Uploads from John Kratz, tagged bakelite

Silver Kings

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:02:46 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

I acquired my first Silver King nearly five years ago, and was quite happy that it came in its original box, since it's a camera that's hard to find even without the box.
Now I'm twice as happy, with both variants! I didn't realize, until my new one arrived, that there were two versions of the box as well. Awesome!

Brenda Starr Cub Reporter

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 04:15:01 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Brenda Starr camera is nearly identical to the Dick Tracy camera.
Both were made by Seymore Products, and both are based on popular comic strip characters.
But while the Dick Tracy camera is rather common, the Brenda Starr camera is a rare find.
What differentiates this camera from all of the other "candid minicams" is the four-color enameled faceplate. I imagine they decided nothing less would be acceptable for a redheaded bombshell like Brenda!

Robin Hood

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:26:41 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Robin Hood is a stereo camera that was made in the 1930s by Standard Cameras Ltd. of Birmingham, England. It was made to use single sheets of film, and could take single shots as well as stereo pairs.
As you may know, I love cameras that are visually appealing, and this one's doubly appealing to me, with its body of colorful speckled bakelite and the inventive Robin Hood logo on the front. Eye candy!

Argus Model M

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:44:18 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Argus M is a small bakelite camera with a great streamlined design, introduced in 1939. The camera sported a 47mm f6.3 lens within a collapsible mount, and had the unique ability to take either full-frame or half-frame pictures on 828 film.
The Model M was only manufactured in 1939-40, but years later, Argus used the same body style for another camera named the Model 19, AKA the Minca 28. Argus likely sold the dies at some point, and the camera was later produced as a premium under the names Delco 828 and Camro 28.

Slick (for rebollo)

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:33:27 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

Just another view of the Slick, showing the name of the camera on the latch plate.

Slick

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:37:16 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Slick is a Japanese camera, made of bakelite and with a telescoping lens tube. It produces 3x4cm exposures on 127 film.
According to Camera-wiki's Slick page, there are only two known surviving examples. That would make the camera pictured here number three.

[update: I've edited that page to reflect the existence of this camera]

The Slick is known to have been manufactured as early as October 1940 and as late as April 1943. This example came to me in a military-issue, olive-drab pouch, and was among other vintage militaria offered by the seller. Given that fact, along with the period of manufacture, I can't help but wonder about the history of this camera. Could it have been at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941?

Photax III

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:49:14 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

Very popular among collectors, the Photax is a streamlined bakelite camera, made in France by M.I.O.M. It's often referred to as the Photax Blindé, the nickname a reference to its unique lens cap, which also encloses the shutter release. This version is distinguished by the addition of a cable release thread. The Photax takes 6x9cm exposures on 620 film, and was produced from c1938-60.

This particular example is in excellent condition, and included its original case. Not too shabby for $9!

Univex Twinflex

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:50:31 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

Another distinctive design from Universal Camera Corporation, the Twinflex is a small twin-lens reflex camera made of bakelite and aluminum. The knob at the bottom provides focus for both lenses by moving the front of the camera in and out, making it a true TLR.
I was very happy to have won the auction for this, as it's been on my wish list for a long time. This one is in excellent condition, and came with its original box (complete and in great shape) and instruction booklet.
The Twinflex was made c1939 and takes #00 film.

Kodak Brownie Bull's-Eye

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:14:05 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Brownie Bull's-Eye cameras were produced from August 1954 until October 1960. There were two color combinations; black/silver and gold/brass.
The black model originally sold for $12.85, while the gold model sold for $15.00. McKeown's price guide lists the gold model as still being worth slightly more than the black model, presumably due to relative numbers manufactured.
The example shown here was made in November of 1957.

Start 35

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:25:37 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Start 35 is a simple bakelite camera made in Japan c1950 by Ikko Sha. It takes 24mm square exposures on 35mm "Bolta" size rollfilm, loaded through the removable top. The original box for this camera says, "Start Junior Pen Camera".
I included a bottlecap in the photo to show how small this camera is.

Coronet "3-D"

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:04:35 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Coronet 3-D is a stereo camera that was manufactured in England c1954. It's made of bakelite and takes 127 film. The little knob to the upper left of lens #1 allows that lens to be blocked in order to take single pictures (as opposed to stereo pairs). As you can see, this model has a binocular viewfinder, but there was another model (made of mottled plastic) with a single viewfinder.

Spartus Co-Flash

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:22:11 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

Made c1960 by Herold Products of Chicago, the Spartus Co-Flash is a small bakelite box camera for 127 film.
All you strobists out there will appreciate this great design, with the built-in flash reflector as close to the lens as can be!

Genos Rapid

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:01:42 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Rapid is a bakelite reflex box camera that was made in Germany in 1950. Some were made without the strap, and there was also a less common version with a finder hood.
At the bottom there are three levers. The first one lets you choose one of two apertures, the second one lets you choose whether to use a built-in filter, and the third lets you select "instant" or "bulb" shutter speeds.
This example has a torn strap and some chips in the body, but I like the design and the price was right!

Top Camera

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:57:52 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

This is a Japanese subminiature camera, made c1965 by Maruso Trading Company. This example has "instant" and "bulb" shutter speeds and a dual finder (eye-level and reflex). There is another version with only the eye-level finder and a single-speed shutter.
Believe it or not, this camera is made of bakelite, with a metal front and back. They applied a hammertone enamel finish to the whole thing, to make it look as though it's an all-metal camera.
The box of film shown here is barely over two inches long, but holds six rolls of film. It says, "Develop before Apr. 1962", which is funny since the camera wasn't even made until three years later.

Philips Box Flash

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:14:17 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

No doubt you are familiar with Philips, one of the largest electronics companies in the world. Way back in 1950, they manufactured this beautiful bakelite camera for 6cm square exposures on 620 film.
The design, with its integrated flash reflector, is quite similar to the Spartus Press Flash, but this camera is far more scarce.

The "Philips shield" logo, seen below the lens, made its first appearance in 1938. As the company was primarily known for its radios at the time, the wavy lines are meant to represent radio waves, while the stars represent the evening sky through which the radio waves would travel.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:37:33 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

This is a rather common bakelite box camera which came to me as an added bonus with the Technicolor movie camera. It's certainly not mint, but it displays okay.
This particular example was manufactured in September of 1959.

Ultra-Vex

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:46:49 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Chicago Cluster is a name that has been applied to the mind-boggling variety of cameras produced by companies like Spartus, Monarch, etc. etc. - companies which, though they have different names, often have the same address.
The Ultra-Vex certainly belongs in this category, as it is identical to the Kando Reflex I posted a couple months ago. Just when I thought I'd seen every camera name in the cluster, along comes the unheard-of Ultra-Vex. There is no maker's name on it, and I have no box or paperwork. So I don't know who really made this camera, but I have a very good idea of where it was made!

Kando Reflex

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:01:35 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

Simple pseudo-TLR, similar to the Falcon-Flex. This camera was made by Monarch, but they also spelled it Monarck, and apparently also Monark, which is a new one on me.

Dick Tracy

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:11:26 -0700

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Dick Tracy comic strip was introduced in 1931, and still runs in newspapers to this day. The Dick Tracy camera, circa 1947, must have been quite popular as well, since they're still easy to find even after 60 years.
This example was made by Seymore Products, though some have it spelled "Seymour". The fact of the matter is that Seymore/Seymour was basically the same company as Utility, Spartus, Herold, Galter, and several other companies that were, more or less, one and the same. Whichever name they chose to use, they sure made some cool cameras.

Silver King

nobody@flickr.com (John Kratz) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:52:46 -0800

John Kratz posted a photo:

The Silver King is a wonderful piece of art-deco styling, from "The Camera Man" of Chicago. It's made of bakelite and has an aluminum back. The faceplate was made in silver with black lettering, and in black with silver lettering.
There is no date to be found for this camera in McKeown's Price Guide, but I'm going to guess 1939, based on similar Chicago "minicams" of the era.
It's listed as "very rare", so I guess I really lucked out!

I shot this camera from several angles, but chose to upload this one as a dedication to Rick Soloway, who made me aware of this camera. Thank you, Rick!