Atom Six

The Atom Six is a folding camera for 6×6 and 6×4.5 exposures, advertised by Atom (アトム光機製作所, Atom Kōki Seisakusho, address Koume 2–5, Sumida-ku, Tokyo; also maker of the Atom Flex). It has a 75mm f3.5 lens; focusing is by movement of the front lens element. The shutter has speeds of 1–200 and B. Advertisements for both model I and model II were published from the July 1952 to the September 1953 issues of the Japanese photographic magazines.

The Atom Six I looks from the front as if it is a rangefinder camera with the viewfinder window at the center and the extra rangefinder window to the right. However, the smaller second window is not for a rangefinder but instead for a right-angle finder: the top of the camera has a small viewing screen. The camera has a Seriter or Atom lens. The shutter is said to be either an NKS or AKS shutter. The picture in McKeown's book shows a B, 1–200 shutter marked ATOM. A dealer mentions an EKS B, 1–200 shutter, and the camera pictured at the Japan Family Camera page has a shutter marked SLUNP.

The design of the Atom Six II is very distinctive; viewed from the front, it has two rectangular viewfinder windows (that to the left for 6×6 and that to the right perhaps for 6×4.5), with the extra window for the right-angle finder between the two. It has either a four-element Atomic lens and an NKS shutter or a three-element Atom lens and an AKS shutter. There is also an Atomar lens, seen on an example at a Yahoo Japan auction.

Source / further reading

• 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 363–4.

Links

In Japanese:

• Atom Six I at Japan Family Camera
• There is an Atom Six I page in the Zeppan Tōsan photo site, it cannot be accessed by a direct link, follow the link marked "武器庫" in the page menu, then the link marked "アトム光機製作所　アトムシックス" in the next menu