Talk:Mizuho Six

The body looks like the Mihama and Takane models

The body of the Mizuho Six looks very similar to the Mihama Six or Daido Six models. Is there a connection? --Rebollo fr 08:56, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were, but I don't know. My source for the fact that the body of the Mihama Six was made by Daidō/Takane (or its unnamed predecessor) is Hagiya's piece about Takane; he writes about it because the fact that Daidō (or its predecessor) made the Mihama Six body is the reason why it came to make its own cameras. Once Daidō is making Daido Sixes and Semis, Hagiya loses interest in its/Takane's work as a subcontractor -- other than its work making Ofuna Sixes and Aires Viceroys (which are themselves part of the Mine Six story). -- Hoary 11:53, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

Various points

The info you added is impressive! Here are various thoughts:

1. An MKS logo appears on the folding struts of many models, at least until the V. It also appears in a Mizuho Six box offered at a Yahoo auction. MKS clearly stands for Mizuho Kōki Seisakusho, and I guess that all the MKS shutters were made by the company. So the MKS to 200 and the Mizuho MKS to 200 offered on the model V are certainly the same. The MKS-MIII, Mizuho Synchro IIIM and MKS IIIM are certainly the same too.
2. McKeown's book lists a Mizuho Six with a MKS B-10-150 and a Mizuho Six IIB with a MKS or NKS B-1-200. It is probably wrong about the IIB, and it does not mention the II, III and IIIB. However, in the picture of what is identified as a IIB, there is a B-1-200 shutter apparently marked MKS (hard to read because the M is partly hidden by the lens rim), an option not mentioned in the article.
3. Top speed of 1/100 for the IIB is really low.
4. I added the lens markings of the early Mizuho Six and Mizuho Six II, as observed in the pictures in McKeown, in two eBay auctions for a Mizuho Six II (auction #1 and auction #2) and in a Pacific Rim offer for a Mizuho Six II (misidentified as a Mizuho Six IIB, as in McKeown)
5. I removed the mention of Fuji about the Rectus shutter, because it is yet unclear if Fuji Seimitsu and Fuji are related.
6. Neokor is written with a "k" in the Neoca models I have seen. Probably it was the same on the Super N.

--Rebollo fr 07:47, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

1. On "MKS", here's p.77 of the book edited by Lewis on the situation in 1951–2: At the time, when many camera components for major manufacturers were made by small enterprises, a three element, 75 mm. f/3.5 lens could be supplied for as little as 300 yen. The names of the various off-brand shutters -- NKS, NSK, NKK, KOC, TKK, TSK, UKS, Lotus, Rectus, SKK, MSK, MKS -- reflect their obscure origins, most of the shutters were of questionable quality. (On which I could comment that I possess at least two of these, and that -- thanks just to luck? -- they're not bad at all, even a half-century later.)

3. Sorry, "100" was my misreading. I'm about to fix this.

5. I copied "富士" unthinkingly. Sorry about the slip. -- Hoary 20:16, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

1. In my opinion, more than anything else, this sentence is reflecting the ignorance of its author on this specific point. For example the NKS and Rectus were very common, and they were certainly not made on a kitchen table. Most of these shutters were apparently copies of the Prontor II. It is sometimes possible to guess the meaning of the other acronyms. In the case of MKS, I think there is enough evidence to associate it with Mizuho. --Rebollo fr 07:51, 5 June 2006 (EDT)

Model IIB also with MKS shutter

The Mizuho-Six model IIB was probably also produced with a MKS shutter with a topspeed of 1/300 seconds. At least on the camera which I photographed and can be seen here :

[1]

--Hanskerensky 03:46, 11 January 2009 (EST)

Thank you for this comment. The pictures in your Flickr album are very interesting, and that IIB does not surface very often. It would be nice to show some of them in the article, would you allow that? --Rebollo fr 06:40, 11 January 2009 (EST)

Model IIB with NKS shutter

I just acquired a IIB with _N_KS shutter B, 1-1/200...will shoot a roll of film with it and then will also document. Is identical to Hans' , but with a Mitzuho Kōki Miltar Special f/3.5 80mm.No serial number on bodu, just on lens.--GitzoCollector 03:45, 23 December 2010 (EST)