Super Makinet Six and Neure Six
The Super Makinet Six is a Japanese 6×6 strut folder, made by Umemoto[1] and advertised from 1936 to 1939.[2] It was distributed by the retailer Kikō-Dō. Some sources[3] attribute the camera to Tomioka but this is clearly a mistake, perhaps because one version has a Lausar lens made by this manufacturer. The Neure Six is a name variant of the same camera.
Description
Both cameras have a folding body, with scissor struts on the top and bottom of the front standard. It is dual format and can take 6×6 or 4.5×6 exposures by way of an internal mask.
The folding finder is in the middle of the top plate and the advance knob is to the right end. The shutter release is directly mounted on the shutter housing. The back is hinged to the left. There is a leg folding behind the front standard, allowing the camera to stand vertically on a table.
The Super Makinet Six
On the Super Makinet Six (スーパーマキネットシックス), the front leather is embossed MAKINET on one side and SUPER on the other.
Kokusan kamera no rekishi says that the camera was featured in the new products column of the February 1936 issue of Asahi Camera.[4] An advertisement dated April 1937[5] lists two variants:
- Radionar f/4.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, 1–200 speeds (¥65);
- Lausar f/4.5 lens, Rulex B shutter, 5–200 speeds (¥58).
The advertisement gives 1/200 top speed for the Rulex B but most sources say 1/150.[6]
An advertisement dated August 1937[7] presents the ordinary model (普及型) with Super Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and Rulex D shutter. No price is indicated. It seems that this model has a frame finder with two bars indicating the field of view for 4.5×6 exposures while the regular model has an optical finder.
Kokusan kamera no rekishi says that the ordinary model was only advertised in 1937 and 1938 while the regular model was advertised until 1939.[8]
The Neure Six
The Neure Six (ノイレシックス) is exactly similar to the Super Makinet Six. The front leather is embossed NEURE SIX on one side and SUPER on the other.
An advertisement dated November 1937 presents the camera as the "Nuire-Six", an alternative Roman spelling of the Japanese name. It seems that the designers of the advertisement were not aware of the name written on the camera. The Japanese name itself is written once as "Super Neure Six" (スーパー・ノイレシックス).
The camera is pictured with a Rulex shutter by Neumann & Heilemann and a folding optical finder having two bars indicating the field of view for 4.5×6 exposures. The following lens and shutter combinations are listed:
| shutter | Rulex A | Rulex B | Rulex D |
| lens | |||
| Neure Anastigmat f/4.5 | ¥60 | ¥52 | ¥43 |
| Neure Anastigmat f/3.5 | ¥70 | ¥62 | _ |
| Anastigmat Radionar f/3.5 | ¥80 | _ | _ |
The only company name given by the advertisement perhaps reads Ein Camera Works (アイン・カメラ・イオークス), a company based in Osaka[9] that is otherwise unknown. This camera was obviously made by the same maker as the Super Makinet Six but it does not seem that it was distributed by Kikō-Dō.[10]
No surviving example of the Neure Six has yet been observed.
Notes
- ↑ No original document has been found to confirm this but it is stated in the Umemoto company history that seems to be redacted by the son of the Umemoto founder.
- ↑ Dates: advertisements mentioned in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ For example McKeown, p. 928.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 94.
- ↑ Umemoto company history, Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341 and McKeown, p. 928..
- ↑ Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 94.
- ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 341.
- ↑ The address indicated in the advertisement is in Osaka but it is not fully readable.
- ↑ This is not what is said in the Umemoto company history but it does not seem to have precise documentation about the Neure Six.
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 250–1.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P. 928.
Links
In Japanese:
