Konishiroku

You never know where this hobby will take you. As of late, I've taken interest in old folding cameras and learned that Konica was previously known as Konishiroku. I imagine some here know this as it did turn up in a forum search. What wasn't in the search was this lovely specimen - (final model of a strong lineup)

http://www.120folder.com/pearl_iv.htm

There was a battle at the end of the folder era to try to stave off the onslaught of new 35mm rangefinder offerings. Ultimately, the folder largely disappeared from the marketplace and those companies that didn't make the transition to 35mm disappeared with them. The things that made folders so compact also made them difficult to add newer features to. Shutter speed, aperture and focus distance all had to be input at the end of the lens. The rear of the cameras typically only had a viewfinder, film winder, red window for reading shot number on the paper backed film, and (not always) a shutter button.

Many of the upper end folders began including uncoupled rangefinders which helped with focusing, but only to a degree. One still had to take the reading from the rangefinder and set the focus ring on the lens to the same number. Folders like the Pearl were a relatively small subset of folders which managed to "couple" the rangefinder, such that adjusting the focal length of the lens changed the rangefinder simultaneously, allowing for a modern rangefinder experience. It's not an easy trick as any connection to the front of the lens (even the shutter tripping mechanism) must be able to disengage and fold up into the body when collapsed.

The Pearl also had a film advance system that eliminated the need for the red windows on the back. I have a folder with a similar system, and it is interesting to observe. 35mm has sprockets that facilitate easy frame counting. The system for these 120 medium format roll film cameras has to calculate the number of turns needed per shot and compensate for the ever growing diameter of the take-up spool.

In the end, Konica made the right move and moved away from the folder market, despite producing one of the best folders ever made. No matter how innovative they were, the format was never going to allow for all the fancy things that were to come with SLRs.

Interesting historical lineage. Thank you. It incited me to look a little further. Not looking to steal your thunder.. Just an Old Konica, and Konica Minolta shooter.

Konica-Konishiroku-history The company was founded in 1873, during the first decade of Japan's industrial revolution, by Rokusaburo Sugiura, who suggested that his employer, the Konishiya apothecary in Kojimachi, Tokyo, begin to sell the new cameras and photographic materials that were being imported from Europe and the United States.

Here is a vintage Pearl... Great Grand father of the Konica Minolta 7D.

Thanks again for this thread.

Bill

EvilOne wrote:

Interesting historical lineage. Thank you. It incited me to look a little further. Not looking to steal your thunder.. Just an Old Konica, and Konica Minolta shooter.

Konica-Konishiroku-history The company was founded in 1873, during the first decade of Japan's industrial revolution, by Rokusaburo Sugiura, who suggested that his employer, the Konishiya apothecary in Kojimachi, Tokyo, begin to sell the new cameras and photographic materials that were being imported from Europe and the United States.

Here is a vintage Pearl... Great Grand father of the Konica Minolta 7D.

Thanks again for this thread.

Bill

Well, all the folders are vintage at this point That is a Semi-Pearl, a prewar earlier version of the Pearl series. Japanese camera companies frequently used semi to denote 6x4.5 I'm presuming because it was half frame 6x9.

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Semi_Pearl

Even that camera started its run in 1938. I don't know what they would have made in 1873, but I'm guessing large format as photography didn't really make it to the masses until turn of the century. Most of these folders were pretty close copies of sucessful German models.

One thing that struck me about this one (and I neglected to mention about the Pearl IV) is that it is unit focussing. That is pretty rare among folders. Most have a fixed lens with only the front element moving to achieve focusing. Front cell focusing as It's called creates abberations. It's puzzling why they did it that way considering they already have bellows. The only guess I can hazard is the for unit focusing cameras, the lens has to be retracted to infinity to close the folder, which is something that is not a concern for front cell focused models.

The Semi-Pearl was still high tech for its day. I've read that most folders cost about a month's salary for their intended audience. At the budget end were box cameras with a single shutter speed and three apertures if you were lucky (no blades just different holes on a wheel).

In fairness to the other half of this forum, apparently Minolta was a pioneer in the field as well, introducing the overlaid rangefinder/viewfinder and coming up with the accessory cold shoe mount.

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Auto_Semi_Minolta

And adorned with a Pentax Tessar. I may be out more money