Pearl (I), II and III

The name Pearl was given by Konishi and Konishiroku (the later Konica) to many models of rollfilm folders. Other articles deal with the Pearl (6×9 and larger folders), and the Baby Pearl and Pearlette cameras (both using 127 film); this one deals with the Semi Pearl and Pearl for 4.5×6cm.

The viewfinder-only Semi Pearl

The Semi Pearl, released in April 1938, is a 4.5×6 folder copied from the Ikonta A, with curved folding struts, unit focusing, a folding optical finder, a shutter release on the door (parallel and close to the hinge), a key to advance the film (to the right, as seen by the photographer taking "vertical" photographs), and a strap along the edge of the camera next to the take-up spool. One version has an Optor 75mm f/4.5 lens (designed by Konishiroku but manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku) and an Apus shutter with B, T, 10–100 speeds (¥78), another a Hexar 75mm f/4.5 lens and a Durax shutter with B, T, 1–100 speeds (¥105).

Postwar examples of the Semi Pearl are less numerous. Small-scale production was resumed between 1946 and 1948, largely from stocks of older parts. Perhaps because of difficulty in obtaining needed additional components, many of the postwar examples only have front-cell focusing. They also have slightly different finish. Earlier examples have Optor lenses, later ones Hexar lenses. Miyazaki shows two examples, both with "SEMI PEARL" embossed on the leather (but in slightly different ways); the earlier one has front-cell focusing and a Hexar lens and Apus shutter both marked Rokuoh-sha; the later one unit focusing and a Hexar lens and Durax shutter both marked Konishiroku.

Pearl, with rangefinder

The Pearl (in retrospect Pearl I, April 1949) has the same basic body as the Semi Pearl, with a top housing (simply inscribed "Pearl") for a viewfinder and an uncoupled rangefinder. Film advance is now by knob. It retains the Hexar–Durax combination of late examples of the Semi Pearl, but now the Hexar lens is coated. There is still no flash synchronization. Presumably "Semi" was dropped from the name in view of the unlikeliness of a revival of any 6×9 folder (the prewar 6×9 Pearl had been rather unusual among Japanese cameras even when new, and even a modernized successor would probably have struck most photographers in 1949 as a bulky extravagance); the disappearance of the Baby Pearl may have been another factor.

The Pearl RS (in retrospect Pearl I RS, but also simply inscribed "Pearl"; October 1950) has a Konirapid S shutter (B, 1–500) with Kodak-type flash synchronization. An accessory shoe is added at the top right of the camera (as seen by a photographer taking a "vertical" photograph).

Pearl II and III, with coupled rangefinder

The Pearl II (early 1951) is based on the I RS but the rangefinder is coupled. There is a depth-of-field dial where the earlier camera has a focusing knob for the rangefinder. In 1953 an f/3.5 Hexar option (¥30,150) was added to the standard f/4.5 Hexar (¥26,650). With the f/4.5 lens, the camera's dimensions open are 120×100×92mm (43mm closed); it weighs 580g.

In response to increasing competition from 35mm cameras, the Pearl IIB was released in Summer 1955 as a cheaper (¥23,500) alternative to the II (¥30,150). It retains the f/3.5 Hexar lens but has a Durax-S shutter (top speed 400) and lacks the depth-of-field scale. It has one innovation: a PC rather than Kodak flash terminal.

The Pearl III (December 1955) adds "semi-automatic" (auto-stop) film advance: once the "start" line on the backup paper is lined up with a dot on the film rail, the camera calculates how far the photographer may wind the film before each exposure. The red window accordingly disappears from the film back. The III also substitutes a film-reminder dial (color, panchromatic, etc., as well as speed) for the depth-of-field dial of the II. It retains the Hexar f/3.5 lens and Konirapid S shutter of the II (although a small number are said to be fitted with Konitar lenses), but has the PC flash terminal of the IIB. A concave knob is added to the focusing dial.

There are two later variants, which are also simply inscribed "Pearl III" and must be distinguished by looking at the lens. The Pearl IIIMX (1956) replaces the Konirapid S with a Seikō-sha MX shutter. This adds X synchronization for electronic flash, becoming popular at around this time. In a time of increased competition in the industry, companies such as Konishiroku that had previously been producing shutters for their own cameras found it more economical to buy them in from either Seikō-sha or Copal. The Pearl IIIL (1957) has two further innovations: a Seikō-sha MXL shutter, using the light-value system (whereby changing among the various aperture–speed combinations that result in the same exposure does not need separate adjustments of aperture and speed but instead can be effected by a single twist of both rings together), and a new amber coating for the lens. When closed, the IIIL has the same dimensions as II, and weighs 600g.

Pearl IV, with brightframe finder

The Pearl IV (December 1958) is a radical redesign, with a completely different diecast aluminium body and an advanced design of projected frame finder.

The door over the bellows is hinged on the right hand side (as experienced by a photographer taking a "vertical" photograph), as opposed to all the earlier models; the shutter release is still at the top of the door and near the hinge. The diecast body pushes the weight over 700g. The housing for the finders extends almost the whole way across the top, and the accessory shoe is no longer next to it but instead above its centre. The Hexar lens and Seikosha MXL shutter are inherited from the IIIL, but the focusing aid is no longer convex but instead a simple knob. There is double exposure prevention as well as auto-stop.

At ¥22,000, the IV was slightly cheaper than the IIIL (¥24,800). However, interest in cameras for 120 film was waning fast, and production of this camera stopped after about six months and after only about five thousand had been made.

The Pearl IV is now regarded as one of the finest cameras of this format. Konishiroku would never again attempt anything like it (or reuse the name "Pearl", dating from 1909). The closest thing to a successor is probably the Fujica GS645 of 1983.

The Pearl IV is often referred to as a rarity. This is an exaggeration: five thousand is not so few, and it is not the kind of device that even the ignorant will unhesitatingly throw into the trash. Examples are not particularly hard to find in the Japanese market; however, they are expensive by folder standards, now (2006) costing around three times as much as examples of the Pearl III in similar condition.

Sources and further reading

In Japanese:

• Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Items 168–9, 675–9, 1440–43.
• Kawamata Masataku (川又正卓). "Konishiroku Pāru III" (小西六パールIII, Konishiroku Pearl III). Supuringu kamera de ikō: Zen 69 kishu no tsukaikata to jissha sakurei (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の使い方と実写作例, Let's try spring cameras: The use of and actual examples from 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4879560723 Pp. 98–9. About the Pearl IIIL.
• Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005.
• Konishiroku Kamera no Rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, History of Konishiroku cameras), vol. 10 (Autumn 1985 issue) of Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras.
• Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Nihon no supuringu-kamera: Konishiroku" (日本のスプリングカメラ Konishiroku, The spring cameras of Japan: Konishiroku). Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras, no. 8, Autumn 1986 (special issue on Supuringu Kamera [スプリングカメラ, spring cameras]), 58–61.
• Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Dentō aru kyorikei-rendō semi-han supuringu kamera Pāru II (伝統ある距離計連動セミ判スプリングカメラ：パールII, A coupled-rangefinder 4.5×6 spring camera with tradition: The Pearl II). Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras, no. 35, Winter 1995 (special issue on Nihon no kamera 50nen [日本のカメラ50年, Fifty years of Japanese cameras]), 63.
• Uchida Yasuo (内田康男). "Hekisā 75mm no shikaku ni osamatta sangaku-shashin: Konpakuto na Pāru RS" (ヘキサー75mmの視角に収まった山岳写真: コンパクトなパールRS, Mountain photography from the perspective of a 75mm Hexar: The compact Pearl RS). Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras, no. 76, Summer 2005 (special issue on Supuringu Kamera [スプリングカメラ, spring cameras]), 32–5.

Links

In English:

• Konishiroku (Konica) Pearl I & II by Anthony, aka antjam65, at his photo website: on the Pearl I RS and II
• Pearl IIB and IV at The Classic Camera

In Japanese:

• Semi Pearl within a Konica page at Sarusuberi
• Semi Pearl overhaul at Handmade and Classic Camera
• Pearl I at Kitamura camera museum
• Pearl I at Yukara's site
• Restoration of a Pearl I RS at Kan's Room
• Pearl II at this blog
• Pearl II, III and IV within a Konishiroku page at Yume o hakobu shashinki
• Pearl II (with sample photos) at Puppy's Island
• Pearl and Pearl II at Konica Minolta "old and new"
• Restoration of a Pearl II at Shiroto shashinki shūri kōbō
• Pearl III at Gacha's Box
• Pearl III (photo and short comment only) at Kurakame to dejikame monokuro
• Restoration and sample photos from a Pearl III at Shiroto shashinki shūri kōbō