by Karen Nakamura
(source: http://www.bouletfermat.com/backgrounds/)
I bought this camera at an antique show in Ithaca, NY for about $25 in 1994. It's quite common, I've seen them range from $5 to $40 depending on the condition. Kodak must have sold a boat load of them.
Unfortunately the A130 film is no longer available. It's also a bit wider than the commonly available 120 medium format film. There's a company that respools and cuts 130 film, but I misplaced their contact address.
The Autographic series cameras had a little window on the back which you could flip open and write a small comment ("Hiroko's Wedding 1923/10/11"). Thus you could keep a record of what and when. A pre-cursor to the annoying date/time stamp on point-and-shoot cameras.
The camera folds up to "pocketbook" sizes. They must have had big pocketbooks in the 20s...
Camera
Name |
2-C Autographic Kodak Junior 13458 |
|---|---|
Manufacturer |
Kodak |
Place
of Manufacture |
Rochester, NY? |
Date
of Manufacture |
1913~1920s? |
Focusing
System |
Zone focusing with bellows |
Lens |
Kodak Anastigmat f/7.7 No 453xx |
Shutter |
1/25, 1/50, 1/100 Kodak Ball Bearing Shutter Shutter w/ T and B Patented in the U.S.A. Jan 18, 1910 Jan 7, 1913 |
Metering
System |
n/a |
Apertures |
f/7.7 11 16 22 32 45 |
Flash |
Hah! |
Film
type / speeds |
A130 |
Battery
type |
n/a |
Dimensions
and weight |
1.75" x 4.375" x 8.75" (44mm x 111mm x 222mm) - folded dimensions 34 oz (963 grams) |
Retail
price |
Let me get something straight: Kodak was never about high quality photography. George Eastman wanted to make photography available for the masses, to put a camera in every hand. Previously, photography was a messy, icky affair with wet chemistry glass plates that had to be coated before each exposure and processed immediately in a darkroom tent. You literally needed your own pack mule to take photos anywhere.
Kodak developed the technique of putting film emulsion onto a thin flexible backing and thus developed the first roll film. Kodak also gave us the numbering system (Type 135 for 35mm film; Type120/220 for medium format roll film, etc.). Originally, 35mm film was designed solely for motion picture usage. It was Oscar Barnack's brilliant idea to use it for still photography that led to the Leica, and the development of 35mm miniature cameras.
Despite the fact that I'm a technical snob and wouldn't use (or touch!) any Kodak camera except a Nagel-type Retina and a film snob so the only Kodak film I use is Tri-X (I'm Fuji Film all the way otherwise), I do have to credit Kodak (and Leica) with making photography available to everyone. Otherwise, we'd all still be hauling heavy glass plate cameras around on our pack mules. If you think your SUV gets bad mileage! ...