Konica I, ready for film...

Hi all -

The new project camera, a circa-1950 Konica I type 1(F) rangefinder, came in Wednesday. Needed a good shutter cleaning and some fettling to get it back running consistently. Have had some hiccups with things being slightly bent out of alignment, but enough that it impacts operation. Think it's worked out, mostly, now. At least it seems lined out for the time being. Glass was perfect, though - an f/3.5 Hexar, Tessar-design. The film advance is basic, but the frame counter was DOA. Took some experimentation but it's happy now. I have a roll of film to throw in it, but I'm thinking I might put a ground glass against the rails and check the rangefinder before I do. Only other thing, barring any setbacks, is removing the damaged leatherette from the back and replacing it with the good one I have on a donor body. Need to figure out how to do that - I've never been successful removing leatherette in one piece. Tried a hair dryer to loosen the glue, to no avail. Anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Anyway,here is the beast in its current glory (minus pictures of the back leatherette):

Konica I Rangefinder by Scott, on Flickr

Konica I Rangefinder by Scott, on Flickr

Even have the press-on hood I used on one of these years ago:

Konica I Rangefinder by Scott, on Flickr

Some experimentation coming. If everything pans out, I may troll for a case for it (the 'I' didn't have strap lugs) or I'll get a wrist strap and attach it to the tripod mount. I've wanted a 35mm rangefinder for some time; this may do the trick. Even if it doesn't, I've had a lot of fun working on a camera again.

Thanks for looking.
Scott

Beautiful little rig you've got there. Have you tried getting some lighter fluid in under the leatherette? I have had good luck with it loosening up glue on several makes and models of cameras without it attacking or weakening the leather/leatherette.

Good looking camera. Any way you can transplant the complete back off the donor body? Pulling the pin on the hinge perhaps?

Fixcinater said:

Beautiful little rig you've got there. Have you tried getting some lighter fluid in under the leatherette? I have had good luck with it loosening up glue on several makes and models of cameras without it attacking or weakening the leather/leatherette.

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I've got some Ronsonol I'll try, but I'm guessing it will self destruct like Yashica coverings when I go to remove it. Really surprised heat didn't do it, but the plastic was starting to soften before the glue even did.

choiliefan said:

Good looking camera. Any way you can transplant the complete back off the donor body? Pulling the pin on the hinge perhaps?

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That's a great idea. The pin is very small, have to ponder on what I can use to try and drive it out...

Well, the leatherette is still sketchy, but I made a little ground glass out of some CD jewel case and checked the registration of the rangefinder. Seems spot on front to back. Loaded up with Kentmere now. Need to order some more film today, apparently...

OT: Does the writing Koníca suggest the accent is on the i?
I have always said Kònica.

Diapositivo said:

OT: Does the writing Koníca suggest the accent is on the i?
I have always said Kònica.

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I had a friend that always pronounced it Ko-neek-a.............I always called it a kon-ik-a. I don't know which is right and don't really care since all the Kon-ic-a cameras and lenses I have owned have been stellar. Especially the 21mm f4 Hexanon AR lens. Oh, my very first Konica was the Konica III with the 48mm f2. Not as compact as yours, but still stellar in the lens department.

John Wiegerink said:

I had a friend that always pronounced it Ko-neek-a.............I always called it a kon-ik-a. I don't know which is right and don't really care since all the Kon-ic-a cameras and lenses I have owned have been stellar. Especially the 21mm f4 Hexanon AR lens. Oh, my very first Konica was the Konica III with the 48mm f2. Not as compact as yours, but still stellar in the lens department.

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Thanks. I think you mean your friend pronounced with the accent on i, such as "referee" or "trustee".

Now I begin having doubts also on Yashica. I have always put the accent on "a". Does people in Japan put it on the "i"? Yasheeca?
And what about Fujiica? That I always pronounced with the accent on i but maybe it's instead Fùjica with the accent on u. A person I was talking to some days ago says Fùjica. That I imagine is related to mount Fuji which should have an accent on u.

Perplexed on how, after so many years, only now I begin nourishing doubts about pronunciation of products.

Diapositivo said:

Thanks. I think you mean your friend pronounced with the accent on i, such as "referee" or "trustee".

Now I begin having doubts also on Yashica. I have always put the accent on "a". Does people in Japan put it on the "i"? Yasheeca?
And what about Fujiica? That I always pronounced with the accent on i but maybe it's instead Fùjica with the accent on u. A person I was talking to some days ago says Fùjica. That I imagine is related to mount Fuji which should have an accent on u.

Perplexed on how, after so many years, only now I begin nourishing doubts about pronunciation of products.

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Are there any Japanese / Nipponese speaking folks out there that can help us through this?

Interesting - I've always said "Ya-shee-ca" and "Fu-jee-ca", but default to "Kon-i-ca". Now I'm wondering...

I should let you in on a little secret........my friend who pronounced Konica as Ko-neek-a was Latvian. That might have something to do with the way he said Konica. Sounded rather nice coming from him and much better than the way I said it.

In Japanese they write Konica as "コニカ" which translates to three "Japanese letters from their ABC" KO + NI + KA. They pronounce it as Kon-i-ca like it was suggested above.

Had a III and a IIIA - both of which were stellar cameras!
Good luck,
Ben

Japanese speakers don't stress syllables the same way English speakers do. Konica would be koh-nee-kah with the same stress on each syllable. Yashica is yah-she-kah, again same stress on each syllable. They also don't convert sounds to the schwa ("uh") like English speakers do. So it would be koh-nee-kah, not koh-nee-kuh and yah-she-kah, not yuh-she-kuh. All that said, I'm a firm believer in pronouncing things in the way most natural in the language you're speaking, not necessarily the language the word originates in. Japanese speakers certainly don't pronounce borrowed English words the way they're spoken in English (e.g. McDonalds is Makudonarudo in Japanese).

(I just got one of these cameras and went looking for info about it, and found this old thread. I also speak Japanese decently well.)