The Fujica 8×11mm SLR is a design concept elaborated by Fuji around 1980, only known from the special issue of Kurashikku Kamera Senka on Fuji cameras.[1]
Description[]
The concept was inspired by the Pentax Auto 110 subminiature SLR, but it is built around Minox film cassettes, for 8×11mm pictures, and it has a fixed lens. Prior to this, in the 1960s, Fuji had drawn a Fujica 16mm SLR, which did not go beyond the mock-up stage and shows some similarity to the 8×11mm SLR.
The example pictured in Mizukawa's article is certainly a mock-up. It has the shape of a bar, shorter than the original Minox. Most of the camera is clear coloured, and the bottom face and lens surrounds are black.
The fixed lens is situated towards the bottom of the front face, slightly offset to the right. The inscription on the mock-up mentions a Fujinon 18/2.8. No focusing control is visible, making the benefits of SLR viewing little obvious. The camera presumably contains a pentaprism, but its characteristic shape is not visible outwards.[2]
The advance control is similar to that of the Fujica Mini, i.e. by way of a thumbwheel at the top.[1] The shutter is behind the lens, as on the Pentax Auto 110.[1] No flash connection is visible on the mock-up's picture.
The final camera would have been equipped a built-in exposure meter, presumably TTL, for automated exposure.[3] It seems that no other exposure mode would have been provided, and the mock-up does not show any speed or aperture control.
The mock-up only has a badge or sticker with the FUJICA brand and Fuji's logo. The development probably did not go far enough for the camera to receive a commercial name, and it is likely that no fully functional example was made.
Some years later, Fuji made another subminiature SLR design, the Fuji Half SLR for 18×24mm (half-frame) exposures, which was not produced either.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mizukawa, p.115 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.44.
- ↑ Mizukawa, p.115 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.44, says that the design is fundamentally similar to that of the Pentax Auto 110, and this probably includes the pentaprism.
- ↑ Automated exposure is specified in Mizukawa, p.115 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.44.
Bibliography[]
- Mizukawa Shigeo (水川繁雄). "Fuji Shashin Firumu no shisakuki" (富士写真フィルムの試作機, Fuji Shashin Film prototypes). 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.44, December 1997. ISBN 4-257-13013-X. Tokushū: Fuji Shashin Firumu no kamera (特集：富士写真フィルムのカメラ, special issue on the cameras of Fuji Photo Film). Pp.110–5. (The author was working in the camera design section of Fuji Shashin Kōki from 1961 to 1997.)