Weha Chrome Six

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Japanese Six (6×6)
Prewar and wartime models (edit)
folding
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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 SLR, TLR, pseudo TLR and stereo models ->
Japanese 3×4 and 4×4, 4×5 and 4×6.5, 4.5×6 and older 6×9 ->
This is a work in progress.

The Weha Chrome Six (ウエハー・クローム・シックス) are Japanese 6×6 coupled-rangefinder cameras. They were distributed by Yamamoto Shashinki-ten from 1937 to 1942.[1] The late examples were certainly made by Ehira Kōki Seisakusho but the first ones were perhaps made by Yamamoto's own workshop.[2]

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.[3]

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

This section is currently under rework on the basis of new documents. The first generation models 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.

There is an exposure counter at the left end of the top plate, with two concentric scales: one is from 1 to 12 and is used for 6×6 pictures and the other is 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

Three models

The first generation consisted of three models, produced from 1937 to 1941.

The original Weha Chrome Six was released in late 1937: the first advertisement in Asahi Camera is dated October and it was featured in the November issue of the same magazine. It has a flat top plate except for the protruding tubular finder.

It 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.

A Weha Chrome Six II 1938 model has been mentioned.

Second generation: combined range and view-finder

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 for ¥290 by the distributor Yamamoto Shashinki-ten. There is an ad here, dated wartime, 1942 or after.

Notes

  1. ↑ Dates: advertisements listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 334.
  2. ↑ An advertisement dated October 1937 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 59, mentions Yamamoto as the maker and distributor (製造発売元) of the Weha Chrome Six.
  3. ↑ This is explained in this page of Gatapasya's camera repair blog and in Awano, pp. 1–2 of Camera Collectors' News no. 41. Both authors appear to have dismantled actual examples of the camera. Many other sources mistakenly say that the Weha Chrome Six has the same "drehkeil" system as the Super Ikonta.
  4. ↑ Advertisement published in Asahi Camera October 1937, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 59, and in Awano, p. 8 of Camera Collectors' News no. 41.
  5. ↑ Column of Asahi Camera November 1937, about the original Weha Chrome Six, and of Asahi Camera May 1940, about the Weha Chrome Six III, reproduced in Awano, p. 3 of Camera Collectors' News no. 41.
  6. ↑ Awano, p. 2 of Camera Collectors' News no. 41.

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.
  • 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

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In Japanese:

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