Nifcarette

Template:127 Japan The Nifcalette (ニフカレッテ), made in 1929, was the first camera by Nichi-Doku, the later Minolta. At the time, the lens and shutter were imported from Germany, only the body was made in Japan.

The Nifcalette was a vertical style folding camera, taking 4x6.5cm exposures on 127 film. It had a brilliant finder, sometimes also a folding frame finder. Winding was by a key and the advance was controlled by a red window. It had black or metal trim.

The book by Francesch lists eleven lens/shutter combinations, in three body variants called Nifcalette A, Nifcalette B and Nifcalette D.

The camera that is most often illustrated is the one displayed at Konica Minolta's page. It has a folding frame finder, metal trim, a Wekar Anastigmat 75/6.3 lens, a Pronto 25-50-100-B-T shutter with the AGC logo, and is marked Nifca 3774 in handwritten style under the shutter.

The Nifcalette name

"Nifca" comes from Ni_chi-Doku F_oto CA_mera (explanation given at Konica Minolta's official site, also in the book by Francesch). Nichi in Nichi-Doku means Japan, and it is certainly not coincidental that "Nifca" can also be read as NI_ppon F_oto CA_mera.

Nifcalette is sometimes written Nifcarette. In Japanese it is written the same and it is unsure which Roman transcription was used by Nichi-Doku at the time.

Bibliography

• Histoire de l'appareil photographique Minolta de 1929 à 1985, D. & J.P. Francesch, ed. Dessain et Tolra

Links

• A page about the Minolta folding cameras, at the Manual Minolta website.
• A page about the Nifcalette at kefk.net
• The Nifcalette page at the Konica Minolta official history site
• A page with the Nifcalette at the Yone Lab website