Konishiroku Snappy Camera

It's been a few weeks since I wrote my last camera collecting blog post because I've started a new position. Now that I feel comfortable in the new job, I think it's time to write about some of my cameras. I love the new responsibilities, the company I'm working for again. I also think I have my nose above water and can take on other enjoyable tasks such as writing about one of my passions: cameras within my collection

My Konishiroku Snappy Camera

Looking over the cameras above my desk, I came across this small and what I believe is an underappreciated gem of a camera. So, in this week's blog post, I wanted to write about the Konishiroku Kogaku Snappy camera. A camera is exceptionally well built, especially for a subminiature-style camera coming out of Japan just after WWII.

Company History

Konishiroku is one of the oldest photographic companies coming out of Japan, even older than Kodak. The company traces back to 1873 when a pharmacist, Rokusaburo Sugiura, started selling photographic items out of the largest pharmacy in Toyoko that he owned. In 1878, Rokusaburo gave the original shop to his younger brother and launched a new shop, Konishi Honten, in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district.

In 1882, Konishi began to produce photography-related materials in Japan. In 1902, Konishi started to sell the Cherrimportedy Portable Camera, the first Japanese-built camera made for the public. In 1921, Konishi named his son Konishi Honten to succeed in the family business. The company turned into Konishiroku Honten, later Konishiroku, an abbreviation of their names Konishi Rokuemon.

 After WWII, Konishiroku was well known for its Konica brand of cameras, which they released the Konica I camera in 1948. Later in 1965, Konica produced the first auto-exposure SLR camera, the Konica Autoreflex. In 2003, they merged with Minolta and exited the photo market in 2006. they are now more recognized in the copier business.

The Camera

The Konishiroku Snappy was designed, developed, and sold in 1949. According to sources, the Snappy original design was in spring, with the first model released in August 1949. They were somewhat popular and sold approximately 40,000 units.

The camera has a trapezoidal-shaped camera that incorporates items seen in 35mm cameras of its time. The camera is a "system" with other lenses and accessories. In form, it reminds me of the VP Exakta, model B, which I wrote about in an earlier post, only considerably smaller. The camera measures 2.5" wide by 1 5/8" deep and 1.5" tall and weighs 5 oz. with a very sturdy and well-built leather case.

 Another item the camera has is a pull-up rewind knob that allows you to open the back. There are integrated shutter speeds of "B," 25, 50, 100. The lens is an Option 25mm f3.5 lens that allows the photographer to set aperture settings between f3.5-16 by turning the lens's outer ring. You would think this operation would focus the lens, but the lens is a fixed focus, and you're changing the aperture settings.

The camera has a horizontal running guillotine shutter tripped by the shutter release on the top of the camera. The winding leaver on the back of the camera advances the film and cocks the shutter.

 When you lift the rewind knob and swing the door open as you would a 35mm camera, you see there are rill film reels in the camera. The camera shoots 14x14mm square images on the 17.5 paper-backed roll film, which was popular in the "Hit" style cameras, but the Snappy film was much better quality.

The System

The lenses on the Snappy are also interchangeable, and they unscrew from the camera body. There is a Cherry 40mm f5.6 telephoto lens which also comes with an auxiliary frame that fits the front viewfinder window. Other accessories for the Snappy camera are Close up lens, which fits over the standard 25mm Optor lens, hoods and filters, tripod adapter, and the sturdy brown leather case with strap. The Snappy came in a kit with all the accessories in one red and black presentation box.

Conclusion

The Snappy is an excellent camera and a camera that I enjoy having in my collections. Having researched the camera, I'll need to hunt down the other accessories for the camera, especially the telephoto lens and filters. Maybe it's time to see if I can find the whole kit. Now that would be the crowning gem.

 Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to read my blog post. I'll do my best to do this every other week, time permitting. Until next time, please be safe.

Petal Camera

In my early days of collecting, I was never a real huge fan of the smaller subminiature cameras, mainly since most of them were the lesser quality cameras, or as I called them, "carnival camera" like the Hit camera. Then there was the other end. The 007 spy style camera was coming from Minox. As I grew in my camera maturity, coming across cameras like the Minolta or Yashica 16mm camera gave me an appreciation of some of these cameras' quality and quality.

My Round Petal camera

For this week's camera blog post, I wanted to go back to one of the subminiature cameras I have in my collection. The Petal camera has always intrigued me since it's the smallest of the small non-medical cameras made according to Guinness World Records. As far as cameras go, this one is tiny and just a little larger than a quarter in the US or a 2 Euro coin. The St. Peter Optical Company made the Petal camera, whose Japanese name was Sei-Petero Kōgaku, in 1948. According to some, I've seen some references where it stated its introduction in 1947. The first US advertising of the camera was in U. S. Camera in February 1949, which you can see here.

The Camera:

The Petal camera comes in two different styles, with an even rarer third version named the Evarax A. The two primary Petal camera are either a round-faced camera, which is what I own, or a second model with an octagonal shaped face. The Evarax A camera is an octagonal shaped face camera with a more elaborate etching on the faceplate. The Petal camera is only 1.25" across by 1.75" tall by 5/8" deep and weighs 2.2oz. The camera has a 12mm f5.6 lens, placed in the upper middle on the front of the camera. There are two shutter speeds, either "B" for time exposures or "I" for instant, which is 1/25th of a second, controlled by a wheel on the camera's front.

My Petal camera compared to a U.S. Quarter.

On the top of the camera is an optical viewfinder, and to the right of the viewfinder is the shutter trigger lever. Along the top of the optical viewfinder is a lever that can be mover over the trigger arm to lock it so you cannot take a photo when you don't want an accidental image taken. The shutter release lever pushes a plunger down into the camera, which trips the shutter. On the camera side is a knurled ring that you rotate to advance the film to the next exposures. To the side of the knurled ring, number 1 to 6 with indents stops the ring at the next photo.

Loading the Camera:

It took me some time to figure out how to get to the film chamber. After playing for about 15 minutes or so, I noticed that the back of the camera. The camera back can be unscrewed to get to the film cassette. Once the back is off, it exposes the film cassette. Once that's removed, you can see the shutter mechanism and the inside of the camera itself.

Unthreaded the back off the Petal camera. You can also see the exposure counter.

The film came in preloaded discs with 6-6mm images on each film cassette. The film cassette holds the film. To get to the film, the cassette needs to be unscrewed too. The original Petal film was a panchromatic film, which needed to be loaded in complete darkness. Many people used orthochromatic film like that can be loaded and unloaded under a red safelight, which doesn't affect the film. A film cutter allowed the Petal camera owners to cut 35mm film to use in the film cassettes.

Once the film is in the cassette and back into the camera, you thread the back onto the camera. You need to rotate the back portion of the camera one to two revolutions clockwise until the #1 is next to the exposure indicator. Doing this opens the film window on the film cassette and allows light to get to the film once the shutter is triggered.

Exposure counter on the Petal camera.

After you took the six exposures, the exposure counter is at number six to unload the film. You need to turn the number counter clockwise two numbers to number 4, closing the film window and allowing the photographer to unscrew the back and take out the film cassette for processing.

Conclusion:

The Petal camera is a lot more sophisticated of a camera than I first thought when I purchased it many years ago. It's very well built and a prized camera to own for the "spy" photographers. Extremely small, very well made, and a beloved camera in my collection. The shutter on my camera is inoperable. It would be fun to cut some film and take it out for a spin.

 If you have questions or comments about this camera or any others in my collection, I'd love to hear from you. Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this fun camera. Until next week, please be safe.

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