Cameras made in the United States
This is a Bolsey B2 35mm fixed lens rangefinder camera made by the Bolsey Corporation of America between the years of 1949 – 1956. The B2 is a very compact and lightweight die-cast aluminum bodied camera that features a lens and shutter both made by Wollensak, out of Rochester, NY.…
This is a Clarus MS-35 camera made by the Clarus Camera Manufacturing Co. based out of Minneapolis, MN. This was the first and only camera made by Clarus and was sold between the years of 1946 and 1952. The Clarus MS-35 was an ambitious 35mm rangefinder that bore a striking…
When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth… This is a followup to an earlier post I spontaneously wrote back in August called “The Cameras of the Dead”. In that article, I applied a tongue in cheek analogy to George Romero’s 1968 classic “The Night of…
What is it? This is a No. 2 Brownie Model D box camera, made by the Eastman-Kodak company around 1914. The name “Brownie” has been used by Kodak on a huge variety of inexpensive cameras starting with the very first model in 1900, all the way to Bakelite bodied cameras…
What is it? These are two different variants of the No. 1 Panoram- Kodak. The model on the left is the Model D, and the one on the right is an earlier version, simply called the No. 1 Panoram-Kodak. Both cameras were designed for 105 format roll film, and took…
…they’re coming to get you, Barbara… George Romero’s 1968 film, “The Night of the Living Dead” is a movie almost anyone with an interest in cinema is familiar with. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of horror or not, most everyone has at least heard of this groundbreaking low-budget…
What is it? This is a Univex Mercury Model CC camera made by the Universal Camera Company out of New York, NY in 1938. The Mercury was a historically significant camera in that it was the first time a US camera maker produced a camera capable of speeds of 1/1000…
This the Bell & Howell Electric Eye 127 camera made in the United States around 1958. As the name implies, it uses 127 roll film and takes twelve 4cm x 4cm exposures. Although a simple box camera with a fixed focus, a single speed shutter, and very little manual control,…
What is it? This is a Kodak Monitor Six-20 folding camera made in the USA by the Eastman-Kodak company. This was one of the last medium format folding cameras made by Kodak, and is loaded with features including a 9-speed shutter and well built lens. It is the spiritual successor to the…
What is it? This is an Argoflex EF twin lens reflex camera made by Argus, which was based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. This Argoflex is the same as the Argoflex EM, except it has a flash synchronized shutter and a flash hotshoe on the side of the camera. The…
What is it? This is a Kodak Signet 35 rangefinder camera made by the Eastman Kodak company out of Rochester, NY, USA. This was the first in a line of several Signet models that would be sold in the 1950s and 60s. It replaced the Kodak 35 rangefinder camera which was…
What is it? Both of these cameras are called the Kodak 35. At first glance, they don’t look much alike, but in reality they are examples of the same model, one from early in it’s life, and the other from near the end. The Kodak 35 was Kodak’s first US…
