Special Pearlette
The Special Pearlette is a Japanese folding camera taking 4×6.5cm exposures on 127 film. It was made by Konishiroku (predecessor of Konica) in 1929.[1]
Description
Despite its name, the Special Pearlette has nothing in common with the strut-folding Pearlette. It is a copy of the Roll Tenax by Goerz. It has a folding bed but it is not self-erecting: the front standard needs to be manually pulled out. There is a brilliant finder attached to the lens standard. The back is hinged to the bottom. The front leather is embossed SPECIAL PEARLETTE.
Lens and shutter equipment
Only one actual example is known, presented in Sugiyama.[2] It has a dial-set Compur shutter said to give T, B, 1–250 speeds and a lens reported to be a Trinar Anastigmat 75/4.5.
Other lenses mentioned by Lewis are the Trinar f/6.3 and Eurynar f/6.3, all of them made by Rodenstock. Other shutters are the Ibsor and Prontor.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Date: Lewis (p. 49), Sugiyama (item 1143) and chronology of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website.
- ↑ Sugiyama item 1143.
- ↑ Lewis, p. 49.
Bibliography
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P. 49. (The camera pictured as a "Pearlette Special" is a regular Pearlette.)
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 544.
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 1143.
