Talk:Prince Flex

"Coffee can"?

The Prince Flex looked somewhat like the first Ikoflex "coffee can" model. I don't know what this means. The hexagonal fronts of both are similar and distinctive, so I guess it's related to that; but anyway I don't understand the "coffee can" reference. (And because I don't understand it, I can't rewrite it.) -- Hoary 01:39, 28 July 2006 (EDT)

The first Ikoflex model, dated 1934–7, is nicknamed "coffee can" by many people, presumably because of its shape (see this google search, maybe there is the explanation somewhere). I don't know if the nickname was crafted recently or at the time it was sold, and I really don't see what type of coffee can is involved. --Rebollo fr 05:06, 28 July 2006 (EDT)

Mike Elek doesn't know; and I suppose he tried to search for it. Sorry, I'm too sleepy now to investigate further. Later, later. -- Hoary 07:38, 28 July 2006 (EDT)

My copy of 魅力再発見・二眼レフ has a couple of photos of the Ikoflex that give a clue. I don't know about the better-known Hasselblad, but the film back of the old Bronica has a film holder within it: you load the film into this, stick it in the back, and then stick the back on the body. The Ikoflex is a bit similar: it has a holder that you load with film and then plug into the bottom of the camera. When you've plugged it in, it has a sort of lip running around the rest of the body, which is perhaps similar to the lip of some container in which the exotic Americans traditionally bought their famously unenticing ground coffee. Well, I'm still not sure, but I think it has more to do with loading and the bottom than with the somewhat gothic appearance of the front. -- Hoary 19:45, 28 July 2006 (EDT)