Kodak Retina, some more

Some more samples with this fine camera

It is small yet heavy and cumbersome but the photos are excellent, and the lens at f/2 is fast too.

Kodak Retinette Ib, another try

This time I fixed the focus problem and gave the camera another try 

The camera is very silent

I used a Kodak Colorplus 200 film

Here are some samples

Converted to BW

At night with the B setting

A contre jour and a close-up

Sunny day...

Kodak Retina II, a precise instrument

The Kodak Retina II is a precise instrument, it has all the settings for a photograph. Plenty of shutter speeds, a fast f2 aperture and a range finder for accurate focus. It is foldable and small, yet sturdy and heavy.

 

However  the controls are tiny and difficult to pose the fingers at, so picture taking becomes slow. But the quality of the pictures is top notch. The camera takes very sharp pictures with a smooth bokeh.

Here are some samples with a Kodak Colorplus 200 ASA film.

 

 

 

These were converted to BW

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Kodak Instamatic 155X, more with 35mm film

Instamatics are fun to use. No focusing is needed, there is only a sunny/cloudy setting, they are small and light, and the 35mm film with its sprocket holes adds a bit to the photo.

Here are some more photos, the negative was rephotographed and converted to Lightroom.

A graffiti of an old town

 Hot dog stand

 

Lawn

 A tavern with live music

 

At the port

 Onboard the ship

 Ferry, converted to B/W

Kodak Retinas

A high quality camera of the 40s from Kodak Germany. Small, foldable all manual sturdy cameras.
They have a broad range of shutter speeds, from 1/500th sec to 1sec, plus B.

The Kodak Retina Ia is focusing with a distance scale, and has a Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm f3.5 lens

The Retina II is a more capable model, has a rangefinder and a better Rodenstock Heliar 50mm f2 lens.

The Retina Ia has a faulty advance - shutter cocking mechanism that I must repair. I repaired the stuck helicoid but the advance lever needs some extra care...

The Retina II was found in an excellent condition. I took some pictures with the II and the results were very good.

Kodak Instamatic 155X with 35mm film

Instamatic cameras take the 126 film format which is discontinued. I opened an empty 126 cartridge and rolled some 35mm film with the backing paper.

The 155X camera has only two settings, sunny and cloudy, so good light is required.
The film is advanced with a special procedure. Pressing the shutter button advance the lever one or two times, release the shutter button, then advance the lever a bit more until the shutter is cocked.
I found out that the two and half frame advance leaves a lot of blank space, one and a half advance is about right, sometimes too tight. You can always check the frame numbers on the backing paper.

The results