Kodak 1a manual

One thing that is missing in the manual for the No. I used Ilford HP5 Plus which is a speed film. In hindsight, Ilford Delta would have likely have been a better option, but looking at the results below, it clearly made no difference. Color film is far less forgiving, so if you wanted to shoot color in a camera like this, I would recommend something like Kodak Ektar. A speed color film would likely have been extremely over exposed.

Loading film into the No. The folding part of the camera that contains the bellows and the entire lens standard assembly are all one piece and must be separated from the camera before loading film. Separating these two parts is just a matter of sliding a lock to one side and pulling them apart, but once you have them apart, you have to tuck both the supply and takeup spools into these tight compartments in the film back.

You can see this in the section above where I talk about using film. If I were to make a wild guess of why Kodak might have done it this way, it could possibly be that since this camera was targeted at an amateur, you cannot physically put the camera back together until the film is properly loaded. Maybe they thought that by using this design, it would prevent film loading mistakes, even if it made it harder to do.

Assuming they were slow, you should make every effort to stabilize the camera when shooting it. Use a tripod whenever possible, and if you are in situation where that is not possible, lean up against a post or something to help stabilize yourself or else you risk motion blur in your images.

The viewfinder on this camera is a simple device called a brilliant finder. It is simply a piece of mirror and 2 pieces of glass angled in a way that it approximates what will be captured by the lens when you take a photo.

Composing your images in the viewfinder can be a bit tricky as many of these brilliant viewfinders have become cloudy or in some cases, unusable over time as the reflective layer of the mirror peels away. Even if your viewfinder is cloudy, you should still be able to get a general idea of the generation direction your camera is pointed by aligning the surface of the side of the camera towards what you are pointing the camera at.

If this is your first time using your camera, I strongly recommend sticking to landscapes or at the very least, objects no closer than 25 feet away. Once you get a better feel for how your camera works, and how to compose an image, you can try shooting things closer.

Despite the age of the No. There is a threaded socket for a shutter release cable which can help when stabilizing the camera.

If you are brave and wanted to take Bulb or Timed exposures, a shutter release is a requirement as the camera has no slow speeds. Focusing the camera was probably my least favorite part of using the No. Some higher end folding cameras like the Kodak No. This type of focus rack would have been considered a premium feature available on the most expensive cameras of the day.

Models like the No. On this camera, there is a worm gear that rotates, pushing and pulling a pin which is connected to the lens standard. On the image to the right, the worm gear is in the upper left corner of the image. This pin can easily fall out of position, jamming the focus of the camera. I find it interesting that the focus scale goes to feet instead of infinity. Also, the scale is in both meters and feet.

Either this model was also sold in Europe, or Kodak was being optimistic about the adoption of the metric system in the United States. Patience is a virtue when shooting these old cameras. Take your time when selecting a shutter speed, aperture size, focusing, and composing your image. Remember that part of the appeal of using these old cameras is in the process.

I sent my first rolls of film from the No. They had come highly recommended on a couple of sites and I figured I would use them. The cool thing about The Darkroom is that once they scan your images, they put them on their website for you to view before the film is sent back to you. When I first got them, I was amazed at how good they looked from such an old and primitive camera. I was proud of myself for taking on such a challenge and getting some really nice shots. Now, with over 2 years of experience shooting antique and vintage film cameras, I think I am even more amazed at the results I got as I am more aware of the challenges I unknowingly was facing.

For one, I did little to protect the film from light leaks. Not only did I not mess up loading the film, but there were absolutely no light leaks anywhere on these images. Knowing what I know now, I was using film that was likely 3 to 4 stops too fast for this camera. This is where the extreme latitude of black and white film really benefited me.

I think that had I tried these first rolls using color or slide film, my results would not have looked quite so nice. There is some motion blur in the shot of the car as I remember hand holding that one.

When you consider that film cameras like this often made contact prints that were no larger than the exposed negative, you would not have had the benefit of dpi scanners to see every minute detail of the film emulsion. Despite my unfamiliarity of using such an old camera, looking back at these shots, I am still amazed as how nice everything turned out.

While there certainly were cheaper cameras back then, Kodak clearly had the novice in mind, and it shows. My only regret is letting this camera sit on the shelf as long as I have. Now that I have some real film, and I have more experience using these old cameras, I definitely see another roll going through it soon.

Once I have those results, I will be sure to update this review. Good Morning, I have recently been given my Grandfathers No. I am not to familiar with this camera. I was wondering if you could help me.

Under the kickstand it has a number beautifully engraved. I was wondering if this had any meaning or if it was simply a personal number engraved after the purchase of the camera. Trish, how fortunate to be given such a wonderful camera that belonged to your grandfather.

As for that number, mine has it too. I have always assumed this was a serial number, but I have never found any sort of chart confirming this, or if this can help date the camera. Mine is , so if yours is close, then perhaps our two were made around the same time! Good luck with the camera. Hopefully my article has given you more information about it, and possibly even encouraged you to give it a try! As a graphic designer I was initially trying to find the old patents for a couple of cameras I was given recently and came upon this site.

I just finished perusing this review and was thrilled to have come upon it! Kudos to you for actually using film and taking shots with this old relic! I was given this similar model camera, the NO. The aperature settings are 1, 2, 3, and 4. The shutter settings are T, B, 25, and It used A film, although the stylus is now missing.

The bellows are in good shape, although when the body of the camera is removed, a look down the expanded bellows through to the lens reveals a dozen or so tiny pinholes where the bellows has failed. The NO. I wish there was a way to tell which camera took which photographs. The value of the cameras monetarily means nothing to me, but the people that held them in their hands mean the world!

I doubt I will ever actually use either camera for shooting, but was thrilled to come upon this site with such informative dialogue. What a trip to read the basics and see the mechanics of photography ring roughly true today.

Such fun! I just wanted to thank you for sharing your hobby with the rest of the Interweb. I am eternally grateful for the information available for all.

So thank you, thank you and may you be blessed with many years exploring old cameras! Pamela, did you ever find the patent numbers that you were looking for? If yes, would you be willing to point me in the right direction? I have a 1a with a little plack on the top edge from what I can tell the company that originally purchased the camera much have put it there.

Company name and everything. Any thoughts? We have a No. Not sure if this is a part number, or serial number, or what. Camera has threaded screw for adjustment of the travel limit for the bellows expansion, and on the other side of the guide track for the bellows is a scale of the focus distance, labeled in parallel with values in feet markings from 6 to and meters 2 to There is a metal object that looks like a stylus in a clip on the frame holding the front lens.

There is an apparent serial number on the kickstand: Presumably the camera was made in or earlier. Anyway, the camera appears to be in pristing condition. The exterior looks like new — no rub marks or dings. The camera has been stored for decades in the original two-box packaging. The iner box looks very well preserved, but the outer box is more worn. We are getting old and need to make decisions of what stuff to still keep and what to pass along to strangers. I see no interest in the next generation of our family.

It seems to me that there should be some continuing value in such a nice unit, but I have no sense of what to ask. I have a roll of 1A autographic roll of film. Its not in origonal box but it still has the patented seal on the film.

It is labled 1A FPK Does this hold any value. Not really. Hi Mike. It seems that Kodak made various stylus sizes, the smallest being the one shipped with Vest Pocket cameras. Would you be able to tell the length of your own stylus coming with your camera?

Hello Mike. Years ago, a british ebayer sold me an italian folding camera kept into a pocket kodak 1a series II leather case. Do you have more info about the year it was produced? Thank you for your nice article! Roberto, congratulations on the pickup! Unfortunately, Kodak was never one to keep good records of production numbers for their models.

You can generally find a range of dates when a particular model was made, but narrowing it down to a specific year is often impossible. As a general rule, if its a Kodak camera that uses or , but not or , then you know it was made prior to If it uses autographic film has the little door on the back then it was made after Red bellows Kodaks usually were made prior to Well my journey was similar in many ways. This model was not the jump-off point point but it was close.

I had started in with a already 8 year old SLR in around but I was developing my own film and frankly the camera bug.. My father who had been a photo hobbyist until too many children and career took overs was winding down and my interest and his help coalesced. The neighbor boys in the early teens mentioned their parents had an old camera and they frought it to me. Well maybe not intentionally, but I never gave it back.

It was this very model featured here. I played with it without film and saw no reason to doubt…but no film. I wrote a letter to Kodak to complain. And they sent back a very bad mimieographed list of discontinued films.

I got the idea so many had written that this now SOP in a pre-internet world. The mimeographed page showed how long some of their films were in production. I found some out of date Kodacolor? CN film. I still have the prints. A little shabby but demonstrated it worked. LAter on still I tried to adapt some film.

My Idea was to use some wooden golf tees at both ends. I did aquire more old cameras. In htose years I married had children and moved overseas. I now live Germany and have way tooooo many cameras.

With all the new info the Internet opened up for us I came back to this a few years ago. The wooden golf tees were still inside haha. So I had to bastardize this.. Luckily the screwed up ones just do the spacer duty.

I ended up shooting four rolls between the two cameras. The 1A was leaking mostly from the ruby window and while the bellows looked very good, somewhere light was getting in. The Jiffy was a disaster to say the least the bellows qwere more like a sieve. After playing with the liquid electrical tape.. Though I just read these models were geared to the ambitious amateur I would like to know more about the lens construction. Needless to say, as you waxed on about your beginning.. I never have the lost the fascination of using these old cameras and the magic of the silver process.

Good Light. Chuck, thanks for sharing your story. I will admit, I do miss the smell of those purple mimeographs that predated toner based copiers. I recently came across it again and wanted to take a look to learn more about it—I was really grateful to you for all the great info on it. Unfortunately, when I opened the camera, the bellows just disintegrated.

Do you know how to find the correct bellows? Any thoughts on where I might find a diagram? Thanks for any help you might be able to offer. Mike, thanks for the compliments, I am happy you found my article useful. Sadly, I will not be of any help in your journey of replacing bellows.

As a shot in the dark, perhaps you could reach out to Jurgen Kreckel from certo6. Good luck and if you ever find out more information, please pass it along, in case someone else asks!

I have this camera— No. I had no idea people could still use it! Any advice on this issue? Great job on your site. There is no release for extending the bellows. Just keep working at it and see if you can clean anything out using toothpicks and it should work. Hello sir, I really appreciate the information about this camera. I have recently purchased a Kodak 1A folding camera myself.

MY first exposure to old cameras, no pun intended was when I was about 12 yrs old. I was always interested in anything old. So old cameras naturally were right up my alley. Along with lots of other stuff including old typewriters. I am very happy to hear you can still get film for these cameras. I bought most of them for 2 or 3 dollars. These cameras are beautiful pieces of design and art. This is a very popular model with users as the camera is very compact, and the top-mounted film advance is convenient in use.

Kodak Retina Ia users guide. German-market Kodak Retina Ia brochure. Search the internet Search this site. It's amazing what turns up Repair service About me Cameras etc.