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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 28, 2008 2:18:06 GMT -5
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 28, 2008 6:06:21 GMT -5
Nice camera, Alex. I must say that all the cameras you pick up look to be in excellent condition.
This one's a Retina I Type 010 made only during 1946 and available only to the occupying forces through PX and similar stores, and for export. None for the German home market.
It was almost the same as the 1939 Type 149 except that it had a fully chromium plated top and plated edges round the leatherette. You've got the top model with a Xenar and Compur Rapid. Schneider lists your lens number, 1884280, as one of the numbers allocated between June 1942 (1,800,000) and September 1948 (2,000,000) so with interpolation 1946 looks about right.
There were several other 'unoffical' variations with non-standard combinations of bodies, lenses and shutters, probably made up immediately after the war from a mix of remaining pre-war parts used with bits from early post-war production. These have caused a lot of confusion among Retina collectors because Kodak didn't give them type numbers and doesn't list them.
As far as I can gather Kodak never exported these 'orphans'. The ones that have turned up seem to have been brought home to the US or the UK by returning servicemen.
PeterW
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 28, 2008 14:00:53 GMT -5
Thank you for the excellent information, Peter! I do try to stay away from cameras that need a lot of work. This one had leatherette that had lost it's black color, so I used a uni-ball(best pen for the job) and colored in the spots, then smeared it into the brown spots with my finger. The result is a perfect color match, and there is no way to tell the leather was ever worn. If anyone ever wants to do the leather trick, use ONLY a Uniball precise v5 or v7 black. Cheaper ink pens and permanent markers leave a purple residue that is noticeable. The Retina looked like this when I got it. img153.imageshack.us/img153/8238/16c01ai0.jpg |
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 28, 2008 15:01:38 GMT -5
You did an excellent touch-up job on the worn leatherette, Alex.
It seems I may have inadvertently mislead you a little about the date of your Retina. I was going by the information in Brian Coe's book, but something was niggling in the back of my mind, so I checked with Chris Sherlock in New Zealnd, an ex-Kodak techie. He says that production of the Type 010 continued in 1947 and 1948 but with a few minor changes. The later models had a focusing knob with a larger knurled head, which yours has, and the movement of the focusing knob was approximately from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock with the camera standing on its little prop stand. This change was to make focusing more convenient than when it used to operate from approximately 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock. Also, the later models had a slightly different shutter release link and a plate down by the bottom of the door where the shutter release linkage runs. Yours seems to have this too. So it may date from 1947 or 1948.
According to Chris, serial numbers for the Type 010 were from two batches, 50007 to 99795 and 150257 to 228646. I suspect, but can't say for certain, that the second batch of numbers was for 1947-1948. I also understand that the cameras officially exported to the US had the prefix EK with the serial number (possibly for Eastman Kodak??). You'll find the serial number on the inside of the back door, on the opposite end to the hinge. This may possibly help to date it more accurately.
Sorry if I caused any confusion. I was going by information from Brian Coe, ex-curator of the Kodak museum when it was at the Kodak factory in Harrow. But detailed information about immediate post-war camera production in Germany is, even now, still coming to light. Well, no-one's infallible, and Coe was obviously going on the information available ten years ago when he wrote his book.
It's even harder to pin down exact information about camera production in Eastern Germany in the immediate post-war years!
PeterW
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 28, 2008 17:18:59 GMT -5
Peter, thanks for the updated information! I will check the serial later.
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Post by camerastoomany on Apr 29, 2008 12:12:13 GMT -5
Hi all.
Do I have a problem at my end or is it that Alex isn't reducing the size of his photos sufficiently?
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 29, 2008 17:01:39 GMT -5
Hi all. Do I have a problem at my end or is it that Alex isn't reducing the size of his photos sufficiently? Thanks for the wonderful comments on the camera.  I don't like tiny pictures, you don't get a feel for the subject with tiny pictures. If you'd like, I can makes them clickable thumbnails, but I won't reduce the size of the images lower than 800x600. Here is an example of a clickable thumbnail.  It doesn't have the impact a full-size image does, but it is dandy for dial-up users. I guess I am broadband tempered, and expect everyone else to have it..  |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 29, 2008 17:52:19 GMT -5
Alex,
My Retina pictures are 640 in width. They arn't too small are they?
Try it. You'll like it.
When you make the pictures 800 reading the lines of copy becomes an annoying problem as one must move them back and forth. My eMac screen is about 16 inches diagonally. I don't know if that makes any difference.
It seems if only one picture in a thread is over 640, all the letters in that thread become oversized.
Mickey
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 29, 2008 18:10:05 GMT -5
Alex, My Retina pictures are 640 in width. They arn't too small are they? Try it. You'll like it. When you make the pictures 800 reading the lines of copy becomes an annoying problem as one must move them back and forth. My eMac screen is about 16 inches diagonally. I don't know if that makes any difference. It seems if only one picture in a thread is over 640, all the letters in that thread become oversized. Mickey Mickey, my pictures have been 1024x768, and nobody had issues before(maybe I am going blind..haha). I can make them 800x600 for the dial-up users, but I think the impact will be diminished. A better option i think is I can go back to using the thumbnail clickables, so you can click to blow them up.  Mickey, don't you like being able to blow them up to see the intricate parts? |
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Post by herron on Apr 29, 2008 19:16:10 GMT -5
I'm afraid I agree about the picture size. I spend a lot of time on this forum, and really do not like having to scroll left and right to see the images. It has nothing to do with load time, like resolution does. No offense intended, but it is just extremely annoying. It also affects every other thread on the board. I thought Randy had said something about this earlier. On my own Mamiya-collectors forum, I ask members who post to keep images no more than 700p wide, so there is no left-to-right scrolling -- and ask that they limit them to 72dpi, for faster loading for our dial-up friends.  BTW -- no one has a problem seeing the images, either.  |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 29, 2008 20:29:09 GMT -5
"Mickey, don't you like being able to blow them up to see the intricate parts?"
Alex,
Asking a fellow collector to blow up a camera is downright treasonous. People have been shot for less than that.
And you want me to peek at their intricate parts? Obscene!
Mickey
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 29, 2008 20:30:27 GMT -5
Alex,
I must admit your camera photos are luscious.
Mickey
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 29, 2008 22:58:56 GMT -5
Thanks Mickey. BTW, the post before your last almost made me spit up my tea! Thanks Ron, I will use smaller images at a lower next time, but I might also add links to the real hi-quality images for anyone who needs to view the subject in it's full-glory. |
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Reiska
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Post by Reiska on May 23, 2008 10:31:50 GMT -5
Alex, you have a couple of really nice looking Retinas and again a new (old) typewriter. I’m also interested about the manufacturer of that phone. It looks like a L.M. Ericsson but obviously it is not, because it has those rounded edges. German Kodak AG made Retinas are collectable quality cameras. It is a pity, that Kodak was not able to compete with the Japanese camera manufacturers. They tried it e.g. by lowering the quality but it didn’t won. Folks are commenting on you picture size. I tried to optimize the first one of them. “Original” size is ~555kb but after optimizing to medium, 1024 x 667 / 116kb I can’t see any significant difference. I f you optimize the picture and keep the width at 800px and use it as a footmark to bigger image everybody will be satisfied. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2008 11:12:56 GMT -5
Anything above 72 dpi is a waste for web viewing. I have been trying to keep my photos at 700 pixels wide or less but sometimes I forget.
Alex I don't notice the width on your photos as I have a 1280 p wide screen and a high speed connections. But there are members who are at 800 pixels wide with a dial up connection and big photos are really tough for them to handle.
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