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.

Front, Folded

Back

Top

Bottom

Film Chamber

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.

Front

Rear

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.

Front

Segway into the Bicentennial Mall

Tri-X 400