Silver Six

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Japanese Six (6×6)
Postwar models (edit)
folding
Aires Viceroy | Angel Six | Aram Six | Astoria Super Six | Atom Six | Balm Six | Baron | Beauty Six (1950) | Beauty Six (1953) | Calm Six | Carl Six | Centre Six | Crown | Crystar Six | Daido Six | Dorima Six | Doris Six | Ehira Six | Elbow Six | First Six | Flora Six | Fodor Six | Frank Six | Fujica Six | Super Fujica Six | Futami Six | Gotex | Grace Six | Kohken Chrome Six | Kyowa Six | Liner Six | Lyra Six | Mamiya Six | Middl Six | Mihama Six | Mine Six | Minon Six | Mizuho Six | Motoka Six | Mount Six | Muse Six | Super Naiku | Ofuna Six | Olympus Six | Olympus Chrome Six | Orion Six | Oscar Six | Pigeon Six | Planet | Please Six | Pluto Six | Poppy Six | Press Van | Press Van-120 | Proud Chrome Six | Proud Super Six | Renown Six | Ricoh Six | Ruvikon | Ruvinal | Sanon Six | Silver Six | Sisley 1 | Sisley 2 & 3 | Sister Six | Tenar Six | Toho Six | Tomic | Toyoca Six | Ugein Six | Wagen Six | Walcon 6 | Welmy Six | Wester | Windsor Six
rigid or collapsible
Dia Six | Ehira Chrome Six | Enon Six | Flora | Flashline | Fujipet | Harmony | Mikono-6 | Orion | Ponix | Rich-Ray-6 | Shumy | Weha Chrome Six
Japanese 6×6 TLR, pseudo TLR and medium format SLR ->
Japanese Semi (4.5×6) and older 6×9 ->

The Silver Six (シルバーシックス) is a Japanese 6×6cm folding camera made by Nippon Kōki in 1954–5.

General description

The Silver Six has a horizontal body with straight diagonal struts. The combined range and viewfinder is contained in a top housing and has a common eyepiece, offset to the right as seen by the photographer. The advance knob is at the right end, the shutter release is at its usual location next to it, and the folding bed release is on the front door itself. There is an accessory shoe above the rangefinder. The back is hinged to the left and contains two red windows, one above the other; these are protected by a common cover and there is a selector switching from 6×6cm to 4.5×6cm format, certainly controlling a secondary cover for the unused window. It seems that the company name NIPPON KOKI is embossed in the leather of the back.

On all the models, the lens is a Tri-Lausar 8cm f/3.5 by Tomioka, the shutter has a self-timer and is synchronized for flash.

The Silver Six

The Silver Six has an uncoupled rangefinder and front-cell focusing. The second image window is round and the position of the knob controlling the uncoupled rangefinder is unknown. The shutter has B, 1–200 speeds, one source reports that it is an NKS.[1]

In the January 1954 advertisement in Asahi Camera, the model is called "Silver Six with uncoupled rangefinder" (シルバーシックス単独距離計付) and the price is given as ¥13,850.[2] No other picture of the camera has been observed yet, and no surviving example is known so far.

The Silver Super Six

The Silver Super Six has a coupled rangefinder and unit focusing. The lens and shutter unit is mounted on a helical with a round focusing tab. The second image window is rectangular, and the name Silver SUPER SIX is engraved on the top housing, together with the body serial number. There are translucid red stripes in the viewfinder, indicating the field of view for 4.5×6cm exposures, which are perhaps also present on the plain Silver Six.

The January 1954 advertisement cited above mentions B, 1–200 speeds and gives the price of ¥19,850; the camera is simply called "Silver Six with coupled rangefinder" (シルバーシックス連動距離計付).[2] The camera is known with various shutters. The example pictured in Sugiyama has a plain NKS shutter with an ASA synch post, engraved NKS at the bottom of the speed ring and at the top of the shutter plate.[3] Examples are known with an NKS-SC, differing by the bottom marking NKS–SC and by the PC synch post.[4] One example is also known with a Copal shutter (B, 1–300) and a PC synch post.[5]

The Silver Six and Silver Super Six were replaced by the Calm Six in mid-1955.

Notes

  1. Shutter features: advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.140. NKS: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.352.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.140. The same advertisement is also reproduced here at Shashin-Bako.
  3. Sugiyama, item 1418.
  4. Example sold as lot no.273 of Westlicht Auction no.7, and example observed in an online auction.
  5. Example pictured here at Rolling-life and previously in an online auction.

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 537–8.
  • Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.83 (brief mention only).
  • 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. Item 1418.

Links

In English:

In Japanese: