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 appears to be a rangefinder camera with the viewfinder window at the center and the extra rangefinder window to the right, as the camera is viewed from the front. Advertisements for the camera make no mention of the rangefinder (whether coupled or not); this is a curious omission. The camera has a Seriter lens and either an NKS or AKS shutter.
The design of the Atom Six II is very distinctive; viewed from the front, it has two viewfinder windows (that to the left for 6×6 and that to the right perhaps for 6×4.5), with an extra rangefinder window 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.
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 in the camera page of the Zeppan Tōsan photo site
