Weha Chrome Six

The Weha Chrome Six (ウエハー・クロームシックス) was a Japanese 6x6 rangefinder camera made by Ehira. The lens and shutter were mounted on a telescopic tube. The coupled rangefinder externally looked like the Super Ikonta prismatic lens system. In fact, as Gatapasya explains in his blog (see here), the front part of the rangefinder contained an ordinary lens moving left and right.

The original Weha Chrome Six, from 1937, had a rangefinder separate from the viewfinder, with a total of three windows at the front. The rangefinder arm was on the left and was marked PATENT, with the focusing wheel protruding to the left. The lens was a Weha Anastigmat 75/3.5. The shutter was a synchronized Auto Rapid Ehira T-B-1s to 1/400, marked AUTO RAPID EHIRA at the top and PATENT PENDING at the bottom. The viewfinder window was slightly offset to the right, and the accessory shoe slightly to the left. The top right part had the advance knob and shutter release, and the top left part had another knob, maybe an exposure counter, and another button, maybe the telescopic tube latch, or the advance lock. The back opened on the right. The camera was marked WEHA CHROME SIX in square script on the top plate. The serial number was written on a small pod under the lens barrel (s/n 136 observed).

A Weha Chrome Six II 1938 model has been mentioned.

The Weha Chrome Six III, released in 1940, and combined range and viewfinder, with only two windows at the front. The rangefinder arm was moved to the left, with a Ehira KSK logo, but a focusing wheel protruded at the left of the lens barrel. The lens and shutter were the same, but at the bottom the shutter is marked PATENTS instead of PATENT PENDING. The viewfinder window was now offset to the left, and the accessory shoe was centered. The advance knob and the shutter release at the top right were the same, but the top left was smooth with no knob or button. The camera was marked CHROME SIX in square style at the top. At the front, it is known with Weha marking in handwritten style or with a Ehira KSK logo. It is probably this variant that is known as the Ehira Chrome Six. The Weha marked version has been observed with the same Weha marking on the lens cap. The serial number was at the same place (s/n 3996 reported).

The Weha Chrome Six III was sold ¥290 by the distributor Yamamoto Shashinki-ten (山本写真機店, meaning Yamamoto camera shop). There is an ad here, dated wartime, 1942 or after.

Links

• Weha Chrome Six at gatapasya's blog
• The Weha Chrome Six in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Leski auction catalogue #191, with a Weha Chrome Six III
• Old Japanese ads, including one for the Weha Chrome Six
• A post at a Japanese forum about Russian cameras, with some info about the Weha Chrome Six