Zeiss Ikon Contaflex I (1953-1958)

The post-WWII Contaflex was Zeiss Ikon's single lens reflex camera for amateur photographers. This Contaflex I was made in the mid-'50s at the Zeiss Ikon camera factory in Stuttgart, West Germany.

Front

Back

Bottom

Interior

The camera body is made from a light metal alloy and has chrome and black leather trim. This camera has a non-interchangeable, Carl Zeiss Tessar f/2.8 45 mm lens in a Synchro Compur leaf shutter. The lens is a front cell focusing design. The distance scale on my camera is marked in feet for the export market. The focusing screen has a split prism focusing aid. The camera body has a removable back for loading film, like the back on the Contax, and a removable film take up spool. Spools and cassettes made for the Contax also will fit the Contaflex. If your take up spool is missing you can tape the film to the spool from a regular 35 mm film cassette. The camera has knob wind film advance. The reflex mirror is not instant return. After you take a picture the view finder is blacked out until you advance the film, which lowers the mirror and opens the shutter for focusing and aiming the camera. Advancing the film also cocks the shutter for the next picture.

Argus Model K (1939-1940)

According to advertising copy, the Argus Model K was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre, but in reality may have been made simply to use up parts for the abortive Model D. The Model D was going to be a spring motor drive, automatic film advance camera like the made-in-Germany Berning Robot, but Argus did not manage to get beyond the prototype stage. The list price of the model K in 1939 was $19.50 (about $365 in depreciated 2020 dollars). The Model K is uncommon; only about 1,800 were made.

Argus Model K and Box

Front

Back

Bottom

Top

Interior

The camera body is die cast metal with leatherette covering and chrome trim. The front of the camera has the lens, the rim-set shutter speed dial, the shutter release, the focusing dial and the windows for the viewfinder and extinction exposure meter. The back of the camera has the film advance button and the eyepieces for the viewfinder and extinction exposure meter. The latch for the film door is on the left side. The top of the camera has the film advance knob, the exposure counter and the cover for the film cartridge chamber. The bottom of the camera has the film rewind knob, the tripod socket, the aperture dial, and the shutter speed dial.

One thing that makes the Model K different is that the viewfinder is on the bottom. The photographer holds the camera against his forehead to take a picture.

The lens is an uncoated, f/4.5-11, triplet anastigmat. The shutter is a self-setting leaf shutter with speeds of 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 second plus bulb and time. The shutter has a socket for a cable release. Close focus is 3-1/2 ft. The lens and shutter are like the ones on the Argus A.

The first steps in loading film are taking off the film chamber cap, dropping the film cassette inside, and replacing the film chamber cap. Then the photographer inserts the film leader into the slot on the take-up spool and rotates the film advance knob until the film catches. The film counter is manually set and counts up from zero. To advance the film the photographer pushes the film advance button on the back of the camera, turns the film advance knob about a quarter turn, releases the film advance button, and turns the film advance knob until it stops. To rewind the film the photographer turns the rewind knob until the film is back inside the cassette. The sprocket wheel freewheels while rewinding. There isn't a rewind clutch. All of the pre-WWII Argus 35 mm cameras rewind this way. The film runs from right to left, which is opposite the way it goes in most other 35 mm cameras.

The extinction meter works by extinguishing the light visible through the meter eyepiece. The photographer turns the film speed knob on the bottom of the camera to match the value that is set on the shutter, aims the camera at the scene and adjusts the aperture dial until the center dot of light visible through the meter eyepiece just about disappears. The meter has no way to account for the sensitivity of the film, unlike the meter on the A2. Light is attenuated by strips of film attached to the film speed knob and aperture dial. The film strips have graduated densities that correspond to the control settings. The lowest densities are for f/4.5 and 1/25 second and the highest densities are for f/11 and 1/200 second.

The shutter on mine is oily and needs to be cleaned in order to work, not a job I want to do right now, and the film strip for the aperture dial on the extinction meter has come loose.

[Update] I got the shutter to run. Sample pictures to follow.

Kodak Signet 80 (1958-1962)

The Kodak Signet 80 is the last of Kodak's 35 mm cameras with the Signet name, and the only Signet with interchangeable lenses. It was made in Rochester, NY, from 1958 to 1962, and had a list price of $148.50 on introduction.

Kodak Signet 80 with 35 mm lens and auxiliary viewfinder

Back

Film Take-Up Chamber

The Signet 80 has a squared-off, metal and plastic body. The top of the camera has the light meter dial, an accessory shoe and the shutter release, which is threaded for a cable release. The front of the camera has the window for the viewfinder, the front cell for the light meter, the shutter speed dial, the latch for the interchangeable lenses, and the film counter. The right side of the camera has the film advance lever and the latch for the film door. The left side of the camera has the "Kodalite" pin and screw fittings for a flash attachment, and a PC flash sync socket. The back of the camera has the combined viewfinder-rangefinder eyepiece, the film rewind clutch and a holder for Kodak film exposure reminder cards. The bottom of the camera has the tripod socket and the film rewind crank.

The shutter is a behind-the-lens leaf shutter that runs from 1/4 second to 1/250 second plus bulb. The shutter synced with bulbs at 1/30 second and with electronic flash at any speed. As far as I know Kodak did not offer an electronic flash attachment for the Signet 80.

The Signet 80 came with an f/2.8 50 mm normal lens. You could get an f/3.5 35 mm wide angle lens and an f/4 90 mm telephoto lens. An auxiliary viewfinder was available with frame lines for the 35, 50 and 90 mm lenses. Removing the lens takes setting the lens to infinity focus, sliding the lens latch away from the lens and lifting the lens straight out. Replacing the lens takes matching the pin on the side of the lens to the notch on the lens mount, putting in the new lens and sliding the latch back toward the lens. You needed to focus from infinity to 2.5 ft. and back again to make sure the pin on the back of the lens engaged the index hole on the rangefinder coupling.

Each lens has a retaining ring for Series V drop-in filters, an exposure value scale, a shutter speed scale, an f-stop scale, a distance scale and a depth of field scale. The shutter speed scale and exposure value scales work with the built-in light meter. You can use just the f-stop scale on the bottom of the lens if wanted. All the lenses focus to 2.5 ft.

The built-in light meter is a selenium cell with a match needle dial. You set the ASA value of the film, ranging from 10 to 6400, on the inner dial and turn the outer dial until the red pointer matched the white needle. The indicated exposure value shows next to the red arrow on meter dial. For the exposure value system to work you needed to set the shutter speed ring on the lens to the same setting as the shutter speed dial. After you set the scale on the lens to the shutter speed, you set the aperture to the indicated exposure value.

The film advance is by a thumb lever on the right side of the camera. It takes two pushes on the lever to advance on frame and cock the shutter. The film counter is in a small window below the lens and counts up. The film counter resets to "E" for empty when you open the film back. You have to advance a couple of blank frames before you get to the first frame. The camera is unusual because it does not have a film take-up spool. Instead, the photographer inserts the film leader in the slot of the take-up chamber and the film simply curls inside. Loading film was problematical for a lot of amateur photographers. Customers often brought their cameras to the camera shop to have them loaded with film by the clerk. The Signet 80's "injection" system was just one of Kodak's attempts to simplify film loading, leading up to the cartridge loading Instamatic and Pocket Instamatic cameras of a few years later. The Signet 80 system may not have been entirely satisfactory because the slightly later Kodak 35 mm cameras, the Automatic 35 and Motormatic 35, use take-up spools.

The Signet 80 is a good picture taker. The viewfinder is bright and the rangefinder works well.

Clarus MS-35 (1946-1952)

During the immediate post-WWII era a number of small and not so small American manufacturers entered the market for 35 mm cameras, lingered for a while and then exited the market or closed completely. One of the small ones was Clarus Camera Manufacturing, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Clarus model MS-35 vaguely resembles the earlier Perfex cameras made by the Candid Camera Corporation of America, Chicago, Illinois, but without the slow speeds or the extinction meter of the Perfex.

Front

Back

The Clarus has a fairly heavy metal body with chrome and black "Redolite" trim. The top of the camera has the film advance knob and the exposure counter dial, the shutter release, the shutter speed dial, an accessory shoe and the film rewind knob. The camera came with a 2-inch (50 mm) lens. The accessory shoe was to hold auxiliary viewfinders for interchangeable lenses ranging from a 35 mm wide angle to a 101 mm telephoto. The front has a window for the viewfinder and two windows for the range finder. The back of the camera has separate eyepieces for the viewfinder and range finder. The bottom of the camera has a socket for a tripod. The latch for the film door is on the right side. This example has a coated Wollensak-Clarus 2-inch (50 mm) f/2.8-22 lens in a focusing mount. The close focus is 3.5 ft. The lens unscrews and could be exchanged with wide angle and telephoto lenses. These are uncommon. The focal plane shutter runs from 1/25 to 1/1000 second and has a bulb setting. The shutter speed dial rotates as the film is wound and as the shutter is released. The shutter needs to be cocked in order to set the shutter speed correctly. To rewind the film you hold in the shutter button and rotate the rewind knob clockwise. This is the only 35 mm camera I've seen that used the shutter button as the rewind clutch.

For the first year it was made the Clarus suffered from a number of design and manufacturing faults. They were eventually corrected, but the company never recovered from its initial stumble. The one I have is one of the later examples. The moving range finder mirror has come loose and the top will need to be taken off to fix it.

[Update] I cemented the moving mirror to its support, now I need to recalibrate the range finder.

Inside the Top

The moving mirror is near rhe right end of the camera as seen from the front. It is attached to a lever that is moved by the lens as it focuses. The moving mirror reflects an offset view of the subject to a stationary mirror near the shutter speed dial. When the subject is in focus the reflected view of the subject coincides with the direct view of the subject. The stationary mirror is adjustable to make the two views coincide at the correct distance. To adjust the range finder you need to focus on an object using a ground glass and a magnifying loupe at the film plane and then nudge the adjustable mirror until the reflected image and the direct image coincide.

Argus C20 (1957-58)

The Argus C20 resembles an Argus A4 (see the post for September 16, 2019) with a range finder added. The body is molded from phenolic resin. The lens is a front cell focusing f/3.5-22 44 mm Argus Cintar and the shutter is an imported AGC (Alfred Gauthier Calmbach) set and release leaf shutter with four speeds (1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200) plus bulb. The lens is coupled to a split image range finder. The film advance is by a thumb wheel with a lever you push to the right. The back comes off for loading film. The film counter is manually set to the number of pictures on the roll of film and counts down to zero. To rewind the film you press the advance lever to the left and turn the rewind knob. An Argus C3 flasholder plugs into the left side. This camera apparently was not a success, being in production only two years. It wasn't much different in capability from the long selling Argus C3.

Front

Back

Argus C44R (1958-1962)

The C44R is an updated C44 (see the post dated November 29, 2018) with a thumb lever advance instead of a knob. The thumb lever is a little faster to use and a little easier on the fingers than the knob. It takes roughly one and a half strokes to advance the film and cock the shutter. The shutters are slightly different on the two models. The shutter speeds on the older, knob-wind version of the camera are 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/300, while the shutter speeds on this newer, thumb lever advance camera are 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/300. Another change from the C44 is that you can couple a CM-2 light meter onto the shutter speed knob of the C-44R. Introduced in 1958 and discontinued in 1962, the C44R came in two versions: one with a short viewfinder housing and one with a long viewfinder housing. The advertised price was about one hundred dollars (close in buying power to a thousand of today's depreciated dollars). I do not have production numbers. The nearest equivalent camera that was made in the USA would be the Kodak Signet 80.

Front (First Version with 50 mm f/2.8 Lens)

Back (First Version)

Front (Second Version - with f/1.9 50 mm lens)

Back (Second Version)

The C44R took the same lenses as the C44.  The auxiliary turret viewfinder for the C44R was made in Lichtenstein.  Rotating the front set the field of view for a 35 mm, 50 mm or 100 mm lens.  A dial on the back could be set to the subject distance to correct for parallax/  The viewfinder fit in the flash shoe and had a socket for a flash extension.  I think this is the nicest of the Argus auxiliary viewfinders.

Argus Turret Viewfinder Front

Argus Turret Viewfinder Back

The C44R and the C33 used the same selenium cell CM-2 light meter.  You removed the trim button on the shutter speed dial and attached the light meter to couple it to the shutter speed dial.  The shutter speeds could be read where the meter attached to the shutter speed dial and the meter needle indicated the lens aperture.  The shutter speeds from 1/4 second and 1 second were in red to indicate that they were available only on the C33.  The meter could be set for film speeds from 2.5 to 1250.

CM-2 Light Meter

Kodak Retina Nr 126 (1936-1937)

Made by Kodak AG - Dr Nagel Werk in Stuttgart-Wangen, Germany, this camera is an improved model of the original scale-focusing Kodak Retina. In November 1937, when the range finder focusing Retina II came out, this model became known as the Retina I. The Kodak Anastigmat EKTAR lens was made by Jos. Schneider & Co. Optische Werke, Bad Kreuznach, Germany. The Compur-Rapid shutter was made by F. Deckel, Munich, Germany. The cameras Kodak sold in the USA have an accessory clip for the Kodak Pocket Range Finder. The list price in 1937 was $57.50, equivalent in buying power to about $1,000 depreciated 2020 dollars.

Open

Front

Rear

Top

Bottom

Interior

This Retina came with an uncoated, f/3.5-f/16, 50 mm Kodak Anastigmat EKTAR, which is a tessar type lens with four elements in three groups. "Ektar" was Kodak's trademark for their best corrected lenses, and did not necessarily designate a particular lens design. The distance scale is in feet, and the closest focusing distance is 3-1/2 feet.

The shutter has speeds of 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250 and 1/500 seconds, plus bulb and time settings, and is not synchronized for flash. The shutter release and the film advance are not interlocked, making it possible to unintentionally double expose or skip a picture.

The camera takes 35mm film in the daylight loading cassettes ("magazines" in Kodakese) that are still made today. The top of the camera has an accessory shoe for a Kodak Pocket Range Finder. You read the distance to the subject from the range finder, and then transfer the distance to the lens. Otherwise you can estimate the distance by eye and rely on depth of field for sharp focus.

Eastman Anniversary Camera 1930

In 1930, Eastman Kodak Company gave to boys and girls born in 1918 500,000 cameras in the US and 50,000 more in Canada on the 50th anniversary of the Eastman Dry Plate Company. A free roll of film came with each camera. Supposedly all were given away in about two days. The camera was a No. 2 Hawkeye model C with brown leatherette, brass trim and a gilt foil label. It took size 120 film. Compared to the No. 2 Brownie there was only a single aperture stop and no provision for making a time exposure. This example is in rough shape and the handle is missing. It came from Goodwill with a batch of other cameras.

Front

Back

Fiftieth Anniversary Seal