Ricohflex (original)

The Ricohflex A is a Japanese 6×6 TLR sold by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō around 1940. It is a rebadged version of the Rollekonter, made by Mori Seisakusho. The camera was only called Ricohflex (理光フレックス) at the time it was sold, and it seems that the name "Ricohflex A" was carved by collectors after the Ricohflex B.

Original documents

The Ricohflex was announced by Riken in February 1939, for sale with a monthly payment plan. It appears in an advertisement dated that month for ¥320, a very expensive price. It also appears in advertisements by Ueno Shōten dated early 1940. It is finally mentioned for ¥252 in the official price list compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941. (This document shows the same price for all TLR cameras, perhaps by mistake.)

A user guide for the postwar geared lens Ricohflex published in 1951 reportedly says that the first Ricohflex, called Ricohflex A, was developed and experimented in 1936, and was a pseudo TLR with a fixed-focus viewing lens and a front-cell focusing f/4.5 taking lens. The camera described is clearly not the Ricohflex sold in 1939–40. It might be an experimental predecessor of the Ricohflex B or an altogether different camera, if not a plain mistake.

Actual example

The only actual example of the Ricohflex observed so far has the same body and film advance mechanism as the Rollekonter I. The nameplate is shaped the same as on the late Rollekonter I, and only has the Ricohflex name.

There is a rounded casing around the taking and viewing lenses, completely covering the shutter. There are three levers on the sides, certainly to set the speed and aperture, and for shutter cocking and release. The front plate is marked RIKEN KOHGAKU KOGYO CO., LTD. above the taking lens. The speed and aperture are set by levers protruding on either side. The shutter reportedly gives T, B, 1–300 speeds. It is cocked and released by a single lever at the bottom. The taking and viewing lenses are Ricoh Anastigmat with 75mm focal length — the taking lens has f/3.5 maximal aperture, and it is unclear if the viewing lens has f/3.5 or f/3.2.

An isolated example of the Rollekonter has been observed with the same casing around the lenses. This camera has been presented as a "Rollekonter III" in recent sources, but this is probably a mistake (see Rollekonter). It might have been assembled from an unsold Ricohflex, and it notably has a black plate inscribed ROLLE KONTER WORK added to the front of the casing, perhaps covering the Riken company name.

Bibliography

• 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. Item 310.
• Hayashi Teruaki (林輝昭). "Kamera taishūka no kōrōsha Rikōfurekkusu" (カメラ大衆化の功労者リコーフレックス, The Ricohflex, a deserving effort to popularize cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.4, March 1984. No ISBN number. Meiki no keifu (名機の系譜, special issue on famous camera families). Pp.136–9.
• "Kokusan shashinki no kōtei kakaku" (国産写真機の公定価格, Set prices of the Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of October 25, 1940 and setting the retail prices from December 10, 1940. Published in Asahi Camera January 1941 and reproduced in 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. Pp.108—9. Type 7, section 1.
• Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin July 20, 1967. "Gyōkai san-jū-nen no ashiato" (業界三十年の足跡, Records of thirty years in the business). Pp.12–33. Reproduced in Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Pp.230–51.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). Nigan-refu no hanashi (zenpen) (二眼レフのはなし[前編], TLR stories [first part]). Gendai Kamera Shinsho (現代カメラ新書) no.68. Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1980. No ISBN number. Pp.141 and 143.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.8–11.
• Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Senzen no kamera 3: Nigan-refu kamera" (戦前のカメラ3・二眼レフカメラ, Prewar cameras 3: TLR cameras). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.19–20.
• Watakushi no ni-gan-refu kamera-ten (私の二眼レフカメラ展, Exhibition of twin lens reflex cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.21.

Links

In Japanese:

• Ricohflex A in the camera list of the Ricoh official website (copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum)
• Advertisement for the Riken camera range (on the left) published in the 26 February 1939 issue of Sunday Mainichi, reproduced in the camera company page of the Gochamaze website