'It's VERY Worn In Almost Every Way, But Somehow [It's] Still Working': The Proud Chrome Six III

'It's VERY Worn In Almost Every Way, But Somehow [It's] Still Working': The Proud Chrome Six III

Nowadays, it seems to me that I'm getting photographic equipment more for the craic (the fun of it) than for any serious artistic endeavour. Not that I ever had any sense of artistic endeavour in mind. Last year was dominated by my adoption of the Rapid film system, and this year looks like it's going to be mostly glitching. But I'm always looking out for something slightly outrageous, and the other day on the Kamerastore website I think I found it: the Proud Chrome Six III. 

I was actually keen on getting a 5€ filter hood for the failing sensor Canon Powershot A80, but I couldn't face ordering that and then paying extra for the shipping, so I cast my eye across the 'Not Passed' entries on the Kamerastore website to see if there was anything cheap that would make the shipping cost more palatable. And there it was, practically at the top of the list, a Proud Chrome Six III medium format folding camera. It actually looked like the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 that I have, and it was cheap, just 44€. Sure, it was in the 'Not Passed' category, but it couldn't be that bad, right? Right?

Turns out it could be that bad, and for a moment my mood was crushed. Like all not passed items, it was, 'found to have flaws that will affect typical use', and in this case, there was a lot. For a start, the 'rangefinder is misaligned. It reaches infinity focus around the 20m mark', though that wasn't a deal breaker since the Proud Chrome Six has an uncoupled rangefinder and I can focus with the distance scale on the lens. The description continued: 'There's coating damage, dust, fungus, and separation inside the lens that may slightly affect image quality'. But, 'all of the fungus has been treated with UV light to neutralize it and prevent its spread', so that's worth bearing in mind, and I can live with that. 'There's also minor fungus and dust in the viewfinder that won't affect use'. So, some good news? 

The description continued, 'there's some wear on the shutter/aperture blades, but they don't affect use. The shutter unit sometimes rotates a bit when the settings are changed'. And finally, 'the front leatherettes are missing entirely'. Well, that might be an opportunity to re-cover the camera with some funky designed leatherette, something I’ve never tried before. The description finished with a statement that for me sealed the deal: 'TLDR: It's VERY worn in almost every way, but somehow still working more or less okay'. After reading that, I just had to have it, and if I can get it going just a little bit I'll be happy. 

One thing that the Kamerastore description didn't mention was the shutter speeds and aperture, and I took that as a good sign. (On the other hand, perhaps there just wasn't enough space in the entry to fit in any more faults of this beastie.) Also, in the images, the bellows looked in pretty good condition. So if I can re-cover it, tighten the lens assembly, clean and realign the viewfinder and rangefinder, and possibly clean the lens, I might have a winner. I think this might be what they call a 'long term project'.

The Proud Chrome Six III was part of a series of 120 folding cameras made by the Proud Company  (later Sumida) of Japan. The Chrome Six III is only my second vintage Japanese camera after the Ikkosha Start 35k and it's Bolta spools. Launched in 1952, it's a dual 6x6 or 6x4,5 camera which has two red windows on the back to show the frame numbers for full or 'half' frame. Inside the camera are two flaps which fold over to reduce the size of the film gate depending on which format you want to use. The lens is a Yamasaki S-Congo 7.5cm f/3.5, with a Synchront shutter with speeds from 1s to 1/200s (plus B). 

On the top plate, which looks a lot like the Zeiss Ikon Nettar, is engraved 'Proud Chrome Six III' and the serial number (in this case, 9457), with the viewfinder in the middle and a rangefinder window to its left. Normally, the uncoupled rangefinder is set by a thumbwheel on the left side, but of course with this Proud Chrome Six III it does nothing. On the top left of the camera is a film type indicator dial with three settings: Panchro, Chrome, and Color. This has no function other than being for information of the type of film being used.

On its arrival, the Proud Chrome Six III was in slightly better looking condition than I imagined. Yes, the front covers were missing, but it wasn't that bad. I ran through the various functions; the shutter speeds sounded good and the aperture changed smoothly. Focusing was very stiff, you need two hands to turn it; one hand to hold the front of the lens assembly to stop it from turning, the other to adjust the focus. Encouraged by this, I fancied putting a roll of film through the Chrome Six, but had to wait for a while for the weather to clear up a bit (have I mentioned the 'comboio de tempestades'?) Eventually, the weather improved, and it was time to take this 'very worn' camera out for a spin.

I set the frame size to 6x6 and loaded the Chrome Six with a roll of Harman Phoenix I film. It's the first time using Phoenix in 120 format, so I'm winging it a little here. As with 35mm film, I rated the Phoenix at ISO 125 instead of the box speed of ISO 200 and used the Camera Meter app to set the aperture. As it was a nice sunny day, I set the film speed to 1/200s and metered accordingly. Then we headed off to Barra and Costa Nova for an excursion by the seaside. 

On the whole, using the Chrome Six III was a pleasurable experience. I'm hoping that the zone focusing was mostly on point, and the f16 aperture hid any mistakes I might have made. I did find while winding the film on that it seemed a little loose, so I wondered whether there might be a 'fat' roll situation developing, where the film isn't wound tightly around the take-up spool. Consequently, when I finished the roll during a 'walk around the block' few days later, I decided to open up this first roll in the dark bag. 

I wound the film onto the take-up spool, and at that point shifted to whole camera to the dark bag. Feeling around, I found the latch and opened the camera back. The wound film didn't feel 'squishy' at all, generally a sure sign of a fat roll, so I pulled on the spring loaded tab holding the film in place and removed the roll. Still in the dark bag, I pulled the backing paper until it felt tight against the spool and removed it from the dark bag. I needn't have worried, the paper was wrapped securely around the spool, so I sealed the end, and took the roll to Forever Blue in Aveiro to be developed.

Normally I would opt for developing only, but I was so keen to see if the Chrome Six was working that this time I shelled out for developing and scanning. Forever Blue are quite speedy, and a few hours later the scanned files dropped into my inbox — and they were great! I think I definitely nailed the focusing, and apart from some vignetting the images were rich and clear. There were a couple of images with light leaks, including my favourite one from the beach, but I reckon these were caused during developing rather than by me. There was also one double exposure, which was me forgetting to wind on the camera between shots.

In conclusion, though, the 'very worn' Proud Chrome Six III worked magnificently, and is a definite addition to both my collection of medium format cameras and is a bonus folder for (hopefully) the next Folder Week. If you're interested, I’ve posted the whole series in an album on my Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/gp/147583812@N06/21m0UW11y6) if you want to see the rest of the images. 

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#Proud, #ChromeSix, #MediumFormat, #Folder, #HarmanPhoenix, #Barra, #CostaNova, #Portugal,