This Japanese 6x6 cm "folder" dates from 1950 built by Tōsei Kōki.  It was distributed,
under the Beauty name, during the second half of 1950, by Taiyōdō Kōki  - who owned the
Beauty brand.  Starting in early 1951 the maker, Tōsei Kōki, made some changes
to the camera and started distribution under their own FRANK  brand.

Thus this "Beauty Six"  was made in very limited quantities  over a, roughly, six month period.
According to an article in the Camerapedia, mine is one of only 2 surviving examples
known to exist in the world!  It is, to my knowledge, the only example complete with
the original, leather, ever-ready case and box. 

 You can see the relevant Camerapedia article, here.
An  article on the also rare, 1953 Beauty Six (a different camera, made by
Taiyōdō Kōki)  can be found here.

This camera was purchased, new, in Canada,by my father - probably  in 1951. My dad
gave me the camera, in the late 1980's, saying that he'd owned 6 cameras, and
I had taken them all apart, as a young lad, to see what made them "tick".  This
was, he said, the only one I'd got back together, and thus he felt it should be mine! 

Though I'm unsure if ownership of such a rare  beast will ever bring me fame
or fortune, it is certainly interesting!
 

Surprisingly, the shutter still appears to work smoothly and accurately (except for 'Bulb' - which
seems to be equivalent to 1/25th of a second), as does the self-timer, which runs without hesitation
and releases the shutter smoothly, as it should.

The bellows, amazingly enough, seems to still be light tight, and without any cracks.  I find this
most unusual for a camera now 60+ years old!  Sadly, the original flash-sync connector is
missing. I do not know if it was simply knocked off, over the years, or if I had
a problem putting it back on, when I disassembled the camera
in the late 1950's, at the tender age of 10 or 12!

The Beauty Six bears many similarities to the Frank Six, which came later.  This,
presumably late, example of the Beauty Six, bears the FRANK name on the shutter,
although it seems that the later FRANK SIX camera did not have this marking! 

The back is fully removable.  A rotating "button" on the middle bottom is the lock.
The back (with pressure plate) then slides off, in the same manner as the
early Nikon F, or Leica CL cameras.

If you found this page interesting, you might find my wildlife website interesting as well.

Click to enter my Wildlife Photography site.

Thanks for reading.