Testing a German-Made 35mm Viewfinder Camera from Kodak
Long, long, ago, amateur photographers had to use judgement to pick the appropriate film, set their camera's
shutter speed and aperture, and manually focus on their subject. Have
you heard of rangefinder cameras? Well, the Kodak Retinette 1A is a
range guesser camera. With the Kodak Retinette 1A, you focus by manually
setting the range to your subject. If you can guess the range between
the lens and your subject, then you are rewarded with a delightful
photograph. When you guess right, this antique 35mm camera is a blast!
 |
| Kodak Retinette 1A (Typ 035) |
I picked up my Kodak Retinette 1A (Typ 035) on ebay for about $4. When
it arrived, I was amazed by its quality, heft, and the solid
construction. I also appreciated the Kodak tradition as this vintage
35mm film camera has a Schneider-Kreuznach lens much like the one on my
modern Kodak Z950 digital camera
.
The Retinette 1A has a high quality f:3.5/50mm Schneider-Kreuznach
Reomar lens. According to camerapedia.com, the Typ 35 Kodak Retinette 1A
was produced sometime between 1959 and 1961 and has a "Pronto" shutter.
Over the years, other Retinette 1A cameras have been equipped with
Vero, Prontor, or Kodak Angen shutters.
Part of the charm of
vintage 35mm cameras is figuring out the placement of the cameras
controls. On my Retinette 1A, there are several controls on the lens
assembly. The focus range is set by twisting the outermost ring right on
the lens. The shutter speed can be set for 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 or B
(for manual long time exposures) by aligning a red hashmark on the next
ring in with the desired shutter speed. The shutter aperture can be set
by pressing a button and twisting a final ring closer to the camera
body to an aperture of 3.5/4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, or 22. The higher numbers
correspond to a smaller shutter opening. A red lever beneath the lens
assembly is a 10-second self-timer to allow the photographer to move in
front of the camera and get in the shot.
On the camera body, the
Kodak Retinette 1A has a cold shoe for a flash, a film counter knob (to
let you know how many pictures you have left), and a film indicator
knob that lets you set the camera for artificial light color, outdoor
light color, or black and white photography. A small circular viewfinder
window lets you see a remarkably clear square viewfinder with a
hashmark on each side at the top that is to be used with your subject is
very close. The film is advanced via a lever on the bottom right-hand
side of the camera and the picture is taken by pressing a button on the
top of the camera. A button on the bottom of the camera opens the back
for loading film. On the bottom left hand side of the camera a knob
screws in to secure the Kodak Retinette 1A to its leather camera case
and also has standard recessed threads to accept my Targus monopod and various tripods.
In practical use, I find the controls on this antique film camera
straight forward and easy to use. Obviously, a vintage film camera is a
lot different from a fully automated modern film camera like my Canon SureShot Z135.
As a beginning photographer, I am still feeling my way in terms of
shutter speeds and aperture settings. But, I have seen many references
to a "Sunny 16" rule. On bright sunny days a shutter of f/16 can be used
and a shutter speed of 1/250th or 1/125th of a second seems to work
well. There are a number of film exposure guides on the web that can be
used to guide your decision making. In general, brighter lighting
requires a smaller aperture and thus a higher aperture number. When I
handhold the camera, I sometimes get blurry pictures if I use a longer
exposure time of 1/60th or 1/30th of a second. The self-timer is scarily
slow and is probably unreliable on a 50-year-old vintage camera. Some
photographers have had the self-timer fail and require camera repairs. I
would recommend not using it.
Overall, I highly recommend the
Kodak Retinette 1A for anyone interested in taking pictures with an
antique 35mm camera. This antique Kodak camera is capable of taking
wonderful pictures. You'll get a great feeling of accomplishment when
you succeed in taking great pictures with it.
Sources:
Camerapedia.com
Kodak Retinette 1A Camera Manual, Eastman Kodak Company
