Spartus 35 (post-WWII)

In 1934, the Utility Manufacturing Company in New York began making inexpensive cameras using the Falcon brand name. The company was acquired by an electric clock manufacturer, Spartus Corporation, in 1941 and moved to Chicago, where it continued the Falcon line for a while.

Three "Spartans" by Spartus

At one point Spartus made a series of inexpensive 35 mm cameras. The top model (left) had a triplet lens and a four speed shutter. The middle model (center) had a focusing doublet lens and a single speed shutter. The bottom model (right) had a fixed focus doublet lens and a single speed shutter. The general styling resembled the old Falcon "minicam" style cameras. The company stopped making cameras about 1960. Spartus continued making electric clocks, its main product line, long after it stopped camera production and was eventually merged with Westclox.

Argus C44 (1956-1957)

This Argus C44 was made in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Argus Cameras during 1957. Argus made about 85,000 of them from 1956 to 1957. It was an improved Argus C4, adding interchangeable lenses and increasing the top shutter speed from 200 to 300. It was followed by the rapid wind version of the C44.

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Film Chamber

Lens Mount

Additional Lenses - 35 mm f/4.5, 50 mm f/1.9 and 100 mm f/3.5.

Auxiliary Viewfinder

Advancing the film cocks the shutter, which can be set for 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 or 1/300 second, or B (bulb). The B setting opens the shutter for as long as the shutter release is depressed.

The camera had a hot shoe on the top for the Argus Flasholder. The flasholder could take type M or type F flashbulbs. There was a switch on the back of the camera to select the type of bulb. Deciding the correct exposure for a flash picture took a little arithmetic. You divided the guide number associated with the size of flashbulb and the speed rating of the film by the distance to the subject to get aperture setting for the lens. Automatic electronic flash really simplified things when it came out in the 1970s.

The standard lens was the f/2.8-22 50mm coated Argus Cintagon, which was one of the first camera lenses to be designed with the aid of an electronic computer. Argus used the MIDAC computer located at the University of Michigan to do the calculations. The Cintagon was a tessar design and had a rare earth crown element. The lens was made in Argus's own optical shop.

Additional lenses were made for Argus by Steinheil, Munich, West Germany. They included an f/4.5-22 35 mm wide angle lens, an f/1.9-22 50 mm fast normal lens, and an f/3.5-22 100 mm telephoto lens. All were coated and were marked Argus Cintagon. The standard lens could take Series V drop in filters. The additional lenses took Series VI drop in filters.  Leather cases were available for the lenses.  Lens caps were not provided.  A third party 58mm pinch type lens cap will fit the front of the lens hood on the 50 mm f/1.9 and 100 mm f/3.5 lenses.  The slightly wider lens hood on the 35 mm f/4.5 lens takes a 60 mm pinch type lens cap.

 A variable power viewfinder that fit in the hot shoe could be set for 35, 50 or 100 mm using a knob on the side of the viewfinder. The variable power finder also could be adjusted to correct for parallax. Because the finder took the place of the flasholder in the hot shoe, a flash extension bracket needed to be plugged into the viewfinder to let you use flash when you were using the auxiliary viewfinder.

The rangefinder was the coincident type with a round rangefinder spot in the center of the camera viewfinder. You centered the rangefinder spot on the subject, then focused the lens until both images in the spot coincided. You then composed your picture using either the camera viewfinder or the auxiliary view finder.

The lens mount is complicated by the need to couple the lens to the range finder with an external gear. Most makers of interchangeable lens range finder cameras used a cam in the lens and a cam follower in the camera to transmit distance information from the lens to the range finder. Argus used an external gear to transmit distance information to the range finder. To remove a lens the distance needed to be set to infinity, and the latch at the bottom of the lens mount pushed in while turning the lens mount about 45 degrees counter-clockwise, where the lens could be lifted straight out. To replace the lens you needed to align the red dots on the lens and lens mount, put the lens in the mount and turn clockwise until the lens latched.

The C44 can make a decent picture. The only US made rival to the C44 was the Kodak Signet 80. Imported 35 mm single lens reflex cameras, particularly the Pentax Spotmatic, took over the market for 35 mm cameras in the 1960s, and Argus stop making 35 mm cameras in the USA in 1966. Kodak stopped in 1969. Most of the West German camera makers closed in the 1970s. Only Leica survived as a maker of luxury cameras. East Germany continued to sell for $200 cameras that cost $600 to make, but that ended after the collapse of the communist economic fantasy in 1989.

Argus C4 (1951-1957)

The Argus C4 was made in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Argus Cameras from 1951 to 1957. This one was made in 1952. The C4 used the same body style as the earlier model 21 "Markfinder", but with a added coupled coincident rangefinder and an improved lens. Argus sold about 300,000 C4s in seven years, compared to about 2,000,000 C3s in roughly twenty-four years. The list price in June, 1951, was $99.50, equivalent in buying power to about $1,090 in depreciated 2022 dollars. Although retailers such as Sears usually would discount the list price by 10 or 15 percent, this was not a cheap camera.

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Film Chamber

The camera has an f/2.8-f/22, 50mm, coated Cintar lens with three elements in three groups. The closest focus distance is three feet. You can use Series VI drop-in lens filters with a 1-5/16" (33 mm) push-on adapter, a Kodak No. 26 screw-in adapter or a Tiffen No. 640 screw-in adapter. The behind-the-lens shutter has speeds of 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 second plus B (bulb). Advancing the film cocks the shutter. The viewfinder has a round coincident range finder patch in the center, but has lost the bright frame lines of the model 21. Either Argus' engineers couldn't squeeze the frame lines and the range finder into the space available within cost constraints or there was some patent interference involved. The whole back comes off to load familiar 35 mm film. The picture counter counts down from the number of pictures on the roll of film to zero and needs to be manually set to 36 or whatever length roll of film you have loaded. Rewinding the film requires lifting the film advance knob and rotating it a quarter turn, then turning the rewind knob until the film is rewound into the cassette. The C4 has a hot shoe for the matching Argus flasholder. Flash synchronization is switchable between type M and type F flash bulbs. There aren't any strap lugs. If you want to use a neck strap you need to put the camera inside its leather case or use a strap that attaches to the tripod socket.

The C4 is one of the nicer looking cameras Argus made and is a decent picture taker. The shutter has a noticeable, noisy "snick" when it fires.

[Update] The C4 was updated during its production run to change the fastest shutter speed from 1/200 to 1/300 second, and to change the flash sync switch from M-F for type M or type F flash bulbs to M-X for type M flash bulbs or electronic flash. The winding knobs also were changed to a finer knurling. The last C4, the C4R, had a thumb lever film advance instead of a knob wind advance and a rewind crank instead of a rewind knob.

[Update] The instruction book said that the lens had a resolving power of 120 lines/mm at the center, which is a good specification.

Argus C4 Advertisement from Popular Photography, June, 1951.

Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro Model (1941-1952)

The Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro Model was made in Rochester, NY, from 1941 through 1952, with a break in 1942-45 caused by the Second World War. It has a simple, uncoated, fixed focus meniscus lens and a single speed shutter with a time setting. The finder is a large, waist level brilliant finder. A Brownie Flasholder attaches to the posts on the side and top and plugs into the pins on the front. The camera takes the Kodak 127 film that was discontinued in 1995. This is yet another iteration of the basic Brownie box camera that Eastman Kodak Company made starting in 1900. There are about 100 different versions of the Kodak Brownie. Untold millions of family snapshots were taken using them.

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Through the Viewfinder

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Camera Flash Model (1950-1961)

This Brownie Hawkeye was made in Rochester, NY, in 1953. It takes twelve 2-1/4" square pictures on a roll of Kodak 620 film. 

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The lens on the Brownie Hawkeye is a simple f/15 uncoated glass meniscus lens. The shutter is a single speed (about 1/50 second) rotary shutter with instantaneous or long exposure settings. The viewfinder is a waist level brilliant finder. The camera body was designed by Arthur H. Crapsey, Jr. Eastman Kodak Company made these cameras by the million and they are not hard to find. Their simple construction makes them easy to clean up. They supposedly are popular among hipsters. Kodak 620 film was discontinued in 1995, but you can re-spool current 120 size film onto 620 spools. It also is sometimes possible to squeeze a 120 film into the supply holder and use a 620 spool in the take-up holder. This camera has some re-spooled 120 loaded. The number 1 is visible through the little red window on the back of the camera. It is a good idea to cover the window with a piece of black tape if the camera is going to be used outside. Daylight coming through the red window can expose modern film, which is more sensitive to red light than the films available for the Hawkeye when it was new.

Before he went to work for Kodak, Arthur H. Crapsey, Jr. was a B-17 bomber pilot in the European Theater of Operations. He was wounded in action over Germany in 1943, losing a leg to his wounds.

Probably the most famous user of a Brownie Hawkeye is former President Bill Clinton. I recall seeing a photo of a 16 year old Clinton carrying one at the Boys Nation meeting in 1962, where he got to shake hands with President John Kennedy.

[Update] Oops. I replaced the top lens on the viewfinder upside down. This is fixed now.

[Update] The camera can still take a picture. This was shot on 120 Ultrafine eXtreme 100 respooled onto a 620 spool, developed in D-76 and scanned on an Epson 4990 photo scanner.

The Readers, an outdoor sculpture at Sally Beaman Park, Nashville, Tennessee. The Green Hills branch of the Nashville public library is in the background.

The Hawkeye name came to Kodak from Samuel N. Turner's Boston Camera Company by way of the Blair Camera Company. Turner was the first to put picture numbers on roll film backing paper and Eastman bought the company to get the patents. Kodak produced a number of cameras with the Hawkeye name.

Kodak Bantam Special (1936-1940)

This Kodak Bantam Special was made in Rochester, New York during the 1930s. It has an uncoated f/2.0 46 mm Kodak Anastigmat Ektar lens in a Deckel Compur-Rapid shutter. It takes size 828 film, which is 35 mm wide, but with a paper backing and only one perforation per picture. The picture size is 28 mm x 40 mm and there are 8 pictures on a roll of film. 35 mm cameras had become popular by 1936, and Kodak already had its own 35 mm camera, the Retina built by Kodak AG in Stuttgart-Wangen, Germany, but Kodak saw its Bantam size cameras as an excellent alternative, and pushed the format hard. They produced cameras ranging from simple and inexpensive to full featured luxury models. The luxury model was the Bantam Special designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, one of the fathers of modern American industrial design. An example of this camera is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490903. The original list price was $110 in 1936, which is equivalent in buying power to more than two thousand dollars in 2018.

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Film Chamber

The camera is functionally similar to the made-in-Germany Kodak Retina II 35 mm camera (also introduced in 1936). The Bantam Special has separate viewfinder and range finder eyepieces. The range finder is a split image range finder like the one on the Kodak Medalist. Film is loaded into the camera the same way as other Kodak roll film cameras. You would turn the winding knob until the film automatically stopped at the first exposure. The little green window on the back of the camera lets you see the picture number printed on the backing paper. To advance the film you press the small button on the upper left and turn the winding knob until the film automatically stopped at the next picture. The shutter is not interlocked with the film advance. You could accidentally double expose a picture or skip a picture. The shutter speeds are T (time), B (bulb), 1 second, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250 and 1/500. The lens settings are f/2 through f/16. Close focusing distance is 3.5 feet or 1 meter. The focusing scale on my camera is marked in meters, making it an export model.  Kodak did actually export cameras made in the USA.

The Second World War interrupted the supply of shutters from Germany, and in 1941 Kodak changed the shutter on the Bantam Special from the Compur-Rapid to the similar Kodak Supermatic. The new version of the Bantam Special stayed in the catalog until 1948. Kodak finally stopped making all cameras for 828 film in the 1950s and discontinued 828 film in 1985. The one perforation per picture idea lived on in Instamatic (size 126) and Pocket Instamatic (size 110) film.

The shutter on this camera is not working properly, the view finder is fogged, and the only source of fresh 828 film is Film for Classics at $18 for an 8 exposure roll of Tri-X. It might not become a user camera. [Update] A careful look through the lens showed some possible fungus inside, which is another strike against this camera becoming something other than a display piece.

Kodak Retina Nr 117 (1935)

This is a Kodak Retina 35 mm camera made in Germany in 1935. The lens is an uncoated f/3.5 50 mm Schneider Xenar in a Deckel Compur-Rapid shutter. The Xenar is a Tessar type lens design with four elements in three groups. Shutter speeds are 1 second, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10. 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300 and 1/500 plus B (bulb) and T (time). The aperture settings are f/3.5, 4.5, 5.6, 8, 11 and 16. This camera is a scale focuser and has an enclosed reverse galilean viewfinder. It folds into a compact handful.

Retina 117

This is the first model that was designed to use the Kodak 135 daylight loading cartridge.  This is the type of  35 mm film that you can buy today and modern film works fine in this camera.

Eastman Kodak Company had organized Kodak AG  to manufacture and sell photographic materials for the continental market, and in 1931 the German Kodak acquired the August Nagel camera factory, keeping Dr. Nagel as the manager and giving him a free hand to design and manufacture high quality products. Dr. Nagel developed a design for a folding 35 mm camera to compete with Leica and Contax, and a pre-loaded film cartridge that would fit the new Retina camera and also the existing Leica and Contax cameras. Previously the Leica and Contax had come with cassettes that the photographer loaded with strips of film inside a darkroom or inside a film changing bag. The new Kodak film came from the factory already loaded in a disposable cartridge (magazine in Kodakese) that would drop right into the camera and was much more convenient. Kodak made various versions of the Retina until 1969, when the precision camera business in West Germany basically collapsed due to competition from Japan.

Unfortunately, the camera in the picture has a jammed focuser and the shutter won’t cock if set on B or T, possibly from being dropped at some point in the past. I think it might be an expensive repair. Right now it can sit on a shelf and look interesting. These are not rare cameras because about 60,000 were made. The list price in 1935 was $57.50, equivalent in buying power to about a thousand dollars in 2018 - not cheap, but about a quarter of the price of a Leica or Contax.

[Update] The focuser turned out to be stiff from old grease and freed up when I worked it back and forth a few times. I've learned that this version of the Compur-Rapid shutter doesn't need to be cocked for the B or T settings to work. On B the shutter is supposed to open when the shutter release is pressed and close when it is released. On T the shutter is supposed to open when the shutter release is pressed and close when the shutter release is pressed a second time. The shutter will open on both B and T, but it won't close again until the shutter is set to one of the regular speeds and cocked. The shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/300 appear to all be the same because the retarding gear isn't engaging. 1/500 appears to be faster because on that setting a stronger mainspring is engaged. The shutter could be just gummed up with old lube. I'm feeling a little more cheerful about it. I've put a roll of film in the camera to test it and if the pictures turn out I might send it out to be repaired.

[Update 2] I quickly ran off 36 exposures - click, click, click - in my back yard. The camera works to the extent that it will make an image on film and doesn't have any light leaks that I noticed. I'm not sure that I will try to make this into a user camera.

[Update 3] The camera has been shipped to Chris Sherlock in New Zealand (retinarescue.com) for service. I will wait and see what he can do.

[Update 4] I received the camera from Chris Sherlock on December 6, 2018. It functions as if it were brand new.

[Update 5] According to Dr David Jentz, a Retina expert, production of the 117 camera was closer to 30,000 units than 60,000, which is still a lot of cameras.

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Old Soul Tattoo, Gallatin, TN

Kodak Retina C Convertible Lenses

In 1954 Eastman Kodak Company's German subsidiary, Kodak AG, produced versions of the Retina camera that had interchangeable wide angle and telephoto lenses in addition to the normal lens. 

From Rudolf Kingslake, A History of the Photographic Lens

Retina IIIc, lenses, viewfinder and cases

Normal 50mm lens in place

Preparing to remove 50mm lens

Match red dot on lens to red dot on body to remove lens

Lens removed

Match red dot on lens to red dot on body to replace lens

Twist to match red dot on lens to white dot on body

Telephoto distance scales are on the left.  Wide angle distance scale is on the right.

The rear half of the lens was fixed to the camera body and the front half had interchangeable f/5.6 35 mm wide angle, f/2.8 or f/2 50 mm normal and f/4 80 mm telephoto lens front components. Here we have a Retina IIIc with its normal f/2 50 mm lens, a 35 mm lens, an 80 mm lens and a viewfinder for the 35 and 80 mm lenses. The auxiliary viewfinder slips into the accessory shoe on top of the camera. You can flip a switch on the top of the viewfinder to change from 35 mm to 80 mm. The 35 mm and 80 mm lenses also fit the Retina IIc, IIC and IIIC. One difference between the "small c" and "Big C" models was that the "Big C" cameras had frame lines for the 35 mm and 80 mm lenses built in the camera viewfinder and did not need the auxiliary viewfinder. You have to be careful to match the red dots on the lens and body when attaching a lens front component because you can damage the camera if you don't. Focusing the auxiliary lens is a procedure. First you get the distance to the subject using the viewfinder in the camera, then transfer the distance from the scale on the top of the camera to one of the scales on the bottom of the camera. The bottom scale having white letters on a black background is for the 80 mm lens. The index mark is a "T" to remind you it is for the telephoto lens. The scale with gold letters on a black background is for the 80 mm lens plus a close focusing attachment for portraits, which was a separate item. The scale with black letters on a white background is for the 35 mm lens. The index mark is a triangle to remind you it is for the wide angle lens. The scale on the barrel of the lens is a depth of field calculator. In 1956 Kodak brought out a single lens reflex camera that used the same interchangeable front component system. The Retina Reflex got a new f/4 35 mm lens for easier focusing. The new f/4 35 mm would work with the rangefinder "c" or "C" Retinas, too.

The focal length marked on a camera lens often is just a nominal figure. A +/- 5% variation usually is considered acceptable for ordinary picture taking. A 50 mm lens could be anywhere from 47.5 mm to 52.5 mm, and an 80 mm lens could be anywhere from 76 mm to 84 mm. Some lenses focus by shifting internal lens elements to vary the effective focal length and the lens would be at its nominal focal length only when focused at infinity. At closer subject distances the effective focal length would be less.

In 1958 Kodak switched to a solid body Retina IIIS that let you interchange the complete lens instead of just the front components, and was less complicated to focus because the range finder automatically adjusted for different lenses. These new "S" lenses were shared with the Retina Reflex S and later reflexes.

Argus Argoflex EM (1948) and EF (1948-1951) Twin Lens Reflex

The Argus Argoflex EF and EM were medium format twin lens reflex cameras. The EF differed from the EM by having a hot shoe for flash. The EM was in production only in 1948. The EF was in production from 1948 to 1951.

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After the Second World War, Argus had to shift from military production back to civilian products in a hurry. They were helped along by a big order from the US Army PX system for Argus C3 cameras, and in addition quickly got the prewar Argoflex E and Argus A2 back into production. Needing something new, in 1947 Argus brought out the Argus 21 Markfinder as an improved version of the pre-war A3 and CC cameras, and the Argoflex II as an improved version of the Argoflex E. The Argoflex II was to have an exposure counter and a body newly styled by the firm of the industrial designer Harley Earl. The design patent for the Argoflex II was granted to Fred W. Hertzler, who worked for Harley Earl Associates in Warren, Michigan. Unfortunately the Argoflex II was a mechanical failure. Production was stopped at about 300 units and only a half-dozen or so Argoflex II cameras are known to still exist. Argus had to drop back and began instead to produce the Argoflex EM and EF, which kept the metal body of the Argoflex II, but did not have the troublesome exposure counter. Sadly, Argus also omitted the field lens that would have brightened the viewfinder.

The EM and EF took size 620 film, but not size 120, unlike the preceding Argoflex E, which could take both 620 and 120. There were twelve 2-1/4" square pictures on one roll of film. The photographer would space the pictures on the film by viewing the picture numbers on the backing paper through a red window on the back of the camera. The red window had a shutter that would cover the red window when the photographer was not advancing the film. There wasn't any system for preventing double exposures or missed pictures.

The lens was the same f/4.5-18 75mm Argus Varex as on the Argoflex E. The viewing lens was geared to the taking lens. When the image was in focus on the ground glass it would also be in focus on the film.

The shutter was the same Alphax shutter as on the "E". Shutter speeds were 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 second plus bulb and time. The Alphax shutter is a self setting shutter: the shutter would be cocked and released with a single motion of the release lever. This meant that the photographer did not have to cock the shutter before taking a picture, which reduced the chance of missing a good picture, but also limited the highest shutter speed to 1/200 second.

I think that one reason Argus did not fix the problems with the Argoflex II was that the company was in serious financial trouble. Management had made at about the same time an ill-advised attempt to get into the home appliance business, which was not successful and caused serious financial losses.

The advertised price for the Argoflex EF in the June, 1949, issue of Popular Photography was $65.00 plus $9.75 federal excise tax for a total of $74.75 (about $887 in depreciated 2022 dollars) - not a cheap camera.

Confederate Memorial, Gallatin, Tennessee

Kodak Retina IIIC (1958-1960)

The Kodak Retina IIIC (Big C) is the last of the folding Retinas. As an upgrade to the IIIc (small c), the changes included enlarging the viewfinder and providing fixed frame lines for the 35 mm and 80 mm lenses in addition to the frame line for the normal 50 mm lens. The light meter was changed and the flip-up cover for high/low light levels was removed. The very last of the "small c" IIIc cameras also got the new meter. About 68,000 cameras were made over three years. The list price in 1958 was $175, equivalent in purchasing power to $1,543 in 2018.

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Segway into the Bicentennial Mall

Tri-X 400

Kodak Ektramax (1978-1981)

 By the late 1970s, Eastman Kodak Company had developed a fine grain, 400 speed, color print film and wanted a camera to promote sales of the film in the popular size 110 cartridge. The result was a manually controlled Pocket Instamatic with a fast, f/1.9 lens designed for available light photography. The Ektramax had a sophisticated lens for a consumer camera. Usually the surfaces of camera lenses form segments of spheres. The lens designer selects the types of glasses, the radii of the spherical surfaces, the thicknesses of the lenses, and the spacing between the lenses to design a lens that will make a sharp image. A fast lens with all spherical surfaces often requires six or more lens elements to produce a sharp image. To reduce the manufacturing cost of the Ektramax, Kodak decided to make one of the lens elements with a surface that was not a segment of a sphere. This reduced the lens element count from six (or more) to four and still produced a sharp image. The aspheric lens was made from acrylic plastic using new precision molding techniques. This camera had the first mass produced lens with an aspheric surface. About 500,000 lens sets for this camera were made. The Ektramax was in production from 1978 to 1981. The list price of $87.50 made it fairly expensive for a Pocket Instamatic. The lens has a focal length of 25mm. Setting the exposure control to "bright sun", "shade", "low light" or "flash" set the aperture and shutter speed to selected combinations of f/1.9, f/4 or f/8, and 1/30, 1/100, 1/125, 1/175 or 1/350 second, depending on the ASA rating of the film. The lens has a focusing scale that runs from 4 ft. to infinity. The viewfinder has a little window at the top that shows the focus zone and another little window on the right that shows the exposure control setting. The camera has a built-in electronic flash that takes two AAA batteries. The camera will take available light pictures without batteries. Size 110 film is 16mm wide and has a picture size of 13mm x 17mm. Kodak discontinued size 110 film 10 years ago. The Lomography company still sells film for 110 cameras. This camera is light and feels pretty plasticy.

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