Weha Chrome Six

This is a work in progress.

The Weha Chrome Six are Japanese 6×6 coupled-rangefinder cameras. They were distributed by Yamamoto Shashinki-ten from 1937 to 1942. The late examples were certainly made by Ehira Kōki Seisakusho but the first ones were perhaps made by Yamamoto's own workshop.

General description

The Weha Chrome Six has a rigid body and a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The most striking feature is the coupled-rangefinder arm, externally looking like the rangefinder of the Super Ikonta. The lens is front-cell focusing and the rangefinder coupling is optical, with no mechanical linkage: the lens front element is geared to an optical device placed in front of the second image window. The Weha Chrome Six does not have a rotating wedge prism like the Super Ikonta and other Zeiss Ikon cameras but a small lens that is moved laterally while focusing.

All the models have a 75mm f/3.5 lens. The massive aperture ring is placed behind the shutter and it can be easily confused for a focusing ring. There is a small button at the front of the body, to the right, probably used to release the telescopic tube.

On all the models, the advance knob is mounted on a stepped base at the right end of the top plate. The body release is placed next to it. The back is hinged to the left and the back latch consists of a sliding bar.

First generation: separate range and view-finder

Common features

The first generation consisted of three models, produced from 1937 to 1941. They have a separate range and view-finder. The viewfinder is slightly offset to the right and the rangefinder eyepiece is further to the right. The rangefinder arm is to the left and the focusing is controlled by a small wheel protruding to the left. This wheel both moves the rangefinder optical coupling lens and turns the lens frontmost element. The distance scale is engraved on the rotating lens rim and goes from infintiy to 3 feet.

There are strap lugs at both ends of the body and a small foot under the shutter housing, on which the serial number is engraved.

There is an exposure counter at the left end of the top plate, with two concentric scales: the inner scale is graduated from 1 to 12 and is used for 6×6 pictures whereas the outer scale is graduated from 1 to 16 and is used for 4.5×6 pictures. There is a selector next to the exposure counter, with O and S positions. The function of this selector is unsure, perhaps it switches the exposure counter from 6×6 to 4.5×6.

The back has a single red window at the top left, certainly used to set the position of the first exposure. The sources are conflicting on the film advance control system. An original advertisement mentions a "special film advance device" (フィルム特種捲取装置), an ambiguous formulation. Contemporary articles in Asahi Camera say that the film advance automatically stops and that it is linked to the shutter button for double exposure prevention. However Awano says that these articles are wrong and that the cameras have no automatic stop nor double exposure prevention and that the film advance is manually controlled via the exposure counter.

Original Weha Chrome Six

The original Weha Chrome Six (ウエハー・クローム・シックス) — called in retrospect "Weha Chrome Six I" — was released in late 1937: it was advertised in Asahi Camera in October and was featured in the November issue of the same magazine. The price was ¥155.

This model has a flat top plate except for the half-sunken tubular finder. This name plate wears no identification marking. It is said that below the top cover, the inner plate supporting the rangefinder is made of wood, and that it is also true of the inner bottom plate.

The accessory shoe is to the left of the finder. The O and S selector is a simple milled cylinder, turning 90 degrees. The exposure counter has a near conical shape. Strangely there is no index or arrow to indicate the exposure number, so that the user needs to choose its own reference point.

The lens is a Weha Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 and the shutter gives T, B, 1–200 speeds, with a self-timer and a distant release connector. The shutter is cocked by a lever, independently from the film advance. The shutter plate is engraved Weha Chrome Six at the top and Auto Genoa at the bottom, the latter probably being the shutter name. The mention PATENT PENDING is inscribed on the rangefinder arm.

Only one surviving example has been observed so far, pictured in Awano and Sugiyama, with body n°503.

Weha Chrome Six II

The Weha Chrome Six II (ウエハー・クローム・シックスⅡ型) was released in late 1938: it was advertised in Asahi Camera in December 1938 for ¥195, in April 1939 for ¥235 and in February 1940 for ¥245.

This model has a redesigned top plate, with a stepped part between the two rangefinder windows, containing the viewfinder and a flush accessory shoe. The name WEHA CHROME–SIX is inscribed above this.

The exposure counter has a new flatter shape. Many other parts present minor changes, for example the O and S selector or the release button. It is said that the wooden inner plates are replaced by bakelite ones.

The lens is the same Weha Anastigmat and the shutter adds 1/300 top speed to the previous range. The style of the front markings is different: the camera name is written WEHA CHROME–SIX in uppercase letters and the shutter name is written AUTO ZENOA. This is perhaps not true of all the examples: the December 1938 advertising picture seems to show the name Weha Chrome Six in lowercase letters. Incidentally, it also shows the lens cap engraved Weha.

Only one surviving example of the Weha Chrome Six II has been observed so far, pictured in Awano and Sugiyama, with body n°568.

Weha Chrome Six III

There is some degree of confusion about the Weha Chrome Six III, because the company sometimes used the same name for the second generation model presented below, also called Weha Chrome Six New.

The first Weha Chrome Six III (ウエハー・クローム・シックスⅢ型) was released in 1940: it was advertised in Asahi Camera in February for ¥275 along with the model II and in November alone (price not mentioned). The advertisements mention a new Weha S 75/3.5 lens and a new Rapid shutter to 1/400. In both cases, the advertising picture does not depict the model III: it is exactly the same as in the April 1939 advertisement for the model II. The camera was also featured in the May 1940 issue of Asahi Camera, where it is described as similar to the model II except for the lens and shutter.

The model III certainly corresponds to the surviving examples pictured in Lewis, in this page of the AJCC and in this page of Gatapasya's blog. It has a new shutter with a red-dotted cocking lever, the 400 setting painted in red and a mushroom shaped part on the top that is probably the self-timer control. The shutter face is marked AUTO RAPID EHIRA at the top and PATENT PENDING at the bottom. The rangefinder arm is marked PATENT instead of PATENT PENDING, certainly because the patent was accepted and published. The lens is engraved Weha S. Anastigmat 1:3.5 F=75mm N°xxxx.

Second generation: combined range and view-finder

This section is currently under rework on the basis of new documents.

Common features

The second generation models have a different body shape and a combined range and viewfinder. The common eyepiece is offset to the left and the second image window is to the right. The rangefinder arm is thus on the opposite side, but the focusing wheel is still on the left-hand side.

The film advance is manually controlled by a single uncovered red window in the middle of the back and both the exposure counter and the ability to take 4.5×6 pictures have disappeared. The O and S selector that was certainly related to the exposure counter is absent too: the left end of the top plate is plain flat. The strap lugs have been disappeared too.

Weha Chrome Six New

The first model of the second generation was released in 1941: it was advertised in Asahi Camera in April and August for ¥248. The camera was still called model III (Ⅲ型) in April, perhaps by mistake, and it was called Weha Chrome Six New (ウエハークロームシックス新型) in August.

The advertisement lens and shutter were the same as on the previous model III: Weha S 75mm f/3.5 lens and Rapid shutter to 1/400. Two accessories were offered: a dedicated lens hood for ¥3.80 and a dedicated flash unit (専用発光器) for ¥20. This means that the shutter is synchronized, but the location of the synch post is unclear: there is a hole on one side of the shutter casing that could be a distant release connector or a synch plug.

The top housing is inscribed CHROME–SIX above and Weha at the front. The shutter casing is marked AUTO RAPID EHIRA at the top and PATENTS at the bottom, and the rangefinder arm has the EHIRA K.S.K logo. The serial number is still engraved on the same pod under the lens barrel, and the serial number sequence seems to be a continuation of the serial numbers of the first generation models.

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 21–4.
• Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Weha Chrome Six" (ウエハークロームシックス). In Camera Collectors' News no. 41 (December 1980). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
• 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. 54.
• 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. 255.
• Schneider, Jason. Jason Schneider on Camera Collecting, Book One. Des Moines, Iowa: Wallace-Homestead, 1978. ISBN 0-87069-142-2. Pp. 42 and 47.
• 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. Items 3055–8.

Links

In English:

• Auction no. 191 at Charles Leski Auctions (lot 84 is a Weha Chrome Six III, with picture)

In Japanese:

• Weha Chrome Six III (old) in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology
• Weha Chrome Six III (old) at Gatapasya's camera repair blog
• Advertisement for the Weha Chrome Six dated 1942 or later, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese advertisements by Toshio Inamura
• Post about the Weha Chrome Six (post n°2829) in the CCCP camera forum (a Japanese forum about Russian cameras)