Ofuna Six

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Japanese 6×6 TLR, pseudo TLR and medium format SLR ->
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Ofuna Six (オフナーシックス, Ofunā Shikkusu)[1] was the name used by Ōfuna for two very different 6×6 rangefinder folders from 1953 to about 1957.[2]

Original Ofuna Six, with non-coupled rangefinder

The earlier and better-known model seems to have been sold from the very end of 1952 or the start of 1953 and it was still advertised in summer 1956. It has a diecast body with two windows on the back, for 6×6 and 6×4.5, and has a non-coupled rangefinder, which shares the eyepiece of the viewfinder. As the camera is viewed by somebody using it to take a photograph, the eyepiece is slightly to the left, the focusing dial for the rangefinder is to the right, and the film winding knob is to the left. The finder housing has an accessory shoe in the centre and is inscribed "OFUNA SIX". The struts for the door are curved and are not marked with any manufacturer's name.

The shutter changed over time: originally a Nissei Rapid (B, 1–500), from December 1954 an NKS-FB (B, 1–300), and finally (from some time in 1955–6) a Copal (B, 1–300). The lens is a unit-focussed Ofunar 75mm f/3.5, designed by Kunitomo Kenji (国友健司) within Ōfuna and made by the company itself, the same lens as is used on the Ofunaflex.

Cosmetic and perhaps other changes were made over the camera's lifetime. An early example (to judge by its Nissei shutter) has "OFUNA SIX" in one line in oblique script (the ends of the "S" extending below the "F" and above the X"), an "OFUNA" logo to the right of the accessory shoe (as the camera is held for use), "∞—feet—4" inscribed below the distance scale of the rangefinder, and no frame around the viewfinder window; a later example (to judge by its Copal shutter) has "OFUNA SIX" in one line and in a straightforward (non-oblique) script, no "OFUNA" logo, no inscription below the distance scale, and an added frame surrounding the viewfinder window.[3]

An advertisement in the November 1953 issue of Asahi Camera offers the Ofuna Six (with Nissei Rapid shutter) for ¥15,000 (exactly half the price of the Ofunaflex); one in the December 1954 issue offers it (with NKS shutter) for ¥14,500 (and the Mamiya Six K for ¥18,800).[4]

About 2000 of these cameras were made.[5]

Rebadge Mine Six, with coupled rangefinder

A later model (c.1956–7) is only known from a single photograph, published in Hagiya from the album of Kano Masayuki (狩野正之), who was responsible for the assembly and quality control of the Ofunaflex and Ofuna Six from 1954.[6]

According to the testimonies of Kano Masayuki and Kunitomo Kenji recorded by Hagiya, this new Ofuna Six was ordered by Kashimura for export, after the production of the previous model had stopped.[7] The body was supplied by Takane and is the same as that of the Mine Six IIF. The lens is the Ofunar 7.5cm f/3.5 of the previous Ōfuna models. (Takane's manufacture of this camera was one part of an arrangement whereby Takane was able to obtain these Ofunar lenses rebranded as the Zunow Zuminor for the Mine Six IIIS(B); see Takane.)[8]

The pictured camera is indeed very similar to the Mine Six IIF. It has a sliding control on the front of the finder housing to move a 6×4.5 finder mask in and out of position. OFUNA–SIX is inscribed in one line of a non-oblique lettering across the top, and another illegible marking is written below. The knobs at both ends of the top housing are identical, and differ from those of the Mine Six IIF; the one at the photographer's left notably does not have a film reminder. The shutter is of an unknown type. It gives B, 1–300 speeds, engraved in the reverse order (300–1, B) on the silver shutter plate, and is synchronized via a PC synch socket. The pictured camera has a four-digit lens number, perhaps in the 78xx range.

Notes

  1. Note the change of pronunciation from that of Ōfuna (大船), the manufacturer.
  2. Much of the information in this article derives from Hagiya, "Ōfuna Kōgaku no kamera."
  3. Older example shown here, later example shown by Hagiya, pp.160–61.
  4. Both advertisements are reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.125.
  5. Hagiya, p.162.
  6. Picture in Hagiya, p.166 of Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari. Kano Masayuki: p.162 of the same source.
  7. Hagiya, p.167 of Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari.
  8. Hagiya, p.167 of Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari.

Sources / further reading

Links

In Japanese:


Ōfuna cameras (edit)
Herlight | Ofunaflex | Ofuna Six