Konishiroku Konica I

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Konishiroku Konica I

Konica I
Konica II Bm
Konica III

Konica III M

The early 35mm format Japanese models were Leica clones, designed to closely resemble the tried-and-true model. The earliest of these models was the Nicca Nippon Standard of 1932, a US$13,000 worth of metal and glass if you stumble upon one. A year later, Canon followed with the Kwanon, which may fetch three times over, and then the Hansa, a bargain at US$12,000.

Not far behind, Konishiroku followed in 1936 with the Rubicon*, which did not mature into production as World War II was looming, and all viable industry was redirected to military-related equipment. The Rubicon was reborn as an X-Ray camera. A few more Canon models were offered in the pre-war years, alongside Leotax and Nikon, and all were shut down until 1945.

Back in the land of the living, Konishiroku presented the Konishiroku Camera, or Konica, their first commercial run of a 35mm compact rangefinder camera. Apart from body size and format, and perhaps the collapsible lens assembly, it was far from being a classic Leica copy.

This model, later known as the Konica I or Konica Standard, represented a significant departure from the ordinary #127 or #120 format cameras, primarily of the klapp style. The Konica II and its variants followed this model from 1950 onwards, the Konica III and its variants from 1956, and its granddaughter, the Konica Auto S. See camdex for individual model details.

The Konica I was also adopted by the US Army Signal Corps, which fetches a pretty penny in the collector’s market.

The post-war Japanese home market was in tatters, recovering from the toll of four years of war. The Allies, read Americans, poured a US$ billion, about seventeen times its worth in today’s terms, into a healing plan. Additionally, 500,000 GIs were stationed there until 1952. This contingent was the target market of the recovering consumer goods industry, in this case, cameras.

In addition to the major brands, such as Konica, Minolta, Nikon, and Canon, it appears that many smaller manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon. Most newcomers have converted from unrelated industries, with production lines supplied by mom-and-pop’s backyard machine shops. All but the majors have vanished within a decade.

Back to the GI contingent, there was a military commissary shop network that sold goods marked <E-P> for ‘export permitted’. Period cameras sold through this channel, and marked as such, have some value added for collectors.

Overall, Japanese-made products did not enjoy much reputation in the West. However, once the returning GIs brought back Japanese-made cameras, the American home market developed a taste for them.

The next step was setting up distributors in the US, where cameras sold until 1952 were marked ‘Made In Occupied Japan’ (MIOJ). The Konica I described here is so marked.

The Konica I is the first of a dynasty, followed by the elegant Konica II variants introduced from 1950 to 1956, and the Konica III variants introduced from 1956 to 1959. See camdex for individual models. The Konica I had some variants as well, differing on the fringe, with different markings, lens, and shutter combinations. See Camera Wiki for more details. The camera was also adopted by the US Army Signal Corps, which fetches a nice sum in the collector’s market.

The Konica I is a minimalist, compact, solid and heavy rangefinder. An all-metal body and innards, made well before plastics ruled the industry. It is of a typical design of the era, although most 35mm Japanese-made were viewfinders.

  • The top has two knobs, winder with a manual reset frame counter skirt, and a rewind knob.
  • The back door is hinged and released by turning a large disk at the bottom that doubles as a base stabilizer. Once the bottom disk is set to ‘O, give it an additional slight turn, and the back will pop out.
  • At the back top, a push button releases the winder after each frame. It is not connected to the trigger mechanism.
  • Inside, a cartridge brace is located at the bottom, under a pull-up forked pin to secure the cartridge in place.
  • A slotted take-off spool takes the film, with dual sprockets that feed the correct frame size.
  • The bottom has the said locking disk, a smaller disk with a mounting thread, and a rewind release button. With the two bottom disks, the camera is stable and does not fall on its nose, as do the German compatible models.
  • On my unit, the bottom skin is embosed with “Made in occupied Japan”. Note that the MIOJ marking location differs on other variants; again, see Camera Wiki for more details.

The action is at the front.

  • The lens pulls out, marked on the barrel with an arrow, and is locked in place with a slight right turn, also marked with an arrow.
  • The focusing ring is supported with a well-positioned finger rest. The distance marks are on the body, assuming metric. Fairly useless depth-of-field markings are on the base of the focusing dial.
  • The black ring at the front end carries:
    • the trigger cocking lever on top,
    • the trigger lever at the left, positioned for the right index finger,
    • the aperture markings with a rotating tab mark is controlled via a mushroom head lever at the bottom,
    • a sync port at 7 o’clock.
  • A front-end serrated dial sets the shutter speed.

* Oddly, I write this just ten days past the Ides of March.

Camdex list number 8115
Brand Konica
Model Konica I Made In Occupied Japan
Manual
Value
Format 35mm
Introduced 1950
AKA
Country Japan
Qty made 600,000
Initial price 70
Currency USD
Type Rangefinder
Body material Metal
Mode Manual
Weight 590 gr,  Body with lens
Class average weight 636 gr,  Body with lens
ASA range N/A
Kit lens Hexar 2.8/50, Hexar 3.5/50, Hexanon 2.8/50
Filter size 32mm slide on
Lens mount Fixed, retractable
Mount size N/A
Aperture
Shutter Leaf
Shutter make Konirapid
Trigger On the lens barrel
Winder Knob
Shutter cocking Lever on the lens barrel
Light meter
Lock No
Speeds B, 1-500. Early models had T as well.
Mirror N/A
Viewer Coupled rangefinder
DOF preview No
Exposure lock No
Exposure compensation No
Shoe No
External sync X
Timer No
Battery, original N/A
Sync speed
Battery, replacement N/A
Battery voltage N/A
Integral flash None
Other
More
Service / repair links See camerlog.com

 

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