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Japanese Six (6×6)
Postwar models (edit)
folding
Aires Viceroy | Angel Six | Aram Six | Astoria Super Six | Atom Six | Balm Six | Baron | Beauty Six (1950) | Beauty Six (1953) | Calm Six | Carl Six | Centre Six | Crown | Crystar Six | Daido Six | Dorima Six | Doris Six | Ehira Six | Elbow Six | First Six | Flora Six | Fodor Six | Frank Six | Fujica Six | Super Fujica Six | Futami Six | Gotex | Grace Six | Kohken Chrome Six | Kyowa Six | Liner Six | Lyra Six | Mamiya Six | Middl Six | Mihama Six | Mine Six | Minon Six | Mizuho Six | Motoka Six | Mount Six | Muse Six | Super Naiku | Ofuna Six | Olympus Six | Olympus Chrome Six | Orion Six | Oscar Six | Pigeon Six | Planet | Please Six | Pluto Six | Poppy Six | Press Van | Proud Chrome Six | Proud Super Six | Renown Six | Ricoh Six | Ruvikon | Ruvinal | Sanon Six | Silver Six | Sisley 1 | Sisley 2 & 3 | Sister Six | Tenar Six | Toho Six | Tomic | Toyoca Six | Ugein Six | Wagen Six | Walcon 6 | Welmy Six | Wester | Windsor Six
rigid or collapsible
Dia Six | Ehira Chrome Six | Enon Six | Flora | Flashline | Fujipet | Harmony | Mikono-6 | Orion | Ponix | Rich-Ray-6 | Shumy | Weha Chrome Six
Japanese 6×6 TLR, pseudo TLR and medium format SLR ->
Japanese Semi (4.5×6) and older 6×9 ->

The Mihama Six is a series of 6×6 folding cameras using 120 film, produced by Mihama (or Suruga) from 1952 until 1957. There are a number of models, all sharing the same body with horizontal folding bed. This body was manufactured by Takane,[1] at least for the early days. An MSK logo appeared on the folding struts.

No model of Mihama Six has any automation for film advance, and all but one can take both 6×6 and 4.5×6 pictures. These have two red windows in the back, one for each format, with a sliding cover accordingly engraved. All the lenses are 75mm f/3.5 unless stated otherwise. Mihama does not seem to have been a lens maker, and "Mihama" lenses can be presumed to have been a mere matter of branding.

Earlier models, without rangefinder[]

The first Mihama Six was released in 1952 — the name of the company at the time was Mihama Seikō (三浜精工株式会社). At first glance it may appear to be a rangefinder camera, but instead it has two viewfinders, one for 6×6 and the other for 6×4.5. It has been observed with either a Mihama or a Seriter lens, and with an NKS shutter (B, 1–200). It has been reported with a Nomular 75/3.2 lens, and also with an alternative shutter, called MKS or MSK depending on the source.

McKeown mentions a Mihama Six Model-X, a simpler version, apparently for 6×6 format only. The camera pictured has no top housing, only a tubular optical finder centered on the top plate and a diecast accessory shoe between the finder and the advance knob.

The Mihama Six II (1953) adds a viewfinder switch on the back left that puts a red mask across the viewfinder that is not in use. It has a C. Mihama lens and an NKS shutter (B, 1–200). The Mihama Six IIIA (1954) — from Suruga Seiki (駿河精機株式会社) rather than Mihama — adds a depth-of-field scale; it has been observed with either a Mihama lens or a Kepler triplet lens, and either an NKS shutter (B, 1–200) or an NKS-FB shutter (B, 1–300).


Pictures[]

Later models, with rangefinder[]

The Mihama Rhyme Six I (1954) has a single viewfinder, combined with an uncoupled rangefinder. The viewfinder is to the right (when holding the camera), and the rangefinder window to the left: the reverse of the usual arrangement. The rangefinder is set by a knob under the left thumb. The lens is either a Tri-Lausar from Tomioka or a Kepler of unknown provenance. The Mihama Rhyme Six II (also 1954) switches around the positions of the viewfinder and rangefinder. The Mihama Six R (1955) is a Rhyme Six II with a Toko lens (from Tōkyō Kōgaku) and either an NKS-FB or a Copal shutter (B, 1–300). An advertisement in the January 1955 issue of Shashin Salon offered the IIIA for ¥9,800 and the R for ¥15,300.

The Mihama Six S (also 1955) is a major improvement, with a coupled rangefinder and unit focusing. The lens is either a C. Kepler or a Toko, the shutter either NKS-FB or Copal MX (both B, 1–300). An advertisement in the June 1955 issue of Shashin Salon offered it for ¥14,000. The Mihama Six S2 (1957) — from Mihama Camera (ミハマカメラ株式会社) — has a brightline finder, a Lausar 80mm f/3.5 lens and shutter speeds of B, 1–400. An advertisement in the August 1957 issue of Shashin Salon offered it, complete with case and flashgun, for ¥13,000.

Notes[]

  1. Hagiya Takeshi, "Mine Shikkusu: Gunma-ken Takasaki-shi no kameramēkā".

Sources / further reading[]

Links[]

In English:

In Japanese:

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