Vintage Film Camera

[tillypig]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Overrank]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Looks like a Retina I type 013 ( https://retinarescue.com/retina1type013.html )

Chris Sherlock’s pages are a good source of Retina information ( https://retinarescue.com )

 

[tillypig]

Thank you for the links

 

[Gesture]

Have fun with it.

From the mind of August Nagel!

 

[Tomm111]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film. Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

 

[Overrank]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film.

The last ones were the S1 and S2, which were much simpler that the other Retinas If you want to know what a 1970s high end Instamatic is like without the 126 film get a S2. I’ve had somewhere around 20 Retinas over the years Most I’ve got rid of, apart from the 1a which is a bit more modern than the 013 (it has a wind lever). Really nice pocket sized camera
The Retina Reflexes are very heavy and clunky to use - the Instamatic Reflex could use Retina lenses, but I’m not sure it’s a “proper” Retina. The Kodak Instamatic 500 is probably the closest to a Retina Instamatic - probably one of the best two or three Instamatics made (Minolta Autopak 700 is another exceptional one)

Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

Chris Sherlock has some Retina servicing videos on YouTube which might be worth a look

 

[mamallama]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film. Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

Aren't the bellows made of rubberized fabric?

 

[Overrank]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film. Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

Aren't the bellows made of rubberized fabric?

I think they’re leather. I’ve never had a problem with bellows on any of mine. There’s a list of common problems here https://retinarescue.com/kodakretinarepair.html

 

[mamallama]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film. Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

Aren't the bellows made of rubberized fabric?

I think they’re leather. I’ve never had a problem with bellows on any of mine. There’s a list of common problems here https://retinarescue.com/kodakretinarepair.html

Even if leather, I suspect over time it could harden and develop light leaks with the constant flexing.

 

[Overrank]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

Check to see if the shutter is working, the lens is excellent for the age, it was Kodak's answer to the Leica, made by Kodak Germany. No wind lever, just a knob you have to turn. Guess omatic focusing, later models had a rangefinder, and a lever wind. They kept the leaf shutter into an SLR series, ending with one that took instamatic 126 film. Later models were complex to repair, but this one looks fairly easy, only thing that can go wrong is the shutter.

Aren't the bellows made of rubberized fabric?

I think they’re leather. I’ve never had a problem with bellows on any of mine. There’s a list of common problems here https://retinarescue.com/kodakretinarepair.html

Even if leather, I suspect over time it could harden and develop light leaks with the constant flexing.

I suppose that could be a problem, but the pre-WWII type 149 and 142 I used to own didn’t suffer from it. I currently have an Agfa Standard 254 that takes 6x9 on 120 film and that has bigger bellows with no light leaks. I doubt many of the surviving cameras were heavily used

 

[Tomm111]

The camera I learned photography on was a Retina Relfex III, had a friend with a Leica who was always dumping on it. It was a solid camera unfortunately its life ended with a dorm fire, water damage. I replace it with a Nikkormat FS, no meter. My father liked the camera and bought the 126 Retina Reflex with a 28mm lens. It wasn't until college that I found out about the rangefinder Retinas, they were very interesting, but I also discovered Leica so.... I do use the 28 with my Leicas, and I have used the 50 on my Leica CL, nice lenses.

The one here looks like the original Retina, f3.5 lens. It also reminds me of my grandmother's Kodak Pony that looked a lot like this but had a cheap lens and was plastic.

 

[eggyolk]

The retinas are nothing like the pony, they're similar in quality to liecas. The lens is just as good as a coated elmar.

(I have a lot of retina IIc's, I've never had one with bellows problems.)

 

[Tomm111]

The retinas are nothing like the pony, they're similar in quality to liecas. The lens is just as good as a coated elmar.

(I have a lot of retina IIc's, I've never had one with bellows problems.)

This Retina just has a superficial resemblance to the Pony, a plastic camera with a marginal lens. Read my previous response to this thread, I agree post World War II Kodak tried to compete with the German camera makers with the Retina and their large format lenses. Then the bean counters took over.

 

[Overrank]

Hi all~ Just joined this minute. I bought a camera bag full of vintage bits and pieces, didn't really look closely as it was only $4. Once I got home and started unpacking, I came across a Kodak Retina 50m Fold up camera! I have researched, but am not finding what I really need to know. It does not have an Advance lever on it, rather it has a dial, and a R&A little switch( I am assuming Reverse and Advance>). Any information would surely be appreciated! Thank you.

I’m checking this off on a Retina 010 which is pretty close to yours

to load film pull the tab on the LHS and the back should open normally. Pull the rewind lever up to load the film cartridge and the feed as normal on the take up spool

wind on the film using the right hand knob. It should stop at the next frame Set the shutter speed using the rim of the lens and then pull down the shutter cocking lever - to the RHSof the lens when looking at the lens. Set the aperture with the lever. The shutter release is on top of the camera.
At the end of the film move the lever to R and you should be able to rewind using the knob on the LHS. Both knobs turn in the direction of the arrows.

the disc on top of the camera is the film counter - you need to reset it yourself If it has an arrow on it only turn it in that direction, they break quite easily

please ask if you need any more information

 

[Overrank]

The retinas are nothing like the pony, they're similar in quality to liecas. The lens is just as good as a coated elmar.

(I have a lot of retina IIc's, I've never had one with bellows problems.)

This Retina just has a superficial resemblance to the Pony, a plastic camera with a marginal lens. Read my previous response to this thread, I agree post World War II Kodak tried to compete with the German camera makers with the Retina and their large format lenses. Then the bean counters took over.

The Retinas were made in Germany. Some have Ektar lenses - the real Ektars have a Kodak designation, normally two letters and a number. The Schneider lenses rebadged as Ektars have just a number.

 

[Tomm111]

That is how Kodak tried to compete, go to the source and have a German company, was never sure who, Kodak itself or some one else, make the cameras. I have never heard of a Retina having an Ektar lens, doesn't mean they don't exist but must be rare. Every one I have seen has been a Schneider Xenar or Xenon. The one on the original post was the first one I have seen with an f3.5 lens, but the f3.5 Elmars were on Leicas at this time so why not. Most of the Retinas I have seen have had a rangefinder and f2.8 or f2 lenses. Sadest thing I have seen with Retinas is my nephew bought a late model rangefinder at a flea market, had the interchangeable front element, then accidently dropped a beer on it.

 

[Gesture]

Nagel Kamerworks.

One of the great names in optico-mechanical photography.

 

[Overrank]

That is how Kodak tried to compete, go to the source and have a German company, was never sure who, Kodak itself or some one else, make the cameras. I have never heard of a Retina having an Ektar lens, doesn't mean they don't exist but must be rare. Every one I have seen has been a Schneider Xenar or Xenon. The one on the original post was the first one I have seen with an f3.5 lens, but the f3.5 Elmars were on Leicas at this time so why not. Most of the Retinas I have seen have had a rangefinder and f2.8 or f2 lenses. Sadest thing I have seen with Retinas is my nephew bought a late model rangefinder at a flea market, had the interchangeable front element, then accidently dropped a beer on it.

The Retinas were made by Kodak AG Dr. Nagel Werk (according to Wikipedia) - the older ones tend to have the slower lenses. The US Ektars are postwar (mine is 1946), there are Kodak-Anastigmat Ektars which have the long numbers, the US ones have a Kodak Camerosity code ( https://resources.kodak.com/support/pdf/en/manuals/slideProj/DecodingTheCamerosityCode.pdf )

Kodak made lots of other cameras outside the US, for example the Kodak Instamatic 25 which was made by Kodak UK and Kodak Spain. The Instamatic 500 was made by Kodak AG, Germany, as was the Instamatic Reflex.

The authority on the Retina is probably David Jentz who has written a number of books on the subject https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9007562-the-anatomy-of-the-kodak-retina

 

[Gone for Good]

Mechanical masterpiece. It would cost $ 12,000 to make this now.

 

[Overrank]

Mechanical masterpiece. It would cost $ 12,000 to make this now.

It cost over £66k to make some plastic film gates for copying ( https://pixl-latr.com/our-story/ ) so I don’t doubt it. Of course the second one would be cheaper