Which Mamiya Six is this?

M

M like Leica M6

Guest
I have such an old lady... and I was asked which version that is. Can someone tell me?

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It is definitely not a I, II or III, since those had waist-level finders integrated in the top cover.

I agree it looks like it is a IV. Nice one, at that.

I have a IVb with D. Zuiko on Seikosha shutter. Oddly enough, the IVb goes after the V.

Brian, that page is very informative and I didn't knew its existence, great recopilation of details. Thanks for sharing the link (and writing it, if you did)
 
I'm not the author of the page, just another appreciative user of it.

I discovered it a while ago when trying identify a Mamiya Six version as well. :)
 
Whatever version that is, she's ready to shoot :)
Hope we'll see the shots you got from that roll of film.
 
Yes, a IV. These are really remarkable cameras for their time, what with the film plane focusing design. (Was it the first camera to work this way, does anyone know?) The Zuiko lens is quite good also.
 
Well, I had forgotten I had a film in the camera when I opened it to make a photo of the interior... I made numerous shots with that camera, I believe the lens is far superior to almost all lenses ever built into folders. I think it's the only camera ever built with this kind of film plane movement. Will van Manen made this old lady work for me, a shoemaker added some leather.
 
Hello M,
may I ask where you found that beauty? I haven been interested in the Mamiya Six, but they seem to be few and far between here in Germany. I have family ties to Japan and will have to keep my eyes open next time I travel there. Unfortunately the EUR/Yen exchange rate is a real show stopper at the moment.
John
 
KoNickon said:
Yes, a IV. These are really remarkable cameras for their time, what with the film plane focusing design. (Was it the first camera to work this way, does anyone know?) The Zuiko lens is quite good also.
Click to expand...

Japanese camera makers were not known for their innovative designs most of the time. This Mamiya Six "bears some resemblance" with the English-made Ensign Commando, which also has film-plane focussing and, sometimes, Tessar lenses. Literature seems to agree that it was introduced by 1945, so its design may be actually a year or two "newer" than Mamiya's

MComma01.jpg

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I found it in England. The repair was very costly though. It seems that most of these cameras were not treated very well.
 
Looks a beauty!
Mine is a little later - judging by the serial number (137715):

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It takes nice pictures too:

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Best regards,
RoyM
 
M like Leica M6 said:
Well, I had forgotten I had a film in the camera when I opened it to make a photo of the interior... I made numerous shots with that camera, I believe the lens is far superior to almost all lenses ever built into folders. I think it's the only camera ever built with this kind of film plane movement. Will van Manen made this old lady work for me, a shoemaker added some leather.
Click to expand...

Nice that they are, no it isn't the only one made that way. As shown by jnoir, the Ensign Command was (but I didn't know that before he mentioned it), Contax made a 35mm camera (AX was it?) that used that so they didn't have to redesign their lenses (then did anyway), and I have seen one on ebay about a year or so ago of some kind that was made in the 1920s that used that. I think it was a 6x9, or maybe a 1/4 plate folder, but I don't recall for sure.

But not being the first doesn't make it any less a good camera. I have one I have been trying to find springs for. I just need to get a photo so I can contact a spring making company not so far from me to see if they can duplicate it.

Some one provded photos of the sprints two or three years ago, but I wasn't able to follow up and stupidly, didn't save the photos. Was that you jnoir? I sure could use them again.
 
I've owned about six of these. Yes hard to find, but almost always one or two at any given time on eBay.

This one appears to be middle of the model range. Does not have the extra viewing window on the top (they dropped the top view window on the IV), but does have the Zuiko lens. Early (very late 40's) had a different lens/shutter (not Zuiko) They all had the film plane movement rangefinder and were extremely accurate AND easy to calibrate). The Six Automat was last two years 55-56. I still have one of those. Straight sides on the top rise (not curved like this one).

Great camera, great lens. The last models looked a bit sleeker and besides film count, and double shot prevention, also had autococking of the shutter in the wind-on process. Shutter to front of lens more cone shaped.

I'd say this one is about 51-54, somewhere in that range. There is a web site that has a pic and description of each model and what features on each model. I have seen it but not bookmarked.

Weakest link... the extremely complicated gear train for the film count and hard to find someone to repair the mechanism. I did have CERTO^ replace a bellows and "silver" a mirror on the rangefinder on one, but he indicated beforehand... NO WORKY on film count or windon mechanism. I took one apart and can certainly understand why. Dropping one on the film wind knob pretty much destroys many of those gears and other parts.

That gear train is likely the reason so many of these may have hit the slag heap. Out of six, two of mine were in disrepair on the film count mechanism. I stripped that out and salvaged the camera to good user condition, using the ruby window film positioning. They make a wonderfully reliable camera that way, and it doesn't affect any other part of the operation. The film plane focus works great, and you just have to treat it lika any folder without the complication of the automation.
 
M like Leica M6 said:
Well, I had forgotten I had a film in the camera when I opened it to make a photo of the interior... I made numerous shots with that camera, I believe the lens is far superior to almost all lenses ever built into folders. I think it's the only camera ever built with this kind of film plane movement. Will van Manen made this old lady work for me, a shoemaker added some leather.
Click to expand...

Stereo Realist moves the focal plane.

So does any monorail camera

it's a good way to avoid the dreaded "Front element focussing" and "Vacuum effect" and quirky zeiss rotating wedge thingy.

David
 
someonenameddavid said:
Stereo Realist moves the focal plane.

So does any monorail camera

it's a good way to avoid the dreaded "Front element focussing" and "Vacuum effect" and quirky zeiss rotating wedge thingy.

David
Click to expand...
two out of three i reckon aint bad...vacuum thing is largely a myth,

also, quite a few hundred models which would have accounted for millions of cameras worldwide, pre auto front door opening/lens pop out folders too...e.g plate folding cameras or plate folding cameras using film packs or film sheaths and more camera makes and models than you can count that had (manual) slide out lens standards (kinda like minnie large format cameras) that took standard 120 roll film not to mention many not so standard roll films, most people would have at least seen the many common Kodak pull out (folders) cameras wouldnt they, they ranged from from incredibly simple to quite reasonable quality over a very wide space of time in the early 20th century


from the OP i applaud the enthusiasm about the lens quality but i wonder how many have been used. in reality i find the later Mamiya-6 Automatic with Sekor is much better, actually IMo a number of older folders do better than the Zuiko on the mamiya-6's , which imo eventually developed into a quality lens but at this stage wasnt at its best. perhaps it was just rhetorical about the lens quality, they certainly work and the moving film plane is a practical design


cheers
chippy
 
I'm quite fond of the Mamiya 6 folders, they're very common here in Japan.
Not as enthusiastic about the Zuiko lenses, although they aren't bad.
 
I'm curious about the Zuiko lenses on those Mamiya 6.

On Olympus lenses, usually the letter before "Zuiko" tells the number of elements of the lens, for example "G-Zuiko" means 7 elements, and Wakarimasen's Mamiya 6 written "D-Zuiko" should mean a 4 elements lens.

On the other shown Zuiko, there's no letter before "Zuiko". M like Leica M6's Mamiya 6 has got a red "C" which should means "Coated", Jake06's has got "Coated" written in full, and Wakarimasen's has got "F.C", I don't know what it could mean.

And I don't know if those lenses have the same optical formula, probably yes.

My own Mamiya 6 is the Automatic 2, with a Sekor lens. The optical quality is not comparable to my Rolleiflex with its 2.8 Planar (mono-coated too), the Mamiya is more sensitive to flare but I like the rendition. I advice to always use a lens-hood.

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Mine has a lot of cleaning marks, alas -- but even so the lens is really good (D. Zuiko). I would LOVE to get a hood for it.
 
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