Super Fujica 6

 Yes, another medium format film camera to share time with the Yashica TLR. This one is a mid-1950s era Super Fujica 6, folding 6x6 rangefinder with a 7.5cm f/3.5 Fujinar lens. Saw it on eBay for $150. It looked to be in good condition and the seller, a camera shop in Japan, offered a 30 day return policy. Within a week of ordering, the camera arrived and it was indeed in very nice condition. I immediately loaded a roll of Kodak Gold 200 in 120 and the next day was out and about shooting the 12 images. The film was home developed and scanned the day after that. 

Super Fujica 6

The good news was that the exposures looked great. That told me the shutter speeds were accurate over the range I shot and that the aperture worked properly as well. The other good news was that the bellows and the light seals did their jobs - no light leaks!

The bad news was that the images were either out of focus or very soft. I had used the rangefinder for all of the images. However, what I hadn't checked was whether or not when the images were aligned, the distance on the lens seemed accurate. When I checked following scanning and looking at the images I found that the aligned rangefinder did not match the actual distances to subjects. That left me with the question, "is the issue with rangefinder adjustment or is the lens itself not properly aligned?"

A day or so later I loaded a roll of Kentmere 100, attached a "target" to my fence and marked off the distances of 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20 and 25 feet. The target was a 3'x3' sign with a variety of text sizes and a large, intricate  logo. I then attached the camera on a tripod, placed it at each of the distances with the the lens set to that marked distance and shot an image of the target.  In addition to determining the focus issue, I also rechecked shutter speeds and aperture settings. 

After developing and scanning the film, the resulting images showed the target was tack sharp at all of the marked distances. That meant the distance markings on the lens were accurate and that was great news. The problem was that the rangefinder was out of alignment - a not uncommon problem with rangefinders - and a problem I could easily live with. 

The "target" at eight feet

Had proper operation of the shutter or aperture blades been in question or if the bellows or light seals exhibited light leaks, I would have returned the camera. However, guesstimating distance and setting that distance on the lens is easy to do. While normally that would slow down shooting, this camera is not designed to be operated quickly. One example is that in order to fire the shutter, a lever on the lens must be actuated to cock the shutter. I keep forgetting this and will need to use the camera more before that becomes part of my muscle memory.  So long as I am having to set aperture, shutter speed and the cocking lever, I'll have plenty of time to set subject distance as well. And for the most part I don't expect to be shooting a lot of close ups, where setting a more accurate distance would be required. For distances over about 15 feet, depth of field will put subjects in focus. 

Bottom line, I kept the camera.

Since then I've put two more rolls through the camera to great effect. In fact, my submission for a recent 52 Frames challenge (https://52frames.com/photographer/25913) was shot on the camera.

52 Frames, Week 24 shot on the Super Fujica 6 - "Demolition"

I am very much enjoying the camera as I continue to shoot medium format 6x6. The Super Fujica 6 compliments very nicely with the Yashica TLR 6x6. The camera is not very large, and it's easy to load and to shoot. 

Pulling a freshly developed and rinsed 120-sized negative strip from a developing tank and off the reel is a life affirming experience! Those huge negatives are beautiful! There is a whole world of old-school medium format film cameras on the market at very reasonable prices. Anyone wanting to experience 6x6, or larger, negatives should not hesitate to give it a go.