Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Special

One of the most interesting Kodaks in my collection is this recently-acquired No.1 Autographic Special. The camera was made between 1915 and 1920 at a time when Kodak was still making use of lenses and shutters from other manufacturers in Rochester. This one has a fast f4.5 Bausch & Lomb Tessar lens, and an Optimo shutter that was very advanced at the time. The camera was manufactured to very high standards, and has some unusual materials that went into its construction, including bakelite side panels and sealskin leather covering. There is a page about the No.1 in the vintage cameras section of my web site.