Changes: Cherry

Revision as of 20:50, 28 December 2008

Japanese plate box cameras (edit)

No.0 (4×5cm)	Adam \| Hayatori Renshūyō
atom (4.5×6cm)	Atom Hayatori Shashinki
meishi (5.5×8cm)	Cherry
tefuda (8×10.5cm)	Champion \| Cherry \| Sakura Army \| Sakura Honor \| Sakura Navy
nimaigake (8×12cm)	Sakura Honor
kabine (12×16.5cm)	Sakura Honor
Japanese plate film: monocular, folding bed, strut-folding and SLR ->
3×4 and 4×4, 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6, 6×6 and 6×9 ->

This is a work in progress.

The Cherry Hand Camera (チャンピオン手提暗函)^[1] is a magazine camera, released by Konishi Honten (predecessor of Konica) in September 1903.^[2] It was assembled in the Kubo factory, a subcontractor for Konishi.^[3]

Cherry No.1

The Cherry No.1 was patterned after the Little Nipper by Butcher, itself copied on the Gnom by Hüttig. It was kept simple so that even children could be taught how to use it. Of course simplicity helped to keep its price as low as ¥2 (a little cheaper than the original Little Nipper, sold in Japan for ¥3).

The box-shaped camera takes six meishi-size dry plates (about 5.5×8cm). It has its reflecting type viewfinder mounted (or just clipped) on top, a finder of a kind that sometimes was called "Watson finder". Other than popular American box cameras of that time it has its lens in a barrel that's mounted on the front plate. The lens barrel contains the camera's special kind of rotary shutter that needs cocking for instant mode (see well illustrated Japanese link). The shutter is placed in front of the Goerz Choroskop 1:13.5 or a similar lens. With dimensions of only 12.5×12.1×7.2cm it is a quite small magazine camera. Another version looks more like common box cameras, having two inbuilt reflecting type finders and the lens hidden behind a round aperture selector slice (like Conley's Kewpie box cameras). Both types keep its special plate holders in place being hooked on the T-profile where they stand on. The Cherries have a very simple falling plate mechanism to let used plates fall onto a stack.

Two European miniature falling plate magazine cameras of 1900, W. Butcher's Little Nipper and R. Hüttig's Gnom were the model after which the Cherry Portable was created. It was badged with the English name "Cherry" in latin letters. Thus it was perhaps the first industrially manufactured Japanese camera which should be exported to other countries or their colonies.

Cherry No.2

Cherry No.3

Notes

↑ The phrase tesage anbako (手提暗函) is rendered as "Hand Camera" in the Konishi catalogue dated December 1911. In modern sources, it is often translated as "Portable Camera" and the camera is sometimes called "Cherry Portable". The Japanese word anbako literally means "dark box"; it was modeled after "camera obscura" and was used for cameras until around the 1910s.
↑ Date: Lewis, p.17, chronology from the official company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, quote from the same book in this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha, and this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology.
↑ Lewis, p.17, this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha.

Bibliography

Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. Pp.29 and 31.
Konishi Honten. Saishin Shashin Kikai Mokuroku (最新写真器械目録, Latest catalogue of photographic apparatus). Published on December 18, 1911. Recent reprint.
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), ISBN 0-935398-16-3 (hard). Pp.17–8.
Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "'Anbako' kara 'ōtofōkasu' he: kamera no hensen to tomo ni ayunda 114-nen" (「暗函」から「オートフォーカス」へ・カメラの変遷と共に歩んだ114年, From 'camera obscura' to 'autofocus': 114 years of camera evolution). 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.8–13.
Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "Konica history 2. Meiji 36-nen – 40-nen." (Konica history 2. 明治36年–40年. From Meiji year 36 (1903) to Meiji year 40 (1907).). 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.16–23.
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. Items 1021–3.
Tanaka Yoshirō (田中芳郎). "Meiji–Taishō jidai no Konishi Honten no kamera wo shiru tame no hon" (明治・大正時代の小西本店のカメラを知るための本, Books about the Konishi Honten cameras of the Meiji and Taishō eras). 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.10, September 1987. No ISBN number. Konishiroku kamera no rekishi (小西六カメラの歴史, special issue on Konishiroku). Pp.92–4.

Links

In English:

Cherry Portable at George Eastman House Technology archive [1]

In Japanese:

Pages at R. Konishi Rokuoh-Sha:
- Cherry, well illustrated and compared to the contemporary Little Nipper
- Pictures of a Cherry No.3
- Sample picture taken with a Cherry No.3
- Cherry in the camera list
Cherry (meishi replica) and Cherry (tefuda) in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
Cherry replica in the official Konica Minolta camera history site

Konishiroku prewar and wartime cameras (edit)
plate	hand cameras	stereo hand cameras	strut folders	box	telephoto	SLR
plate	Idea (original) \| Idea A \| Idea B \| Idea Snap \| Idea No.1 \| Idea (metal) \| Lily (original) \| Lily (horizontal) \| Lily (metal) \| Tropical Lily \| Noble \| Ohca \| Sakura Palace \| Sakura Pocket Prano \| Sakura Prano	Idea Binocular \| Sakura Binocular Prano	Minimum Idea \| Idea Spring \| Korok	Champion \| Cherry \| Sakura Army \| Sakura Honor \| Sakura Navy	Idea Telephoto	Idea Reflex (1910 and 1911) \| Idea Reflex (1932) \| Neat Reflex \| Sakura Reflex Prano
rollfilm	folders			box or collapsible		TLR
rollfilm	Pearlette \| Special Pearlette \| B Pearlette \| Pearl (for plates and rollfilm) \| Pearl No.2 \| Pearl (Year 8) \| Baby Pearl \| Semi Pearl \| Sakura Palace			Record \| Sakura (box) \| Sakura (bakelite)		Sakura-flex

[1] The phrase tesage anbako (手提暗函) is rendered as "Hand Camera" in the Konishi catalogue dated December 1911. In modern sources, it is often translated as "Portable Camera" and the camera is sometimes called "Cherry Portable". The Japanese word anbako literally means "dark box"; it was modeled after "camera obscura" and was used for cameras until around the 1910s.

[2] Date: Lewis, p.17, chronology from the official company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.10, quote from the same book in this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha, and this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology.

[3] Lewis, p.17, this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Japanese plate box}}
 {{WIP}}
-The '''Cherry Hand Camera''' (チャンピオン手提暗函)<REF> The phrase ''tesage anbako'' (手提暗函) is rendered as "Hand Camera" in the [[Konica|Konishi]] catalogue dated December 1911. In modern sources, it is often translated as "Portable Camera" and the camera is sometimes called "Cherry Portable". The Japanese word ''anbako'' literally means "dark box"; it was modeled after "camera obscura" and was used for cameras until around the 1910s. </REF> is a [[magazine camera]], released by [[Konica|Konishi Honten]] (predecessor of [[Konica]]) in September 1903.<REF> Date: Lewis, p.17, Sakai, p.16 of {{KKS}} no.10, chronology from the official company history ''Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen'', reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of the same magazine, and [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/detail.php?&key=103310371001&APage=613 this page] of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. </REF>
+The '''Cherry Hand Camera''' (チャンピオン手提暗函)<REF> The phrase ''tesage anbako'' (手提暗函) is rendered as "Hand Camera" in the [[Konica|Konishi]] catalogue dated December 1911. In modern sources, it is often translated as "Portable Camera" and the camera is sometimes called "Cherry Portable". The Japanese word ''anbako'' literally means "dark box"; it was modeled after "camera obscura" and was used for cameras until around the 1910s. </REF> is a [[magazine camera]], released by [[Konica|Konishi Honten]] (predecessor of [[Konica]]) in September 1903.<REF> Date: Lewis, p.17, chronology from the official company history ''Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen'' reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of {{KKS}} no.10, quote from the same book in [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherry.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha], and [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/detail.php?&key=103310371001&APage=613 this page] of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. </REF> It was assembled in the Kubo factory, a subcontractor for Konishi.<REF> Lewis, p.17, [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherry.htm this page at R.Konishi Rokuoh-sha]. </REF>
 == Cherry No.1 ==
+The '''Cherry No.1''' was patterned after the [[Little Nipper]] by [[Butcher]], itself copied on the [[Gnom]] by [[Hüttig]]. It was kept simple so that even children could be taught how to use it. Of course simplicity helped to keep its price as low as ¥2 (a little cheaper than the original Little Nipper, sold in Japan for ¥3).
-The Cherry No.1 takes 12 {{meishi}}-size 5.7×8.3cm dry plates, and was made by [[Konica|Konishi Honten]]'s factory Rokuoh-sha in Tokyo from 1903 to 1907 (Eastman House says it was made by Konishi Honten's factory Kubo). It was kept simple so that even children could be taught how to use it. Of course simplicity helped to keep its price as low as 2 Yen. It has its reflecting type viewfinder mounted (or just clipped) on top, a finder of a kind that sometimes was called "Watson finder". Other than popular American box cameras of that time it has its lens in a barrel that's mounted on the front plate. The lens barrel contains the camera's special kind of rotary shutter that needs cocking for instant mode (see well illustrated Japanese link). The shutter is placed in front of the [[Goerz]] Choroskop 1:13.5 or a similar lens. With dimensions of only 12.5×12.1×7.2cm it is a quite small magazine camera. Another version looks more like common [[box camera]]s, having two inbuilt reflecting type finders and the lens hidden behind a round aperture selector slice (like [[Conley]]'s [[Conley Kewpie No. 3A|Kewpie box cameras]]). Both types keep its special plate holders in place being hooked on the T-profile where they stand on. The Cherries have a very simple falling plate mechanism to let used plates fall onto a stack.
+The box-shaped camera takes six {{meishi}}-size dry plates (about 5.5×8cm). It has its reflecting type viewfinder mounted (or just clipped) on top, a finder of a kind that sometimes was called "Watson finder". Other than popular American box cameras of that time it has its lens in a barrel that's mounted on the front plate. The lens barrel contains the camera's special kind of rotary shutter that needs cocking for instant mode (see well illustrated Japanese link). The shutter is placed in front of the [[Goerz]] Choroskop 1:13.5 or a similar lens. With dimensions of only 12.5×12.1×7.2cm it is a quite small magazine camera. Another version looks more like common [[box camera]]s, having two inbuilt reflecting type finders and the lens hidden behind a round aperture selector slice (like [[Conley]]'s [[Conley Kewpie No. 3A|Kewpie box cameras]]). Both types keep its special plate holders in place being hooked on the T-profile where they stand on. The Cherries have a very simple falling plate mechanism to let used plates fall onto a stack.
 Two European miniature falling plate magazine cameras of 1900, [[Butcher|W. Butcher's]] ''[[Little Nipper]]'' and [[Richard Hüttig|R. Hüttig's]] ''[[Gnom]]'' were the model after which the Cherry Portable was created. It was badged with the English name "Cherry" in latin letters. Thus it was perhaps the first industrially manufactured Japanese camera which should be exported to other countries or their colonies.
@@ Line 26: / Line 28: @@
 == Links ==
 In English:
-* [http://www.eastman.org/fm/mees/htmlsrc/mK82300002_ful.html#topofimage Cherry Portable] at George Eastman House Technology archive [http://www.eastman.org]
+* [http://www.geh.org/fm/mees/htmlsrc/mK82300002_ful.html#topoftext Cherry Portable] at George Eastman House Technology archive [http://www.eastman.org]
 In Japanese:
+* Pages at [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/ R. Konishi Rokuoh-Sha]:
+** [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherry.htm Cherry], well illustrated and compared to the contemporary Little Nipper
+** [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherryget.htm Pictures of a Cherry No.3]
+** [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherryphoto.htm Sample picture taken with a Cherry No.3]
+** [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherrytefuda.htm Cherry] in the [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/11year.htm camera list]
 * [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/detail.php?&key=103310371001&APage=613 Cherry (''meishi'' replica)] and [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/detail.php?&key=103310371002&APage=613 Cherry (''tefuda'')] in the [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/sts/set_brws_01.php?id=1033 Camera database] of the [http://sts.kahaku.go.jp/ Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology]
-* [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/cherry.htm Cherry Portable, well illustrated and compared to the contemporary "Little Nipper" of Star Camera Works, with exciting further links] at Japanese website about R. Konishi Rokuoh-Sha [http://www2f.biglobe.ne.jp/~ter-1212/sakura/]
 * [http://ca.konicaminolta.jp/history/konica/1940/1903.html Cherry replica] in the official [http://ca.konicaminolta.jp/history/index.html Konica Minolta camera history site]
 {{Konishiroku prewar and wartime}}