Difference between revisions of "Pearl (6×9 self-erecting)"

From Camera-wiki.org
Jump to: navigation, search
m (section header)
(intensively modified: kept the original frame but fixed some mistakes and added new info)
Line 13: Line 13:
 
The Pearl appears to be a copy of the [[Ikonta]] (520/2) released in 1929 by [[Zeiss Ikon]], from which it retains the octagonal body sides, strut arrangement and self-erecting mechanism; however, focusing moves the entire lens and shutter assembly, mounted on a helical, and not merely the frontmost element.
 
The Pearl appears to be a copy of the [[Ikonta]] (520/2) released in 1929 by [[Zeiss Ikon]], from which it retains the octagonal body sides, strut arrangement and self-erecting mechanism; however, focusing moves the entire lens and shutter assembly, mounted on a helical, and not merely the frontmost element.
  
All the models have an eye-level finder on the body side and a [[brilliant finder]] on the shutter housing. The advance key is at the top right — as seen by the photographer holding the camera vertically. The back is hinged to the bottom, and has a depth-of-field table attached towards the top. The film advance is controlled via two red windows, allowing to take 4.5×6cm exposures with a mask in the exposure chamber.
+
All the models have an eye-level finder on the body side and a [[brilliant finder]] on the front standard. The advance key is at the top right — as seen by the photographer holding the camera vertically — and the release button for the folding bed is placed next to it. There are two tripod threads: under the folding bed and opposite the advance key. The back is hinged to the bottom, and has a depth-of-field table attached towards the top. The film advance is controlled via two red windows, allowing to take 4.5×6cm exposures with a mask in the exposure chamber.
 +
 
 +
The lens and shutter unit as a whole is mounted on a helix driven by a small tab, allowing to focus down to 2m. This feature was quite unusual on folding cameras in the 1930s, and was an improvement on the original [[Ikonta]] design. It is not known if the Japanese engineers chose this solution because it was theoretically better, or because they did not master the computations involved by front-focusing lenses: these were only recently introduced on the [[Ikonta]], whereas the first Japanese camera lenses were commercially available for two years only.
  
 
== The Year-Eight Pearl ==
 
== The Year-Eight Pearl ==
The '''Year-Eight Pearl''' (8年型パール, April 1933)<ref> "Year-Eight Pearl" is an arbitrary translation of ''hachinen-gata Pāru'' (8年型パール) named after year 8 of Shōwa, i.e. 1933. </ref> has a mere folding frame finder on the body side. The lens is an f/6.3 or f/4.5 10.5 cm Zion triplet (swiftly replaced by or renamed as Optor), designed by Konishiroku and manufactured by [[Pentax|Asahi Kōgaku]]. There was a choice between two Konishiroku shutters, both with two blades and having a dial under the brilliant finder: an Apus shutter (copy of the German Vario; T, B, 25, 50, 100) or a ゼウス <!-- maybe Zeus --> shutter (copy of the German Ibsor; T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125),<ref>Hagiya, "Kokusan-hatsu no supuringu kamera," p.40; ''Japanese Historical Camera,'' p.18; ''Konika-Minoruta-ten,'' p.6; Tanaka, p.58.</ref> but the camera has also been observed with a Durax shutter (T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125).<REF> Durax shutter: ''Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten'', p.17. </REF>
+
The Pearl camera released in April 1933 is called '''Year-Eight Pearl''' (an arbitrary translation of 八年型パール, ''hachinen-gata Pāru'') after the release year, the eighth of the Shōwa era.<REF> Release month: see [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/detail.php?id=1033&key=103310371035&APage=4 this page] of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. </REF> The name was perhaps used at the time for advertising — this is confirmed for the similarly named "Year-Eight Idea" but not for the Pearl.
  
== The Year-Eleven Pearl and further innovations ==
+
The camera has a folding optical finder on the body side, with two hairlines on the front element to delineate the field of view for 4.5×6cm exposures, and a blue-tinted round eyepiece. The two red windows are uncovered, and have a characteristic shape with a round indent allowing to see the number before it comes into the proper position. At the time of the release, the lens was announced as a Zion 10.5cm f/6.3 or f/4.5, certainly a triplet designed by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]] and manufactured by [[Pentax|Asahi Kōgaku]], and there was a choice between two self-cocking shutters made by Rokuoh-sha: an Apus (アパス, copy of the German [[Vario]]; T, B, 25, 50, 100) or a Zeus (ゼウス, copy of the German [[Ibsor]]; T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125).<REF> Tanaka, p.58 of {{KKS}} no.8 and p.43 of {{KKS}} no.10; Hagiya, pp.40 and 42–3 of {{KKS}} no.76; ''Japanese Historical Camera'', p.18; ''Konika-Minoruta-ten'', p.6. </REF> Both shutters have two blades, a dial at the top, and a simple "thread-and-pin" self-timer device. The prices reportedly ranged from {{yen|43|1933}} (f/6.3, Apus) to {{yen|58|1933}} (f/4.5, Zeus).<REF> Hagiya, p.40 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF> The Zion was swiftly replaced by or renamed as the Optor, again a triplet, and the Zeus shutter became the Durax, with similar features.<REF> Tanaka, p.58 of {{KKS}} no.8 and p.43 of {{KKS}} no.10. </REF> No actual example of the Pearl has been found with a Zion lens or Zeus shutter, but some Zion lenses are known on [[Pearlette]] cameras.
 +
 
 +
After some time, it seems that the f/6.3 option became associated to the cheaper Apus shutter only.<REF> {{Kokusan}}, p.338, lists only three combinations: Apus and Optor f/6.3 or f/4.5, Durax and Optor f/4.5. </REF> The back was modified with a single slider to cover both red windows, perhaps around early 1936 with the introduction of the Sakura Pan F panchromatic film by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]], and certainly before the introduction of the Hexar lens.<REF> This is suggested for the [[Baby Pearl]] in an article by Masaki Masayoshi (正木正佳) on p.46 of {{KKS}} no.10. </REF> This feature is sometimes presented as characteristic of a hypothetical "Year-Eleven Pearl" (11年型パール, ''jūichinen-gata Pāru''), but it seems that this name was recently invented by collectors, the camera being merely called "Pearl" at the time.<REF> The name "Year-Eleven Pearl" is only found in the article by Hagiya in {{KKS}} no.76, and in an earlier version of this page. </REF>
 +
 
 +
== Hexar lens and Rangefinder Pearl ==
 
{| align="center" class="plainlinks" style="text-align: center;"
 
{| align="center" class="plainlinks" style="text-align: center;"
 
|-
 
|-
Line 27: Line 33:
 
| colspan="1" | ''Year-Eleven Pearl, Hexar Ser.1 10.5cm f/4.5 no.3149, Durax shutter. {{with permission}}''
 
| colspan="1" | ''Year-Eleven Pearl, Hexar Ser.1 10.5cm f/4.5 no.3149, Durax shutter. {{with permission}}''
 
|}
 
|}
In November 1936 was announced an additional option: a Pearl with an f/4.5 11.5 cm Hexar lens, the '''Year-Eleven Pearl''' (11年型パール).<ref> "Year-Eleven Pearl" is a translation of ''jūichi-nen-gata Pāru'' (11年型パール) named after year 11 of Shōwa, i.e. 1936. </ref> This camera would come in several variations, which together can be differentiated from the Year-Eight Pearl in having a single slider on the back to cover both red windows. It has a two-part folding finder on the top of the body: some examples have two glassless frames; others have glass in a large rectangular frame at the front and a smaller circle behind. The Hexar lens, a Tessar-based design by Konishiroku with four elements in three groups, had earlier appeared on the [[Lily (metal)|Tropical Lily]]. The 11.5cm focal length was later supplemented by 10.5cm and 12cm. On the model with the 12cm lens, the folding frame finder is at the far left (as seen by the photographer), above the hinge, thereby making space for a separate, horizontal rangefinder, attached via an accessory shoe. For each focal length, a metal plate showing depth of field is attached to the back.  
+
In November 1936 was announced an additional lens option: the [[Hexar lenses before 1945|Hexar]] f/4.5, only available with the Durax shutter.<REF> Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF> The Hexar is a [[Tessar]]-based design with four elements in three groups, made by [[Konica|Rokuoh-sha]], and which had earlier appeared on the [[Lily (metal)|Tropical Lily]]. It originally appeared in 11.5cm focal length, which was later supplemented by 10.5cm and 12cm.<REF> Originally in 11.5cm focal length: Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. Examples with 10.5cm, 11.5cm and 12cm focal length are pictured in the same article. </REF> (The metal depth-of-field plate attached to the back is adapted for each focal length.)<REF> Hagiya, pp.41–2 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF>
 +
 
 +
From December 1936,<REF> Release date: Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF> the Pearl was offered in a special version, whose main finder is offset to the far left (as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally), above the hinge, thereby making space for a separate, horizontal rangefinder, attached via an accessory shoe. This version is today called "Rangefinder Pearl" (距離計付パール); at the time, it was announced as the "rangefinder-equipped Pearl camera" (距離計を備えたパールカメラ). The prices reportedly ranged from {{yen|60|1936}} to {{yen|85|1936}}, including the rangefinder.<REF> Tanaka, p.43 of {{KKS}} no.10. </REF>
 +
 
 +
The "Sakura" brand rangefinder supplied with the Rangefinder Pearl is a device of high quality, with a baselength of 60mm (and calibrated in metres).<REF> Baselength: Tanaka, p.58 of {{KKS}} no.8 and p.43 of {{KKS}} no.10. Calibrated in metres: Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF> It is black and inscribed with a stylized cherry blossom (''sakura'') leaf in the centre of which is a stylized character 六: the ''roku'' (literally "six") of both Konishiroku and Rokuoh-sha. As well as being part of a set with the camera, the rangefinder was sold separately for ¥12, in both metre and foot versions.<REF> Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF> For owners of a regular Pearl, the conversion to the rangefinder-equipped version was offered for free.<REF> Tanaka, p.58 of {{KKS}} no.8 and p.43 of {{KKS}} no.10. Hagiya, p.42 of {{KKS}} no.76. </REF>
  
The "Sakura" brand rangefinder supplied is a device of high quality, with a baselength of 60mm (and calibrated in metres). It is black and inscribed with a stylized cherry blossom (''sakura'') leaf in the centre of which is a stylized character 六: the ''roku'' (literally "six") of both Konishiroku and Rokuoh-sha. As well as being part of a set with the Year-Eleven Pearl, the rangefinder (in both metre and foot versions) was sold separately, for ¥12. It came with a free accessory shoe, thus encouraging the owner of another camera to have its standard viewfinder offset and the accessory finder attached.<ref> Hagiya, pp.42–3. Tanaka (p.58) claims that early examples had Optor lenses, and the choice of an Apus or a Durax shutter. Perhaps this is true, perhaps it is a confusion with conversions of earlier cameras. </ref>  
+
The regular Pearl continued to be available after the introduction of the rangefinder-equipped version. An advertisement in ''[[Kogata Camera]]'' February 1937 gives the price of {{yen|43|1937}} with an Optor f/6.3 (unchanged since 1933) and {{yen|73|1937}} with an Hexar f/4.5.<REF> Advertisement reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.82. </REF>
  
 +
== High-Grade Pearl ==
 
The '''High-Grade Pearl''' (高級パール)<ref> "High-Grade Pearl" is a translation of ''Kōkyū Pāru'' (高級パール). </ref> came out in November of 1937. It has a folding albada finder on the top, sometimes central, sometimes offset for an accessory shoe and rangefinder. There is a variety of lens/shutter combinations, each f/4.5 10.5cm, with a shutter in the rim: earlier, a Hexar lens with either Compur Rapid (B, 1–400) or Durax shutter; later a f/4.5 Simlar lens (from [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]]) and Seiko Leo shutter (B, 1–250).<ref> Tanaka, pp.58–9; Hagiya, pp.42–3. </ref>
 
The '''High-Grade Pearl''' (高級パール)<ref> "High-Grade Pearl" is a translation of ''Kōkyū Pāru'' (高級パール). </ref> came out in November of 1937. It has a folding albada finder on the top, sometimes central, sometimes offset for an accessory shoe and rangefinder. There is a variety of lens/shutter combinations, each f/4.5 10.5cm, with a shutter in the rim: earlier, a Hexar lens with either Compur Rapid (B, 1–400) or Durax shutter; later a f/4.5 Simlar lens (from [[Tōkyō Kōgaku]]) and Seiko Leo shutter (B, 1–250).<ref> Tanaka, pp.58–9; Hagiya, pp.42–3. </ref>
  
Line 70: Line 81:
 
[[Category: Konica]]
 
[[Category: Konica]]
 
[[Category: P]]
 
[[Category: P]]
[[Category: 1906-1910]]
 

Revision as of 18:26, 4 September 2008

Japanese older 6×9 (edit)
folding First Center | First Roll | Kinka Roll | Lyra (6×9) | Pearl No.3 | Pearl No.2 | Year-Eight Pearl | Reex | Royal Junior
box Dox | Sakura (box)
3×4 and 4×4, 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6, 6×6 and plate ->
Modern 6×9 RF and SLR ->
This is a work in progress.

The name Pearl (パール) was given by Konishi Honten and Konishiroku Honten (the later Konica) to many models of rollfilm folders.[1] This article deals with the 6×9cm self-erecting models, sold from 1933 to the immediate postwar period.

See also the Pearl (for plates and rollfilm), Pearl No.2 and Pearl (4.5×6); and, for 127 film, the Baby Pearl and Pearlette.

"Spring camera"

The Pearl sold from 1933 onwards are vertical folders with a self-erecting lens. It was the first Japanese folding camera whose lens would spring to the ready when the body was opened. This innovation very quickly became as ubiquitous among Japanese as among other folding cameras, to the point where "spring camera" (supuringu kamera) became the standard Japanese term for a folding camera. Japanese accounts of domestically produced "spring cameras" of course start with the Year-Eight Pearl, which thus has rather more historical significance within Japan than someone not speaking Japanese might guess.

Common features

The Pearl appears to be a copy of the Ikonta (520/2) released in 1929 by Zeiss Ikon, from which it retains the octagonal body sides, strut arrangement and self-erecting mechanism; however, focusing moves the entire lens and shutter assembly, mounted on a helical, and not merely the frontmost element.

All the models have an eye-level finder on the body side and a brilliant finder on the front standard. The advance key is at the top right — as seen by the photographer holding the camera vertically — and the release button for the folding bed is placed next to it. There are two tripod threads: under the folding bed and opposite the advance key. The back is hinged to the bottom, and has a depth-of-field table attached towards the top. The film advance is controlled via two red windows, allowing to take 4.5×6cm exposures with a mask in the exposure chamber.

The lens and shutter unit as a whole is mounted on a helix driven by a small tab, allowing to focus down to 2m. This feature was quite unusual on folding cameras in the 1930s, and was an improvement on the original Ikonta design. It is not known if the Japanese engineers chose this solution because it was theoretically better, or because they did not master the computations involved by front-focusing lenses: these were only recently introduced on the Ikonta, whereas the first Japanese camera lenses were commercially available for two years only.

The Year-Eight Pearl

The Pearl camera released in April 1933 is called Year-Eight Pearl (an arbitrary translation of 八年型パール, hachinen-gata Pāru) after the release year, the eighth of the Shōwa era.[2] The name was perhaps used at the time for advertising — this is confirmed for the similarly named "Year-Eight Idea" but not for the Pearl.

The camera has a folding optical finder on the body side, with two hairlines on the front element to delineate the field of view for 4.5×6cm exposures, and a blue-tinted round eyepiece. The two red windows are uncovered, and have a characteristic shape with a round indent allowing to see the number before it comes into the proper position. At the time of the release, the lens was announced as a Zion 10.5cm f/6.3 or f/4.5, certainly a triplet designed by Rokuoh-sha and manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku, and there was a choice between two self-cocking shutters made by Rokuoh-sha: an Apus (アパス, copy of the German Vario; T, B, 25, 50, 100) or a Zeus (ゼウス, copy of the German Ibsor; T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125).[3] Both shutters have two blades, a dial at the top, and a simple "thread-and-pin" self-timer device. The prices reportedly ranged from ¥43 (f/6.3, Apus) to ¥58 (f/4.5, Zeus).[4] The Zion was swiftly replaced by or renamed as the Optor, again a triplet, and the Zeus shutter became the Durax, with similar features.[5] No actual example of the Pearl has been found with a Zion lens or Zeus shutter, but some Zion lenses are known on Pearlette cameras.

After some time, it seems that the f/6.3 option became associated to the cheaper Apus shutter only.[6] The back was modified with a single slider to cover both red windows, perhaps around early 1936 with the introduction of the Sakura Pan F panchromatic film by Rokuoh-sha, and certainly before the introduction of the Hexar lens.[7] This feature is sometimes presented as characteristic of a hypothetical "Year-Eleven Pearl" (11年型パール, jūichinen-gata Pāru), but it seems that this name was recently invented by collectors, the camera being merely called "Pearl" at the time.[8]

Hexar lens and Rangefinder Pearl

In November 1936 was announced an additional lens option: the Hexar f/4.5, only available with the Durax shutter.[9] The Hexar is a Tessar-based design with four elements in three groups, made by Rokuoh-sha, and which had earlier appeared on the Tropical Lily. It originally appeared in 11.5cm focal length, which was later supplemented by 10.5cm and 12cm.[10] (The metal depth-of-field plate attached to the back is adapted for each focal length.)[11]

From December 1936,[12] the Pearl was offered in a special version, whose main finder is offset to the far left (as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally), above the hinge, thereby making space for a separate, horizontal rangefinder, attached via an accessory shoe. This version is today called "Rangefinder Pearl" (距離計付パール); at the time, it was announced as the "rangefinder-equipped Pearl camera" (距離計を備えたパールカメラ). The prices reportedly ranged from ¥60 to ¥85, including the rangefinder.[13]

The "Sakura" brand rangefinder supplied with the Rangefinder Pearl is a device of high quality, with a baselength of 60mm (and calibrated in metres).[14] It is black and inscribed with a stylized cherry blossom (sakura) leaf in the centre of which is a stylized character 六: the roku (literally "six") of both Konishiroku and Rokuoh-sha. As well as being part of a set with the camera, the rangefinder was sold separately for ¥12, in both metre and foot versions.[15] For owners of a regular Pearl, the conversion to the rangefinder-equipped version was offered for free.[16]

The regular Pearl continued to be available after the introduction of the rangefinder-equipped version. An advertisement in Kogata Camera February 1937 gives the price of ¥43 with an Optor f/6.3 (unchanged since 1933) and ¥73 with an Hexar f/4.5.[17]

High-Grade Pearl

The High-Grade Pearl (高級パール)[18] came out in November of 1937. It has a folding albada finder on the top, sometimes central, sometimes offset for an accessory shoe and rangefinder. There is a variety of lens/shutter combinations, each f/4.5 10.5cm, with a shutter in the rim: earlier, a Hexar lens with either Compur Rapid (B, 1–400) or Durax shutter; later a f/4.5 Simlar lens (from Tōkyō Kōgaku) and Seiko Leo shutter (B, 1–250).[19]

Demise of the big Pearl

The Pearl does not seem to have been developed further. Stocks of parts were still assembled into whole cameras after the war, when its lack of a body shutter release and its consumption of film would have made it seem seem old-fashioned and extravagant. Its 1946 retail price was fixed at ¥2320, less than a Semi Pearl B (¥3050) but as much as an Olympus Six.[20] From 1949, Konishiroku would skip the qualifier "Semi" and would use the name "Pearl" for 4.5×6 folders.

Notes

  1. "Pearl" is written in roman script on most or all of these models. In Japanese, the line was and is called Pāru (i.e. the English word "Pearl" within Japanese phonology): the Japanese word for "pearl" is shinju (真珠), but this does not seem ever to have been applied to the camera. None of the cameras dealt with in this article was exported, and it is unlikely that any was either labeled or advertised with any roman script other than "Pearl". Thus the choice of names within this article is sometimes difficult.
  2. Release month: see this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology.
  3. Tanaka, p.58 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 and p.43 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10; Hagiya, pp.40 and 42–3 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76; Japanese Historical Camera, p.18; Konika-Minoruta-ten, p.6.
  4. Hagiya, p.40 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  5. Tanaka, p.58 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 and p.43 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
  6. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.338, lists only three combinations: Apus and Optor f/6.3 or f/4.5, Durax and Optor f/4.5.
  7. This is suggested for the Baby Pearl in an article by Masaki Masayoshi (正木正佳) on p.46 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
  8. The name "Year-Eleven Pearl" is only found in the article by Hagiya in Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76, and in an earlier version of this page.
  9. Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  10. Originally in 11.5cm focal length: Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76. Examples with 10.5cm, 11.5cm and 12cm focal length are pictured in the same article.
  11. Hagiya, pp.41–2 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  12. Release date: Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  13. Tanaka, p.43 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.
  14. Baselength: Tanaka, p.58 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 and p.43 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10. Calibrated in metres: Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  15. Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  16. Tanaka, p.58 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 and p.43 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10. Hagiya, p.42 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.76.
  17. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.82.
  18. "High-Grade Pearl" is a translation of Kōkyū Pāru (高級パール).
  19. Tanaka, pp.58–9; Hagiya, pp.42–3.
  20. Japanese Historical Camera, p.60.

Sources and further reading

Links

In English:

In Japanese:


Konishiroku prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
plate hand cameras stereo hand cameras strut folders box telephoto SLR
Idea (original) | Idea A | Idea B | Idea Snap | Idea No.1 | Idea (metal) | Lily (original) | Lily (horizontal) | Lily (metal) | Tropical Lily | Noble | Ohca | Sakura Palace | Sakura Pocket Prano | Sakura Prano Idea Binocular | Sakura Binocular Prano Minimum Idea | Idea Spring | Korok Champion | Cherry | Sakura Army | Sakura Honor | Sakura Navy Idea Telephoto Idea Reflex (1910 and 1911) | Idea Reflex (1932) | Neat Reflex | Sakura Reflex Prano
rollfilm folders box or collapsible TLR
Pearlette | Special Pearlette | B Pearlette | Pearl (for plates and rollfilm) | Pearl No.2 | Pearl (Year 8) | Baby Pearl | Semi Pearl | Sakura Palace Record | Sakura (box) | Sakura (bakelite) Sakura-flex