The Unobtainables.

While not entirely unobtainable, some American 35 mm cameras are very rare and expensive - too rare and expensive for me.

1. The Kodak Ektra Camera by Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY. In the late '30s, Eastman Kodak Company set out to make a system camera of the same class as the Zeiss Ikon Contax or the Ernst Leitz Leica. The result was the Kodak Ektra Camera, which had the misfortune to come out in late 1941, just before civilian camera production was stopped because of WWII. Kodak did not revive production after the war because the selling price would have to have been more than the market could bear in order to cover the cost of making the camera. Roughly 2,500 cameras were made with an original list price of $325.00, which had a buying power of about $5,400 depreciated 2020 dollars. Examples appear on eBay occasionally for more than $2,000. Kodak Ektra on Flickr by Benjamin C.

2. The Bell & Howell Foton by Bell & Howell Company, Chicago, IL. Bell and Howell decided after WWII to bring out an expensive system camera that was a market failure because of the price. The original list price in 1948 was $700, which had a buying power of about $7,700 depreciated 2020 dollars. Leitz and Zeiss could sell excellent cameras for half the price and the Foton did not sell well. Bell & Howell Foton on Flickr by John Bosko.

3. The Kardon camera by Premier Instrument Corporation, New York, NY. Premier Instrument Corporation won from the U.S. Army Signal Corps a contract to make a U.S. version of the Leica IIIa, but the end of the war reduced the Army's requirement for new cameras and the civilian version did not sell well. The list price for the civilian version in 1950 was $262.50 exclusive of the 25% federal excise tax, or $328 with tax, which would be about $3,300 in 2020 dollars. Examples appear on eBay for over $2,000. Eastman Kodak Company made the standard lens for the Kardon and put the same lens on one version of the Retina II made by Kodak AG in Germany in the immediate post-WWII period. Kardon Camera on Flickr by Christopher Chen

4. The Detrola 400 by Detrola Corporation, Detroit, MI. Detrola was making radios and 127 format cameras in the '30s when it decided to produce a 35 mm camera in imitation of the Candid Camera Corporation of America's Perfex line. The advertised price in 1940 was $69.50. The product was unsuccessful and only about 800 were made. Detrola 400 on Flickr by Rick Oleson.

5. The Zephyr Candid Camera by Photographic Industries of America, New York, NY. Supposedly made in 1938. I've seen only a copy of advertising art. Advertisement on Flickr by sunivroc