Sisley 1 and Balm Six
The Sisley (シスレー, shisurē), released around May 1954, was the first product of the newly renamed Takane Kōgaku, whose previous cameras had been the Daido Six and Semi. It adds a non-coupled rangefinder to the Daido Six, a folder whose body was based on that for the Mihama Six. It has two windows for film numbers (for 6×6 or 6×4.5). Like all its successors, the Sisley comes with a 75mm f3.5 lens; this one is named "Deep-C" and has front-cell focusing (calibrated in feet). The NKS shutter provides for speeds of 1–200 and B. It was advertised in the May 1954 issue of Asahi Camera as "Sisley 55", for ¥12,500.
Many, perhaps all, of these cameras are engraved at the top "Sisley Model-1".
There was a name variant called Balm Six Model I (or Model-1?), the same as the Sisley Model-1 but with a lens named Balm Anastigmat.
Takane's next camera in the Japanese market would be the Mine Six. Perhaps it retained the Sisley name for some export markets: McKeown also mentions a "Sisley 2A" and a "Sisley 3A", which look very much like a Mine Six IIF and a Mine Six IIIS respectively but with a Sisley engraving.
Sources / further reading
In Japanese:
- 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. Pp. 135, 534.
- Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Mine Shikkusu: Gunma-ken Takasaki-shi no kameramēkā" (ミネシックス：群馬県高崎市のカメラメーカー, Mine Six: A camera-maker in Takasaki, Gunma). Chapter 7 of Zunō kamera tanjō: Sengo kokusan kamera jū monogatari (ズノーカメラ誕生：戦後国産カメラ10物語, The birth of the Zunow camera: Ten stories of postwar Japanese camera makers). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1999. ISBN 4-257-12023-1. This history of Takane is based on Hagiya's interviews with four people who had been key figures in the company.
Links
In Japanese:
- Sisley repair notes and sample photos at Kan's Room (the top six photographs were taken with a Sisley; those below are from other cameras)
- Sisley 55 and Balm Six in a page of the AJCC website: the photograph shows four folders with non-coupled rangefinders; clockwise from top left these are: Ofuna Six, Zenobia R, Sisley 55 and Balm Six
