Atom Six

The Atom Six is a 6×6 folding camera made by Atom Kōki Seisakusho. 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 looks from the front as if it is a rangefinder camera, with two or three windows depending on the model, but these are separate viewfinders. the viewfinder window at the center and the extra rangefinder window to the right.

Common features

The Atom Six I and Atom Six II have the same body and mainly differ by the top housing. The folding struts are styled after the Ikonta and display the AOW logo of Atom Optical Works. The back is hinged to the right, the advance knob is at the top right and has an arrow to indicate the winding direction.

All the models have a 75mm f/3.5 lens; focusing is by movement of the front lens element. The shutter has speeds of 1–200 and B, is synchronized and has a self-timer.

The Atom Six I

Description

The Atom Six I has two viewfinders: a direct-vision finder at the center, with a rectangular window, and a right-angle finder on the left (as seen by the photographer), with a smaller round window and a small viewing screen on top of the camera. There is an accessory shoe between the two finders. The name ATOM–6 is engraved at two places of the top housing: above the camera between the eye-level finder and the advance knob, and behind the camera on the left of the finder eyepiece. The AOW logo is repeated on the right of the shoe.

This model normally takes 6×6cm pictures only and has a single red window in the middle of the back, surrounded by a small plate marked 12EX. The name ATOM–SIX is also embossed in the back leather under this red window. The back was modified with two red windows at some time, presumably after the introduction of the Atom Six II for parts standardization. On the modified back, the red windows are surrounded by small plates marked 12EX and 16EX, and the name ATOM–SIX I is embossed at the bottom right.

Advertisements and actual examples

In an advertisement dated April 1952, the Atom Six I was offered with a Seriter lens and an NKS shutter. The advertisement both says that the camera would become dual format in late February (2月下旬より) and that the model II would be released at the same date, with various improvements in the lens and other parts. (Despite the April publication date, all this is redacted in the future, probably because the advertisement was redacted various months before the date printed on the magazine cover.)

The production of the Atom Six I was not halted after the release of the model II: an advertisement dated December 1952 offered the model I with a Seriter lens and an AKS shutter. The AKS initials certainly stand for Atom Kōki Seisakusho. Examples have been observed with a Seriter lens and an ATOM marking on the shutter rim, surely corresponding to this AKS.

The observed lens and shutter combinations are:

• Seriter lens, Atom shutter;
• Seriter lens, EKS shutter (the reported "EKS" name is unconfirmed);
• Atom lens, Atom shutter;
• Atom lens, NKS shutter;
• Atom lens, S. Luna shutter;
• Atomar lens, NKS shutter.

The Atom Six II

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 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.

Sources / 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.
• [[Lewis}} Pp. 75 and 79 (brief mentions only).
• 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. 86.
• Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Items 1273–7.

Links

In Japanese:

• Atom Six I at Japan Family Camera
• Atom Six I at Minosan's blog
• Atom Six I in the Zeppan Tōsan photo site (incorporating this photograph). If the link does not work, go to the Zeppan Tōsan photo site, follow the link marked "武器庫" in the page menu, and then the link marked "アトム光機製作所　アトムシックス" in the "next" menu

Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 345.

This model is called "Atom Six I", "Atom Six II" and "Atom Six IIb" by Sugiyama, items 1273–5, and McKeown, p. 86, perhaps by mistake.

Advertisement published in Camera Fan, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 116.

Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 116.

Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1273, example pictured in the Zeppan Tōsan photo site, and example observed in an online auction.

Example observed for sale at a dealer.

Example pictured in McKeown, p. 86.

Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1274, and example observed for sale at a dealer.

Example pictured in this page at Japan Family Camera.

Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1275.