Difference between revisions of "Pearl IV"

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The camera is a radical redesign of the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl III]], with a completely different diecast aluminium body and a finder of advanced design with a projected frameline. The finder has additional lines for parallax but there is no automatic parallax correction: the frame does not move when focusing.<REF> The finder is sometimes described as having a frameline whose position adjusts to compensate for parallax. This is untrue: hold the camera steady, focus from the closest distance to infinity, and the view is unchanged and the frameline stays where it was. The frameline does have extra lines to indicate the variation caused by parallax: in this it is similar to some of the better accessory viewfinders (for 35mm rangefinder cameras, etc.) that lack an adjustment for distance. </REF> The housing for the finders extends almost the whole way across the top. The eyepiece is offset to the left; the rangefinder second image window is surrounded by a rectangular frosted area for the illumination of the projected frame. The accessory shoe is above the centre of the top housing, which also has the name ''Pearl IV'' inscribed so as to be read when the camera is held vertically.
 
The camera is a radical redesign of the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl III]], with a completely different diecast aluminium body and a finder of advanced design with a projected frameline. The finder has additional lines for parallax but there is no automatic parallax correction: the frame does not move when focusing.<REF> The finder is sometimes described as having a frameline whose position adjusts to compensate for parallax. This is untrue: hold the camera steady, focus from the closest distance to infinity, and the view is unchanged and the frameline stays where it was. The frameline does have extra lines to indicate the variation caused by parallax: in this it is similar to some of the better accessory viewfinders (for 35mm rangefinder cameras, etc.) that lack an adjustment for distance. </REF> The housing for the finders extends almost the whole way across the top. The eyepiece is offset to the left; the rangefinder second image window is surrounded by a rectangular frosted area for the illumination of the projected frame. The accessory shoe is above the centre of the top housing, which also has the name ''Pearl IV'' inscribed so as to be read when the camera is held vertically.
  
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The diecast body pushes the weight over 700g.<REF> Tanaka, p.61 of {{KKS}} no.8. </REF> The door over the bellows is hinged on the right hand side (as experienced by a photographer holding the camera horizontally), as opposed to the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl III]] and all the earlier models. The shutter release is still at the top of the door and near the hinge, it is thus pressed by the right hand whereas the earlier models had a left-handed release button. It is supplemented by a thread for a cable release placed above the top housing next to the advance wheel. The front door itself is released by a small button at the front.
+
The diecast body pushes the weight to 710g.<REF name="SK 01/59 p96"> Column in {{SK}} January 1959, p.96. </REF> The door over the bellows is hinged on the right hand side (as experienced by a photographer holding the camera horizontally), as opposed to the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl III]] and all the earlier models. The shutter release is still at the top of the door and near the hinge, it is thus pressed by the right hand whereas the earlier models had a left-handed release button. It is supplemented by a thread for a cable release placed above the top housing next to the advance wheel. The front door itself is released by a small button at the front.
  
 
The advance wheel is at the right end and has a film reminder at the top; there is double exposure prevention as well as an auto-stop mechanism. The exposure counter is placed next, and is automatically reset when the back door is opened. There is also a diamond-shaped indicator at the left end, confirming that the rollfilm leader paper is correctly engaged and the supply spool is actually turning.
 
The advance wheel is at the right end and has a film reminder at the top; there is double exposure prevention as well as an auto-stop mechanism. The exposure counter is placed next, and is automatically reset when the back door is opened. There is also a diamond-shaped indicator at the left end, confirming that the rollfilm leader paper is correctly engaged and the supply spool is actually turning.
  
−
The back is hinged to the right, and retained by a sliding bar on the left. The two spring-loaded flanges placed under the camera must be released before inserting the film spools. The position of the first exposure is set by aligning the start marks on the rollfilm paper backing with dots inside the camera. There is an automatic lock, preventing accidental opening of the back before the end of the film roll. The bottom plate has a tripod thread in the middle, and the body serial number engraved in small characters on the side.
+
The back is hinged to the right, and retained by a sliding bar on the left. The two spring-loaded flanges placed under the camera must be released before inserting the film spools. The position of the first exposure is set by aligning the start marks on the rollfilm paper backing with dots inside the camera. There is an automatic lock, preventing accidental opening of the back before the end of the film roll.<REF name="SK 01/59 p96" /> The bottom plate has a tripod thread in the middle, and the body serial number engraved in small characters on the side.
  
−
The [[Hexar lenses|Hexar]] 75mm f/3.5 four-element lens and [[Seikosha-MX|Seikosha-MXL]] shutter are inherited from the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl IIIL]], but the focusing aid is no longer convex but instead a simple tab. The shutter has B, 1–500 speeds, a self-timer, a PC socket for flash synchronization and a built-in [[Light Value]] system.
+
The [[Hexar lenses|Hexar]] 75mm f/3.5 four-element lens and [[Seikosha-MX|Seikosha-MXL]] shutter are inherited from the [[Pearl (I), II and III|Pearl IIIL]], but the focusing aid is no longer convex but instead a simple tab. The camera cannot fold unless focused at infinity.<REF name="SK 01/59 p96" /> The shutter has B, 1–500 speeds, a self-timer, a built-in [[Light Value]] system and flash synchronization (M, F or X) via a PC socket.
  
 
== Commercial life ==
 
== Commercial life ==
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The Pearl IV was released in December 1958<REF> Miyazaki, ''Konika kamera no 50-nen'', p.129. </REF> It was featured and advertised in the January 1959 issue of most major Japanese photography magazines.
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The Pearl IV was released in December 1958.<REF> Miyazaki, ''Konika kamera no 50-nen'', p.129. </REF> It was featured and advertised in the January 1959 issue of most major Japanese photography magazines.<REF> {{Kokusan}}, p.395. </REF>
  
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At {{yen|22,000|1959}}, the IV was slightly cheaper than the [[Pearl (I), II and III|IIIL]] (¥24,800). However, interest in folding cameras was waning fast, and production of this camera stopped after about six months and after only about five thousand had been made.<REF> Miyazaki, ''Konika kamera no 50-nen'', pp.129–30; Tanaka, p.61 of {{KKS}} no.8. </REF>
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The price was {{yen|22,000|1959}} (including ¥1,050 for the case),<REF name="SK 01/59 p96" /> making the IV slightly cheaper than the [[Pearl (I), II and III|IIIL]] (¥24,800). However, interest in folding cameras was waning fast, and production of this camera stopped after about six months and after only about five thousand had been made.<REF> Miyazaki, ''Konika kamera no 50-nen'', pp.129–30; Tanaka, p.61 of {{KKS}} no.8; Hishida, p.73 of {{KKS}} no.10. </REF>
  
 
== Posterity ==
 
== Posterity ==
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<references />
 
<references />
  
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== Sources and further reading ==
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== Bibliography ==
 
* {{Showa10}} Item 1443.
 
* {{Showa10}} Item 1443.
 
* ''Konika-Minoruta-ten'' (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005.
 
* ''Konika-Minoruta-ten'' (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005.
−
* {{KKS010}}<!-- Not used yet -->
+
* Hishida Kōshirō (菱田耕四郎). "Konica history 10. Sengo no kamera." (Konica history 10. 戦後のカメラ. Postwar cameras.) {{KKS010}} Pp.60–75.
 
* {{McKeown12}} P.544.
 
* {{McKeown12}} P.544.
 
* 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.
 
* 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.

Revision as of 23:35, 26 December 2009

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The Pearl IV is a 4.5×6cm folder, released by Konishiroku (the later Konica) in December 1958. It succeeded the Pearl III, and was the last of a long line of cameras called "Pearl", inaugurated in 1909.

Other articles deal with the early Pearl for plates and rollfilm, the Pearl No.2, the self-erecting 6×9 Pearl, the Semi Pearl, the Pearl (I), II and III, and the Baby Pearl and Pearlette cameras.

Description

The camera is a radical redesign of the Pearl III, with a completely different diecast aluminium body and a finder of advanced design with a projected frameline. The finder has additional lines for parallax but there is no automatic parallax correction: the frame does not move when focusing.[1] The housing for the finders extends almost the whole way across the top. The eyepiece is offset to the left; the rangefinder second image window is surrounded by a rectangular frosted area for the illumination of the projected frame. The accessory shoe is above the centre of the top housing, which also has the name Pearl IV inscribed so as to be read when the camera is held vertically.

The diecast body pushes the weight to 710g.[2] The door over the bellows is hinged on the right hand side (as experienced by a photographer holding the camera horizontally), as opposed to the Pearl III and all the earlier models. The shutter release is still at the top of the door and near the hinge, it is thus pressed by the right hand whereas the earlier models had a left-handed release button. It is supplemented by a thread for a cable release placed above the top housing next to the advance wheel. The front door itself is released by a small button at the front.

The advance wheel is at the right end and has a film reminder at the top; there is double exposure prevention as well as an auto-stop mechanism. The exposure counter is placed next, and is automatically reset when the back door is opened. There is also a diamond-shaped indicator at the left end, confirming that the rollfilm leader paper is correctly engaged and the supply spool is actually turning.

The back is hinged to the right, and retained by a sliding bar on the left. The two spring-loaded flanges placed under the camera must be released before inserting the film spools. The position of the first exposure is set by aligning the start marks on the rollfilm paper backing with dots inside the camera. There is an automatic lock, preventing accidental opening of the back before the end of the film roll.[2] The bottom plate has a tripod thread in the middle, and the body serial number engraved in small characters on the side.

The Hexar 75mm f/3.5 four-element lens and Seikosha-MXL shutter are inherited from the Pearl IIIL, but the focusing aid is no longer convex but instead a simple tab. The camera cannot fold unless focused at infinity.[2] The shutter has B, 1–500 speeds, a self-timer, a built-in Light Value system and flash synchronization (M, F or X) via a PC socket.

Commercial life

The Pearl IV was released in December 1958.[3] It was featured and advertised in the January 1959 issue of most major Japanese photography magazines.[4]

The price was ¥22,000 (including ¥1,050 for the case),[2] making the IV slightly cheaper than the IIIL (¥24,800). However, interest in folding cameras was waning fast, and production of this camera stopped after about six months and after only about five thousand had been made.[5]

Posterity

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"). 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.

Konishiroku's next medium-format rangefinder would be the Koni-Omega Rapid of 1964; Konishiroku also made an abortive attempt at another 4.5×6 camera with the Konica SF SLR.

Notes

  1. ↑ The finder is sometimes described as having a frameline whose position adjusts to compensate for parallax. This is untrue: hold the camera steady, focus from the closest distance to infinity, and the view is unchanged and the frameline stays where it was. The frameline does have extra lines to indicate the variation caused by parallax: in this it is similar to some of the better accessory viewfinders (for 35mm rangefinder cameras, etc.) that lack an adjustment for distance.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Column in Shashin Kōgyō January 1959, p.96.
  3. ↑ Miyazaki, Konika kamera no 50-nen, p.129.
  4. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.395.
  5. ↑ Miyazaki, Konika kamera no 50-nen, pp.129–30; Tanaka, p.61 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8; Hishida, p.73 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10.

Bibliography

Links

In English:

In Japanese:

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