Lyra Six

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Japanese Six (6×6)
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The Lyra Six (ライラシックス) is a Japanese 6×6 folder made by Fuji Kōgaku from 1937. All models are horizontal folders, with a body copied on the Ikonta 6×6.

The Lyra Six and Lyra Six II

The original model

The original model, introduced in 1937,[1] has no body release. It has an advance knob at the top left and an accessory shoe at the right end of the top plate. The folding optical finder is very slightly offset to the left and the folding bed release is to the right. The back is hinged to the right and the back latch is covered by a leather handle. The front leather is embossed LYRA on the left and SIX on the right.

An advertisement dated September 1937[2] says that the camera is dual-format, taking both 6×6 and 4.5×6 exposures. There was a choice of three lenses, all with a Super Lyra shutter providing T, B, 1–300 speeds:

  • Terionar f/4.5 (¥65);
  • Terionar f/3.5 (¥80);
  • Terionar f/2.9 (¥98).

It seems that all three lens options have an 80mm focal length, unlike the later Lyra Six III.[3] The shutter plate is marked SUPER LYRA at the top and FUJIKŌGAKU at the bottom.

From the end of 1937, the Super Lyra shutter was replaced by the Fujikō A (T, B, 1–300) and Fujikō B (T, B, 5–250).[4] This type of shutter is also found on the New Semi Lyra and Lyrax. The shutter plate is almost identical to the Super Lyra with a FUJIKō marking at the top.

An advertisement dated September 1938[5] displays a picture of this model. The camera perhaps has the strap lugs and new back latch described below for the Lyra Six II, but the folding bed release is still to the right. All three lens options were offered but the shutter type is not mentioned and the camera now seems to take 6×6cm exposures only.

The Lyra Six II

The Lyra Six II (ライラシックスⅡ型) was introduced at the end of 1938.[6] Kokusan kamera no rekishi says that it differs by the body release protruding in front of the top plate and that it was offered with the Fujikō A shutter and all three lens options.[7]

A September 1938 price list by Shinbidō offered the Lyra Six with f/4.5, f/3.5 and f/2.9 lenses, respectively for ¥60, ¥72 and ¥90, and mentioned that the camera was also available with a body release for ¥10 extra.[8] The body release option perhaps corresponds to the Lyra Six II.

Advertisements dated August and October 1939[9] only offered this model with the f/2.9 lens for ¥135, along with the less expensive versions of the Lyra Six III. The shutter is not specified but it is probably a Fujikō A.

Other changes are noticeable in the August 1939 advertising picture. There is a new type of back latch, consisting of a long sliding bar with no leather handle. Strap lugs are added on each side of the body. The folding bed release has moved to the left of the viewfinder. It seems that this model only exists in single format.

The Lyra Six II was listed in the Template:Kakaku1940 short, compiled on October 25, 1940 and published in January 1941, for ¥156.[10]

Actual examples

Only two examples of these models have been observed.

The first one[11] has a dual format finder, the old type of back latch, no strap lugs and the folding bed release to the right. The lens is a Terionar 80/2.9 and the shutter a Super Lyra (T, B, 1–300). These features correspond to the 1937 version of the original model, but there is the same body release as the Lyra Six II.

The second one[12] has the new type of back latch, no strap lugs and the folding bed release to the right. The lens is marked 80mm with f/4.5 or f/3.5 aperture and the shutter is a Fujikō A. There is no shutter release and it could correspond to the late 1938 version of the original model.

The Lyra Six III

The Lyra Six III (ライラシックスⅢ型) has an advance key in place of the knob, a body release located on the top plate in a more usual way and a film retaining flange in place of the accessory shoe. It also has a bulkier folding optical finder and different strap lugs. All these changes make it closer to the Ikonta 6×6, of which it is nearly a plain copy.

The Lyra Six III has a single red window in the middle of the back, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. The back leather is embossed LYRA SIX, with both words separated by the red window. These features were perhaps present on earlier models as well, but no picture has yet been found displaying the back. The folding bed leather is embossed with the FUJI KōGAKU logo, and FUJI KOGAKU logos (with no macron) are engraved in both folding struts.

This model was introduced in 1939.[13] Advertisements dated May and August 1939[14] offered four lens and shutter combinations:

  • Terionar f/4.5, Fujikō B (¥74);
  • Terionar f/3.5, Fujikō B (¥84);[15]
  • Terionar f/4.5, Fujikō A (¥85);
  • Terionar f/3.5, Fujikō A (¥95).[16]

Kokusan kamera no rekishi also mentions a variant with Terionar f/2.9 lens and Fujikō A shutter, having the same body release as the Lyra Six II, but this has not been confirmed.[17]

The Lyra Six III was listed in the Template:Kakaku1940 short cited above, in four versions, curiously called "Lyra Six III L" (¥79), "Lyra Six III Y" (¥89), "Lyra Six III R" (¥94) and "Lyra Six III E" (¥110).[18] They certainly correspond to the four lens and shutter combinations. Their names form the word "L-Y-R-E" in ascending price order and this is certainly not casual.

The Lyra Six F and J

The Lyra Six F (ライラシックスＦ型) is similar to the Lyra Six III with a new Fujikō F shutter giving T, B, 1–200 speeds. The shutter plate is sometimes black with white markings and sometimes yellowish with black markings. These markings are almost the same as on the previous Fujikō shutters, except that FUJIKō at the top is written in two parts: FUJ and IKō, with an arrow between both. This shutter is also found on the Semi Lyra F, Lyrax F and Lyra Flex F. This model was introduced at the end of 1940.[19]

An advertisement dated May 1941[20] offered two versions:

The camera was advertised as late as 1942.[22] It was still mentioned in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943, together with the Lyra Six J equipped with the Fujikō J shutter (T, B, 1–200, self-timer) and the Terionar f/3.5 lens.[23]

Postwar model

A postwar Lyra Six has been observed twice.[24] It has a top housing containing the viewfinder in the middle and supporting an accessory shoe to the left.

The advance knob is at the left end of the top housing and it is engraved with a red arrow. The folding bed release is just to the front of the accessory shoe and the shutter release is to right, next to a decorative knob.

The camera is dual format, taking 6×6 and 4.5×6 exposures. There are two red windows in the back, protected by horizontally sliding covers respectively marked 4.5X6 and 6X6. The folding struts are more incurved than those of the prewar models.

The top housing and maybe the folding struts have a LYRA FUJIKŌ logo, shaped like the prewar Fuji Kōgaku logo. The same logo is embossed in the ever-ready case, whereas the folding bed leather is embossed with the older FUJI KOGAKU logo. The back leather is embossed LYRA-SIX under the red windows.

The lens is a front-cell focusing Terionar 80/3.5, marked LYRA Terionar 1:3.5 f=80mm. The distance ring is engraved in feet.

The shutter is a Fujikō U giving B, 10–200 speeds, with a self-timer, a distant release connector and a PC synch post. It is marked FUJIKŌ-U on the speed rim, and has a logo with an S in a circle next to the synch post.

Notes

  1. ↑ The first advertisement mentioned in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342, is dated April 1937. The same source says that the Lyra Six was featured in the new products column of the July 1937 issue of Asahi Camera.
  2. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 100, in two parts.
  3. ↑ See the description of the actual examples observed. Moreover, Kokusan kamera no rekishi says 80mm for all three lenses on p. 342.
  4. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342, says that the first advertisement showing the Fujikō A and B shutters is dated October 1937.
  5. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera, scans observed in an eBay auction.
  6. ↑ The earliest advertisement listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342, is dated October 1938.
  7. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
  8. ↑ Price list published in the September 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, reproduced in the Gochamaze website.
  9. ↑ August 1939: advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 101. October 1939: advertisement published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in this page of the Heiki Seikatsu website.
  10. ↑ Template:Kakaku1940 short, type 3, section 8B.
  11. ↑ Example observed for sale at a dealer.
  12. ↑ Picture found in a Korean website.
  13. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
  14. ↑ Advertisements published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 101.
  15. ↑ This version is simply called "Lyra Six" in Sugiyama, item 1167.
  16. ↑ This version is called "Lyra Six (Deluxe)" in Sugiyama, item 1168.
  17. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
  18. ↑ Template:Kakaku1940 short, type 4, sections 3, 4, 5A, 6A.
  19. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342, says that it was featured in the new products column of the October 1940 issue of Asahi Camera, together with the Semi Lyra F.
  20. ↑ Advertisement published in Shashin Bunka, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 100.
  21. ↑ This version is pictured in McKeown, p. 329, and in Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p. 15.
  22. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
  23. ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), items 88, 89 and 200. The Fujikō J shutter is called "Fujikō I" and the self-timer is not mentioned in the available reproduction of the document, certainly by mistake (shutter item 18-P-22). The Fujikō J shutter is confirmed to have a self-timer in an advertisement dated May 1941 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 100.
  24. ↑ It is pictured in this page at Japan Family Camera and has also been observed in an eBay auction. See also lot 269 in Charles Leski auction no. 168.

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. Items 295–8.
  • "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7. Items 88, 89 and 200.
  • Template:Kakaku1940
  • 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. 329 (pictures a Lyra Six F).
  • Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P. 15.
  • 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 1167–8.

Links

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