Miyako Six
The Miyako Six (ミヤコ・シックス) is a Japanese 6×6 folding camera. It was distributed by Nakamura Patē Shōkai in 1942 and 1943 and its maker is unknown.[1]
Description of the body
The Miyako Six is a horizontal folder, with folding struts inspired from the Ikonta 6×6. It has a top housing covering containing an eye-level finder at the left and a waist-level brilliant finder at the right. The presence of the two windows make it look like a rangefinder camera. The advance knob is at the top left. The camera was advertised as having a body release and automatic stop film advance.
Advertising and other sources
An advertisement dated February 1943 offered the Miyako Six for ¥166.[2] The lens was announced as a Triptar[3] Anastigmat f/3.5 made by Gotō Kōgaku and the shutter as a Super Miyako giving T, B, 1–300 speeds. The marking SUPER MIYAKO is faintly readable at the bottom of the shutter speed ring on the picture.
The Miyako Six was mentioned in the "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943 but unfortunately the maker's name is missing from the document.[4]
No surviving example of the Miyako Six has been observed so far.
Notes
- ↑ Dates: advertisements listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 342.
- ↑ Advertisement published in Shashin Bunka, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 99.
- ↑ Name inferred from the katakana トリプター.
- ↑ "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), item 94.
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 281.
- "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. Item 94.
This camera is not listed in Sugiyama.
