Kodak Reflex (1946-1949)

The Eastman Kodak Company made this twin lens reflex camera from 1946-49. The body is a sturdy aluminum alloy die casting. The taking and viewing lenses are f/3.5 80mm with four air-spaced elements. The lenses are front cell focusing and the viewing lens is synchronized to the taking lens by gearing. Voigtlander, Argus and many other manufacturers used the same method. The taking lens has antireflection coatings that Kodak called "Lumenized".

The shutter is a set and release Flash Kodamatic with speeds from 1/2 to 1/200 second plus bulb and time. You cocked the shutter by pulling the shutter release lever up and took a picture by pushing the shutter release lever down. The shutter is synchronized for flashbulbs. The ASA bayonet post for the flasholder is to the photographer's left. You needed to cock the synchronizer after you cocked the shutter to use flash. The purpose of the synchronizer was to delay opening the shutter until the flash bulb approached peak brightness, which took about 20 milliseconds.

The camera will take twelve 2-1/4" square pictures on a roll of 620 film. You can't squeeze a 120 roll into the camera, but you can use currently available 120 films by respooling the 120 film onto a 620 spool. A film reminder dial is on the winding knob. You count exposures and space your pictures by looking through the classic ruby window on the back of the camera at numbers printed on the backing paper of the film. The ruby window has a cover to keep out stray light that could fog the film. You open the cover only when advancing film. There isn't any double exposure prevention. Kodak recommended always advancing the film immediately after taking a picture.

The original list price was $100 in 1946, or about $1,270 in depreciated 2018 dollars. It was not a cheap camera. I would call it roughly the equivalent of a contemporary Rolleicord - a high end photo hobbyist camera.

Some changes were made during the production run. The lenses on the first cameras were marked "Kodak Anastigmat" while the lenses on later cameras were marked "Kodak Anastar". The lenses didn't change, only the name. The flash synchronizer was changed, and the winding knob was made a little taller.  Some cameras were made with metric distance scales.

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Kodak Medalist II (1946-1953)

The Eastman Kodak Medalist camera was introduced in 1941, with production continuing through WWII for the US Navy, and was updated to the Medalist II after the end of the war. The Medallist II was in the Kodak catalog from 1946 through 1953. The list price in 1946 was $262, or about $3,300 in depreciated 2018 dollars. This camera was geared toward the professional market and rivaled cameras produced by the major German camera companies. The lens is an f/3.5-32 100mm Kodak Ektar with five elements in three groups. The lens on my Medalist II has a date code of ER, which corresponds to 1945, and does not have the "Lumenized" symbol to indicate the presence of anti-reflective coatings, although the lens does appear to be coated. The shutter is a Kodak Flash Supermatic running from 1 to 1/400 second plus bulb. It focuses using a coupled range finder or an accessory ground glass back. The viewfinder is corrected for parallax. The lens can use series VI drop-in filters and supplementary lenses. The camera takes eight 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" pictures on a roll of 620 film and has an exposure counter. Kodak discontinued size 620 film some time ago. However, it is possible to use currently available size 120 film by respooling the 120 film onto a 620 spool. Respooling film inside a film changing bag or inside a darkroom is no more difficult than loading a roll of film onto a developing reel. The accessory back takes film holders for 2-1/4" x 3-1/4" or 6.5cm x 9cm sheet film or glass plates. You would have used the accessory back with supplementary lenses or extension units for tasks such as copying or macro photography. This feels like a bulky and heavy camera, weighing nearly three pounds. You would want to use it on a tripod.

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Kodak Ektar f/3.5 100mm Lens

Suffragettes in Centennial Park

Argus Colorcamera (1941-1942)

The Argus Colorcamera was made by Argus, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1941 until Argus shifted to war production in 1942. It was one of the first 35mm cameras to have a built-in light meter, the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex of 1935 being the very first. The production run of the Colorcamera combined with the similar A3 may have totaled about 40,000 units. The Colorcamera has a cast metal body and an f/4-16 50mm uncoated Argus Anastigmat lens in a self-setting shutter that runs from 1/25 to 1/150 second plus bulb and time. The camera has the detachable selenium cell light meter on top. Argus claimed that the light meter had a sensitivity of 1.4 to 2,050 foot-candles. Because the camera was made before the ASA film speed standard was adopted, the dial exposure calculator on the back of the camera uses Weston film ratings. Weston made the first photoelectric light meters for photography, and worked out film exposure ratings to use with their meters. A film with a Weston rating of 80 would have an ASA (or ISO) speed of 100. You set the dial for the Weston rating of the film and the light meter reading of the scene, and then read the corresponding aperture and shutter settings from the dial. The die cast film take-up spool is not permanently attached and if you turn the camera right side up with the back open the spool could fall out. It is possible to remove the take-up spool and use a reloadable film cassette in its place. The instruction booklet that came with the camera has detailed instructions for this. The idea was that you could cut the film part way through a roll and develop and print the first pictures without wasting all of the rest of the roll. This meant you could get the first pictures on a roll of 36 exposures without having to wait until you shot the whole roll of film. The was valuable when a roll of film cost one 1941 dollar or about seventeen 2018 dollars, with dollars much harder to get in 1941, and every shot had to count. The light meter on this example still works, which is pretty amazing for a 76 or 77 year old selenium cell meter.

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Argus A3 (1940-1942)

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The Argus A3 was made by Argus, Ann Arbor, Michigan, from October, 1940, through early 1942, when Argus shifted to war production. The production of the A3 and the similar model CC Colorcamera together may have totaled about 40,000. The A3 has a cast metal body and an f/4-16 50mm uncoated Argus Anastigmat lens in a self-setting shutter that runs from 1/25 to 1/150 second, and has bulb and time settings. The camera has an extinction meter on top and a dial exposure calculator on the back. Because the camera was made before the ASA film speed standard was adopted, the calculator uses Weston film speeds. Weston made the first photoelectric light meters for photography, and worked out film speeds to use with their meters. Weston film speed numbers were 20% smaller than the ASA film speed for a given film. A film with a Weston speed of 80 would have an ASA speed of 100. There also is an accessory clip on the top for a third party range finder such as the Kodak Service Range Finder. This is not a flash shoe - the camera is not synchronized for flash. To use flash you would need to use a third party flash synchronizer that fit the cable release socket or use open flash. Open flash means that with the camera on a tripod you would open the shutter, set off the flash, and then close the shutter. This camera is missing the die cast zinc film take-up spool. The spool was not permanently attached and if you turned the camera right side up with the back open the spool would fall out. The instruction leaflet supplied with the camera does explain how to use a reloadable 35mm film cassette as a take-up spool. You would do this to make possible using only part of a roll of film without wasting the rest of the roll. The focusing dial on this camera appears to be out of calibration and I haven't tested the camera with film. It may end up being a shelf queen.

Argus 21 "Markfinder" (1947-1952)

The Argus Model 21 "Markfinder" camera was made by Argus, Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1947 to 1952. It was the first 35 mm camera with a bright frame finder: the viewfinder displays a luminous rectangle outlining the scene that would appear in the picture. Argus made gun sights for the war effort and post-war adapted the technology to this camera. The lens is a scale focusing f/3.5-16 50 mm coated Cintar lens. The design of the solid metal body was inherited from the pre-WWII Argus A3 and CC cameras. The position for the A3/CC exposure calculator is still visible in the pattern of the leatherette on the back. There was a hot shoe on the top for the companion Argus flasholder. The shutter is a behind-the-lens leaf shutter that runs from 1/10 second to 1/200 second and has a bulb setting. The shutter is cocked by advancing the film, preventing accidental double exposures. Argus made about 65,000 of these cameras.

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Argus 21 Ad

This ad from Popular Science magazine shows how the finder works. The mirror marked "C" is a beamsplitter that transmits light from the scene and reflects light from the reticle "A1". The lenses were chosen to put the scene and the reticle in focus at the same time, working on the same principle as a reflex gunsight.

The original Markfinder had the shutter cocked by the film pulling the sprocket wheels as the film was advanced by the winding knob. This unfortunately tended to rip film and the shutter mechanism was changed so that the winding knob cocked the shutter directly, even without film in the camera. This was easier on the film and the new mechanism was carried forward with the C4 camera.

[Update]  Unfortunately this example was damaged in a fall shortly after these pictures were taken. The force of the fall sheared off the head of the screw holding the winding knob. I will need to find a replacement screw, not easy for a 70 year old camera, and extract the old screw to make the repair, assuming nothing was damaged internally. I was able to back out the broken screw with no trouble, and I replaced it with a small machine screw and washers. The camera still works, but I need to get a replacement screw that looks like the original for the sake of appearance.

[Update] I have been given a replacement screw. Sadly the scratches and dent remain.

[Update] I have acquired from Goodwill another Markfinder with a broken shutter (a common failure on these models) but with an undented top plate. I ought to be able to use it to replace the top plate on the battered but working camera.

Argus Match-Matic C3 (1958-1966)

The Argus Camera division of Sylvania Electric made the Argus Match-Matic C3 camera from 1958 to 1966. This example was made in 1960. The Match-Matic was an update of the Argus C3 that had been around since 1939. Altogether about 300,000 Match-Matics were made. The Match-Matic gained a bit of recent fame by playing the part of Colin Creevey's muggle camera in the Harry Potter movies. The Match-Matic has an f/3.5-f/16 (marked "3-1/2" to "8+" on the aperture ring) 50mm Coated Cintar lens. The behind-the-lens leaf shutter runs from 1/10 to 1/300 second (marked "4" through "8" on the shutter speed dial) plus B. The design was behind the times, but had the advantages of being inexpensive and reliable. It is not difficult to find a C3 that still works. One weak point of the Match-Matic is the selenium cell light meter, which tends to go bad with age.

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The Match-Matic is a passable picture taker that uses regular 35mm film. Operating the camera is fiddly. To advance the film for the next picture you press a small catch near the exposure counter, turn the film winding knob a quarter turn clockwise, release the catch, and then continue to turn the winding knob clockwise until it stops. This is the same system that was introduced in the original Argus A camera in 1936. To load the film you open the back, put fresh film in the chamber on the right side of the camera (as seen from the back), guide the film over the sprocket wheels, and insert the film into the slot on the take-up spool. You turn the film advance knob to take up the slack, close the back, advance the film three times, and set the exposure counter by turning the dial clockwise until it reaches zero. Set the shutter speed, set the aperture, cock the shutter using the lever on the front of the camera, focus while looking through the range finder window, compose your shot while looking through the viewfinder window, and press the shutter release while keeping your fingers away from the shutter setting lever. You will be rewarded with a resounding "clang!" when the shutter fires. You then advance the film for the next shot. There is no interlock to prevent double exposures or to prevent advancing the film without taking a shot. One way you spoil two pictures, the other you waste a shot. To unload the camera you turn the rewind knob on the bottom of the camera until the film is rewound, open the back and take out the film.

In daylight you could set the light meter for ASA film speeds from 3 to 1000. You set the shutter speed on the meter dial, point the light meter at the scene, and the meter needle would point to the correct aperture setting. Because the light meter is an uncoupled meter, it can be replaced by a more modern hand held meter. Get one that has an exposure value system readout to make life a little easier. The Sekonic L-208 meter comes with a foot that fits the accessory shoe on the Match-Matic and is a good choice. The sum of the setting on the shutter speed dial and the setting on the aperture ring should equal the exposure value given by the meter.

The Match-Matic came with a flasholder that plugged into the side of the camera. The rangefinder dial was marked with the aperture settings to use with blue type 25B flash bulbs (made by Sylvania, of course) and Kodak Kodachrome Daylight film. The shutter speed dial was marked with a flash bulb icon to remind you that flash bulbs synced with the shutter at speed "5" (1/25 second). The manual mentioned electronic flash, but as far as I know Argus did not have an electronic flash unit for the Match-Matic.

Kodak Automatic 35 (1959-1964)

The Kodak Automatic 35 (made from 1959 to 1964) was one of the last 35 mm cameras made in the USA by Eastman Kodak Company.  The Automatic 35 resembles the earlier Signet 30 and Signet 50 cameras. The film transport and exposure counter are basically the same, all three have the same f/2.8 44mm Ektanar lens, and the viewfinders are similar. The shutter and aperture diaphragm on the Automatic 35 are different from the ones on the Signets because of the auto exposure system. The camera has a selenium photocell that powers a galvanometer. The movement of the galvanometer needle is proportional to the light striking the photocell. When the photographer presses the shutter release, the aperture blades set the correct exposure by moving according to the position of the meter needle. The film speed selector works by changing the amount of light that can reach the photocell. The maximum amount of light strikes the photocell when the meter is set to 160. Slower film speed settings reduce the amount of light, reducing the sensitivity of the photocell in proportion to the sensitivity of the film. 

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The Automatic 35 has a scale focusing f/2.8-f/32 44mm Ektanar lens in a two-speed Kodak Synchro 80 shutter that runs at 1/80 for daylight pictures or 1/40 for flash pictures. The lens focuses as close as 2.5 feet. The aperture is automatically set by a selenium cell light meter on the front of the camera. The meter can be set manually for ASA film speeds from 10 to 160. The aperture also can be set manually to the appropriate exposure value setting. Kodak supplied exposure cards that give exposure value settings for their films and could be slipped into a holder on the back of the camera. The viewfinder displays a warning when the film needs to be advanced, and a warning when the aperture has been set manually. Advancing the film cocks the shutter. Film advance is by a lever on the bottom of the camera. Like many lenses of the same period the lens was made using thorium glass, and is slightly radioactive. Old selenium light meters frequently no longer work. Although can set the aperture manually, you probably want to find one with a working meter. The light meter on mine works and the camera can take a decent picture.

Byrd Lake, Crossville, Tennessee

The Automatic 35 was followed by the 35B (with more flash automation than the original Automatic 35), the 35F (with a built-in flash holder for AG-1 flashbulbs), and the 35R4 (with a flash cube socket). The first still camera to have auto exposure was the Super Kodak Six-20 of 1938. The Super was very expensive and sold poorly. The Kodak Automatic 35 has a simplified version of the Super's auto exposure system that is more reliable and a good deal less expensive, selling well with a list price of $84.50.

Argus A2F (1939-1941)

International Research Corp. produced roughly 40,000 Argus A2F cameras in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1939 through 1941. It is the same as an Argus A with the addition of an extinction light meter and a focusing lens mount. The lens is an uncoated f/4.5 anastigmat in a self setting leaf shutter on a helical focusing mount. The focusing mount would let you get as close to your subject as 15 inches. At that range you would measure the distance from the subject to the camera using a tape measure. The aperture settings are marked from f/4.5 to f/18 in geometric steps. The shutter runs from 1/25 second to 1/200 second, also in geometric steps, plus bulb and time. The shutter release is a plunger that is threaded into the shutter, instead of a lever as on the earlier Argus A. The plunger can be unscrewed and replaced with a cable release. The plungers on these cameras frequently go missing. The film was the standard 35mm size cassette that is still available today.

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On the top of the camera is an extinction meter the photographer could use to estimate exposure settings. The extinction meter has a sliding cursor and six openings backed by a strip of film having a graduated gray scale. You adjust the cursor according to the Weston speed of the film and the general light conditions. You hold the camera at arm's length and look through the extinction meter at the scene. You then slide the cursor to the darkest opening that you could clearly see and read the shutter speed and the aperture from the table and cursor. The result might be as accurate as using your photographer's eye, that is to say just guessing.

Weston film speeds were published by the Weston Electrical Instrument Company for use with their photoelectric exposure meters. The Argus has film speed settings from 12 to 72. Weston 12 speed is about the same as ISO 15 speed and Weston 72 speed is about ISO 90 speed, which were typical of film speeds when the camera was new. Eventually extinction meters were superseded by the photoelectric light meters made by Weston and other manufacturers.  Photographers started to use ASA speeds instead of Weston speeds about 1948.