What is it? This is a Kodak Retina Ib – Type 018 camera built by Kodak AG, the German subsidiary of the Eastman Kodak Company between the years of 1954 and 1957. It was the successor to the earlier Retina Ia – Type 015 and was sold simultaneously with the Retinas…
What is it? This is a Photavit IV 35mm camera made by Photavit-Werk GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany starting in 1947. The Photavit IV shoots 24mm x 24mm square images on regular 35mm film stock, but it requires the use of proprietary Photavit film cassettes to maintain it’s extremely small size. Before the…
What is it? This is a Kodak Vollenda 48, a folding camera that shoots 3cm x 4cm images on 127 film. It was originally made by Nagel Kamera-Werke and later by Kodak AG in Stuttgart, Germany between the years of 1929 and 1937. The Vollenda was one of Dr. August…
This is a Kowa SET-R single lens reflex 35mm camera made by Kowa Optical Works between the years of 1968 and 1970. It was the third to last model in a series of leaf shutter SLRs made by Kowa, starting with the Kowaflex from 1959. The SET-R was the first…
What is it? This is a Praktina FX 35mm single lens reflex camera made by Kamera-Werke Niedersedlitz (KW) between the years of 1953 and 1958. The Prakina and all of its variants are historically significant cameras, being the first modern 35mm SLR camera aimed at the professional photographer. It had…
What is it? This is an Altissa Altix-nb 35mm camera made between 1958 and 1960 by VEB Altissa Camera Werk in Dresden, East Germany. The Altix-nb was the final model in a line of scale focus solid bodied cameras that began with the Altix I in 1939. The Altix-nb had an…
The horror genre is known for movie franchises with many sequels, remakes, and reboots. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, original horror movies would often spawn a whole series of sequels, mostly upping the ante on the thrills, spills, and chills of the original. Sometimes the sequels continued the story…
What is it? This is a Brownie Starmatic made by the Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, NY between the years of 1959 and 1963. It was the first Brownie camera to have both an exposure meter and automatic exposure. It is a simple, mostly plastic camera that used 127 roll…
What is it? This is a Chinon CE-4 35mm SLR made by Chinon Industries Inc starting in 1980. It was Chinon’s first SLR using the Pentax K-mount, after they abandoned the M42 screw mount. The CE-4 was quickly upgraded to the CE-4s model which revised the shutter speeds and meter…
What is it? This is an AGFA Parat I, a 35mm half frame camera made in West Germany between the years of 1963 and 1968. The Parat I was the most basic model in AGFAs Parat lineup of half frame cameras, which also consisted of the Paramat and Optima Parat…
What is it? This is a Minolta A, a 35mm rangefinder made by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko starting in 1955. It was Minolta’s first attempt at an entry level 35mm rangefinder aimed at the amateur market. Despite it’s stance as an entry level camera, it had modern features like a 4-element…
What is it? This is a Certo Doppel Box made by Certo Camera Werk of Dresden Germany around 1935. Some sources online suggest this camera was made in 1932, but I believe the later date to be correct. The Doppel Box is an all metal box camera with several unique…
