1959 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.306. Another advertisement by Ricoh, dated July 1959, is reproduced on the same page, and others are reported on p.408.
  12. ↑ There is a gap in the advertisements listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.408–9, from August 1959 to September 1964.
  13. ↑ Advertisements listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.408–9.
  14. ↑ This page of the Miranda Historical Society says that AIC took control of Miranda in 1963, whereas the Main page of the Miranda Society Japan says that it bought all the shares in 1968 and took complete control in 1969.
  15. ↑ User manual of the Miranda dx-3, p.31, available in PDF format at butkus.org. The date might be one year too early (see the bibliography section of this page).
  16. ↑ This page at www.collection-appareils.fr.
  17. ↑ This page of the Miranda Historical Society.
  18. ↑ This page of the Miranda Historical Society.
  19. ↑ Mirax reflex housings with Miranda Camera Co. markings, surely made after 1957, are known with 54xxxx serial numbers (see Mirax).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Advertisement in the June 1955 special issue of Photo Art, p.22.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Advertisement in Shashin Kōgyō April 1958, p.317.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Price list in the June 1955 special issue of Photo Art, p.119.

Bibliography

It seems that all the years quoted in this user manual are one year too early, perhaps because of a mistake in the translation of the Japanese Shōwa year:
  • 1953 instead of 1954 for the Phoenix;
  • 1954 instead of 1955 for the Miranda T;
  • 1957 instead of 1958 for the Miranda A, A2 and B;
  • 1959 instead of 1960 for the Automex;
  • 1970 instead of 1971 for the Sensorex EE.
All the other dates mentioned in this document should therefore be handled with caution.
  • Photo Art rinji zōkan: Kamera akusesarī zensho (フォトアート臨時増刊・カメラアクセサリー全書, Photo Art special issue: All the camera accessories). June 1955, no.80 of the magazine.
    • Advertisement by the photo department of Matsushima Megane-ten on p.22.
    • "Shashin no kaimi wa sessha to bōen satsuei kara: Purokusā, Ōtoappu, Refubokkusu, sonota." (写真の快味は接写と望遠撮影から・プロクサー・オートアップ・レフボックス・その他, Because the appeal of photography comes with close-up and telephoto pictures: Proxar, Auto-Up, reflex housing, etc.) Pp.118–20.
  • Shashin Kōgyō no.72, April 1958. Advertisement by Matsushima Shashin-yōhin on p.317.

Links

In English:

In French:

In Japanese:

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