C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Mamiya Six Auto (1956) is a self-erecting folding medium-format camera producing 12 exposures on 120 film at the 6x6 cm format. It belongs to the long Mamiya Six lineage that Mamiya launched in 1940 and refined through several iterations into the mid-1950s. The Auto variant distinguishes itself from earlier Six models by incorporating a selenium photo-cell exposure meter integrated into the front of the body, a combined rangefinder-viewfinder window, and an automatic film-advance interlock to prevent double exposures. The lens is a fixed Mamiya Sekor 75mm f/3.5 or similar in a Copal-SVS or Seikosha-SLV leaf shutter. No battery is required; the selenium meter generates its own current from ambient light.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →C41
Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
Mid-1950s Japanese folding 6x6 with built-in selenium meter and combined rangefinder-viewfinder.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film (6x6 cm), 12 frames |
| Mount | Fixed lens (non-interchangeable) |
| Lens | ~Mamiya Sekor 75mm f/3.5 |
| Years | ~1956 – ~late 1950s |
| Shutter | Leaf, ~1s – 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | ~1/300s |
| Meter | Selenium (no battery) |
| Modes | Manual only |
| Viewfinder | Combined rangefinder-viewfinder |
| Focus | Rangefinder manual |
| Battery | None required |
Mamiya introduced the original Mamiya Six in 1940, one of the first Japanese medium-format folding cameras with a built-in coupled rangefinder. The design was revised through the Six Model II, III, IV, and V over the following decade and a half. By the mid-1950s the Japanese camera industry was incorporating photoelectric exposure meters directly into camera bodies - a feature that distinguished newer designs from purely mechanical predecessors. The Mamiya Six Auto added a selenium meter cell to the folding body and combined the rangefinder and viewfinder into a single eyepiece window. The Auto designation likely refers to the automatic frame-spacing mechanism preventing double exposures, a feature that was considered a notable convenience at the time. The Six Auto line wound down as Mamiya shifted its medium-format development toward the Mamiya C-series twin-lens reflexes in the late 1950s.
The Mamiya Six Auto represents a mature expression of the Japanese self-erecting folding camera tradition at a moment when Japanese manufacturers were competing aggressively with German designs (Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta, Voigtlander Bessa) that dominated postwar professional and advanced-amateur medium-format work. The incorporation of a selenium meter into a folding body was a practical differentiation: photographers could read exposure from the camera itself rather than carrying a separate meter. The camera is historically interesting as a bridge between the purely mechanical prewar Japanese folding camera and the more electronically integrated cameras of the 1960s. In the current collector market the Six Auto occupies a mid-tier position among Mamiya Six variants, valued by users who want a light 6x6 kit that folds flat for travel.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Mamiya Six Auto
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