This is the US Synchro model of the Kodak Brownie Reflex, which was manufactured from 1941 to 1952 and originally sold for $6. Here’s a link to the manual: Model: Brownie Reflex Type: Pseudo-TLR Shutter Speed: I (instantaneous), 1/30 sec, and B (bulb) Shutter: Rotary Lens: Meniscus, non-focusing Aperture: fixed Film: 127 Picture size: 4×4 cm Exposures Per Roll: 12…
Category: Camera Profiles
#7: Kodak Brownie Hawkeye
This Kodak Brownie Hawkeye likes to contemplate life while looking out of a window on a rainy day. He also enjoys playing hide-and-go-seek, and going on long strolls. His body is of dark, chiseled and durable Bakelite, topped with a plastic handle. He boasts a waist-level and oversized brilliant viewfinder, and was originally sold for…
#6: Kodak Brownie Bullet
The Brownie Bullet is a tiny point-and-shoot composed of a solid bakelite body and a metal front plate. It is simply constructed and quite minimal: the size of the body is essentially the size of the 127 film that would fit inside. The front and back halves of the camera are locked together on…
#5: Beacon Two-Twenty Five
This camera is sturdy and regal, in an armchair kind of way. Manufactured by Whitehouse Products and branded Beacon, it’s accessorized with a massive flash adapter synchronized for 20 millisecond lag flash bulbs. The lens pops out of the body, unlocking the shutter to allow a photo to be taken but simultaneously blocking out a…
#4: Ansco Shur Shot
This Ansco Shur Shot (Ansco merged with Agfa in 1928) is a remarkably uncomplicated box camera. The front panel is pin-striped metal while the other five faces are constructed in cardboard masked by stippled black leather. It takes rectangular photos; brilliant viewfinders both on the top and side allow for the composition of portrait…
Camera Profiles #4-13: Preview
Back in January, I made the spontaneous and seemingly rash purchase of a group of ten vintage cameras from Fab.com, an addictive, design-focused daily flash sale website. I bought them from Trampoline Vintage, purveyor of “rare and one-of-a-kind pieces.” The cameras represent four different brands, although half are members of Kodak’s Brownie series: Very good for…
#3: Keystone Everflash 10
Manufacturer: Berkey Keystone Model: Everflash 10 Type: Point-and-shoot Dates of Production: 1970s Place of Production: White Plains, NY Lens: Keytar Color Corrected, 40mm, F8 Focal Range: Fixed-focus Film: 126 Flash: Built-in Battery type: 2x AA Other Features: Simple viewfinder, manual film advance knob, flash ready indicator, indoor/outdoor switch 126 film, you elude me…
#2: Agfa Isolette II
This is the first medium format camera that I acquired. A great uncle rescued it from a trash heap because he thought it would be a nice-looking bookend. When this piece of quality German engineering came into my possession, I took it upon myself to bestow it with the ability to take pictures, thus reinstating its…
#1: Yashica Mat-124G
I walked into my dad’s office one day a few years ago and this beauty was sitting on his desk. I became immediately excited, picked it up, asked him if I could have it, and scampered away with it when he said yes. I don’t really know why he had it, or where it came…