Oscar Six and Renown Six

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Japanese Six (6×6)
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Japanese 6×6 TLR, pseudo TLR and medium format SLR ->
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The Oscar Six (オスカーシックス) and Renown Six (レナウンシックス) are Japanese 6×6 folding cameras with a non-coupled rangefinder, made by Fujiwara Seisakusho in 1953–4.

Description

The Oscar Six and Renown Six are horizontal folders, with a diecast body and straight diagonal struts. The uncoupled rangefinder is combined with the viewfinder and contained in the top housing. The common eyepiece is offset to the right, as seen by the photographer, and the round second-image window is on the left. The rangefinder is driven by a wheel falling under the left thumb. The folding bed release and accessory shoe are above the rangefinder, and the shutter release is at its usual location on the right.

The film is advanced by a knob at the right end of the top plate, and has an arrow engraved to indicate the turning direction. The back is hinged to the left and contains a single red window in the middle, protected by a built-in cover controlled by a small sliding button.

Evolution

The Oscar Six Ia

The camera was first announced as the Oscar Six Ia; it was advertised under that name from October to December 1953 and was featured in the November issue of Kohga Gekkan.[1] It has a front-cell focusing Yamasaki Congo 75/3.5 lens, and a Vario-type shutter (B, 25, 50, 100), synchronized via an ASA bayonet post. In an advertisement in the October 1953 issue of Shashin Salon, Fujiwara describes it as an introductory camera (入門カメラ), and prices it at ¥8,300 (including the leather case).[2]

No surviving example of the Oscar Six has been observed yet, and it is not known if the camera was actually sold under that name.

The Renown Six Ia

The camera was soon renamed Renown Six Ia, perhaps because the Oscar brand was already registered by someone else. It was featured under that name in the January 1954 issue of Ars Camera and was advertised from January to May of the same year.[3] In the May advertisement in Sankei Camera, no difference is visible from the previous model, except for the lens name H-Congo. The distributor is given as Sanyō Shōkai and the price is ¥8,500.

The Renown Six Ia has been observed with the simple shutter (B, 25–100) announced in the advertisement.[4] At least one example is known with an NKS shutter (B, 1–200, self-timer).[5]

The Renown Six IIa

The Renown Six IIa has a film reminder added at the left end of the top plate, and a rectangular frame surrounding the viewfinder and rangefinder windows. The shutter is a Renown giving B, 1–200 speeds and having a self-timer and a PC synch socket; the name RENOWN is engraved at the bottom of the speed rim.

The model IIa was featured in Japanese magazines dated from May to August 1954, and was advertised from May to December. In the August advertisement in Camera Mainichi,[6] the hard-coated Congo lens from Yamasaki, with its thirty-year history, is made a sales point. The camera is priced at ¥9,800 and no distributor is mentioned.

Notes

  1. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.348.
  2. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.124.
  3. Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.374.
  4. Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1411, and example observed in an online auction.
  5. Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 1412.
  6. Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.212.

Sources / further reading