Mizuho Six
From Camerapedia.org
The Mizuho Six (ミヅホシックス) was a 6×6 folder, made between 1951 and 1955 by a Japanese company that was Mizuho at the start and Neoca by the end.
All the models of Mizuho Six had diecast bodies, and two red windows for film advance, allowing use of the 6×4.5 as well as 6×6 format. These red windows were protected by a cover sliding under a metal plate, marked 16 EX and 12 EX. The back leather was embossed Mizuho-Six. There was an MKS logo engraved on the folding struts, at least until the Mizuho Six V. This logo was also present in the folding bed's leather, and on the top plate of the Mizuho Six V. It has also been observed on an original box, and it probably stands for Mizuho Kōki Seisakusho.
All the models but one (the Super T) had an 80mm f/3.5 lens.
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Viewfinder models
The Mizuho Six (subsequently renamed the Mizuho Six I) was released by Mizuho Kōki Seisakusho in 1951. It had a flat top plate with a tubular optical finder protruding from its centre. The lens was a Miltar Special, marked Mizuho Kōki and Miltar Special © (the latter part was sometimes in uppercase). The shutter was an MKS with speeds of B, 15–150.
 
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| Mizuho Six no.1235. Pictures courtesy of eBayer gramajudy195. (Image rights) |
The Mizuho Six II and III, released in late 1951 or early 1952, differed in their shutters. The II had an NKS B, 1–200 shutter, the III a Mizuho Synchro IIIM shutter (top speed 300).
The Mizuho Six IIB and IIIB, released by Mizuho Camera Kōgyō in summer 1952, had a three-leaf MKS IIM shutter (top speed 200) and five-leaf MKS IIIM shutter (top speed 300) respectively. The IIIB had a more elegant top design, with the viewfinder integrated in a top housing. It can be observed here with a Rubinon Anastigmat lens, the shutter rim marked MKS-SYNCHRONISED-M-III and an ASA bayonet synchro connector.
Rangefinder models
The Mizuho Six V, released in 1952, had a non-coupled rangefinder. It came with either a Miltar Special or a Rubinon Anastigmat C lens, and any of four shutters: MKS (top speed 200), Nissei Rapid (500), MKS-MIII (300) and Mizuho MKS (200). The lenses were offered as alternatives without any particular explanation; some advertisements similarly mentioned shutters as alternatives at the same price, others offered a choice of shutters at different prices. It has been observed with an NKS B, 1–200 synchronized shutter and with another shutter with 200–1, B speeds, marked MIZUHO-SYNCHRONIZED with the MKS logo.
Some advertisements for the Mizuho Six V mentioned the Mizuho Six VI as soon to be available. It is described as having a coupled rangefinder and as unit-focussing (the entire lens assembly, and not merely the front element, moves for focussing). It is not clear that the VI was ever released.
In 1954, the Mizuho Six Super was released by the freshly renamed Neoca, delivering on the promises for the VI. (Perhaps the VI was simply renamed.) It had a Rectus shutter (B, 1–200).
In 1955 the Mizuho Six Super N and Super T were released. The Super N was less expensive, with a Neokor lens (described as of Triotar design). The Super T had either a Copal or a New Rectus (新レクタス) shutter (each B, 1–300), and a Tōkyō Kōgaku Toko 75mm f/3.5 lens.
Source / further reading
- 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 893–9.
- Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Hito wo meguru: Mizuho Shikkusu Neoka 35 kara Minokkusu saizu ichigan-refu made Sugaya Sadauji" (人を巡る:ミズホシックス・ネオカ35からミノックスサイズ一眼レフまで菅谷貞氏, Following a man: Sugaya Sadauji, from the Mizuho Six and Neoca 35 to a Minox-size SLR). Shashin Kōgyō July 2002.
Links
In Japanese:
- Mizuho Six IIIB at Japan Family Camera
- Mizuho Six V at Minorhouse
- Mizuho Six V at a page of the AJCC
- Mizuho Six V at doraDD's clacamera blog
- Advertisement for the Mizuho Six published in 1954, reproduced in a page of Japanese postwar advertisements at the Shashin-Bako website
