Centre Six
The Centre Six or Center Six (センターシックス)[1] is a Japanese 6×6 folder released in 1951.[2]
Contents
Attribution
The Centre Six was made by a company called Nissan Kōgaku. It is unknown if it was related with the similarly named company Nissan Kōgaku Kōgyō-sha that was active before the war and appeared again as Tōkyō Seiki in 1951. The attribution of the Centre Six to Nissan Kōgaku is confirmed by the camera markings and by an advertisement dated November 1951.[3] The camera was distributed by K.K. Sukiya Camera Shōkai (株式会社スキヤカメラ商会) and cost only ¥4,500 (case included).
Description
The Centre Six is a horizontal folder, with straight folding struts. It has a top housing containing the finder in the middle. The advance knob is on the left end and the accessory shoe on the right end. The back is hinged to the right and has a single red window in the middle, protected by a vertically sliding cover, to control film advance. The top housing is engraved Centre Six in handwritten style above the finder and the back leather is embossed CENTRE SIX under the red window. There is also a NISSAN KOGAKU somewhere in the leather covering, probably on the folding bed.
The lens is engraved CENTRE ACHROMAT and NISSAN KOGAKU and has 6, 8, 11, 16 aperture settings.[4] The shutter has 100, 50, 25, B speed settings and it is synchronized via a pin above the shutter housing.
Notes
- ↑ The camera itself is engraved Centre Six but it is called "Center Six" in an advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 145.
- ↑ Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 354.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 145.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 354, says that the aperture settings are of the "US" type and that the maximal aperture is about f/9, but the diameter of the front element looks more like f/6 than f/9.
Bibliography
- 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. Item 579.
- 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. 738.
