Daido Six
Daidō Seikō (大同精工), the predecessor of Takane, brought out the Daido Six in December 1953. It is a rangefinderless folder whose body was based on that for the Mihama Six. It has two finders, for 6×6 and 4.5×6; and two windows for film numbers. Like all its successors, the Daido comes with a 75mm f3.5 lens; this one is named C. Daido Anastigmat and has front-cell focusing; it was from a dealer in Ikebukuro (Tokyo). The NKS shutter provides for speeds of 1–200 and B.
Two variants have been observed:
- top plate somewhat rounded, engraved Daido Model I[1];
- top plate with a squarer shape, engraved Daido Six Model II[2], no other difference visible.
The Daido Six (Model I) is advertised in the December 1953 issue of Asahi Camera[3] for ¥9,000. It was distributed by Satsuki Shashin Shōkai (五月写真商会) together with the Amiflex.
Daidō brought out the Daido Semi[4] at the same time as the Daido Six. This is a simplified and cheaper version, for 4.5×6 only. No picture has been found of it yet.
The successor of these two cameras would be the Sisley 55.
Notes
- ↑ Pictured in McKeown, p. 239, and in this page at Japan Family Camera.
- ↑ Seen for sale at a dealer.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Amiflex and Daido Six, published in the December 1953 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, item 581.
- ↑ According to Kokusan kamera no rekishi, it appears in a special issue of Photo Art dated November 1953. The same source does not mention any advertisement, and for some reason it attributes the Daido Semi to Kantō Kōgaku, the maker of the Amiflex.
Sources / further reading
In English:
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 239.
- 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), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P. 83 (brief mention only).
In Japanese:
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7. Items 581–2.
- Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Mine Shikkusu: Gunma-ken Takasaki-shi no kameramēkā" (ミネシックス:群馬県高崎市のカメラメーカー, Mine Six: A camera-maker in Takasaki, Gunma). Chapter 7 of Zunō kamera tanjō: Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari (ズノーカメラ誕生:戦後国産カメラ10物語, The birth of the Zunow camera: Ten stories of postwar Japanese camera makers). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1999. ISBN 4-257-12023-1. This history of Takane is based on Hagiya's interviews with four people who had been key figures in the company.
External links
In Japanese:
- Daido Six: a terse page about the Daido Six, with photographs, at the Japan Family Camera website