I went late one recent morning to the nearby Tiguex Park with my Kodak No.1 Autographic Special. After 10 o'clock the New Mexico sun is often an impediment to getting pictures I like, but on this day there was a helpful slight overcast. As I worked my way through the eight frames of the Kentmere 400 film I
listened to the persistent complaints of a critic up in the cottonwoods,
a Coopers Hawk.I am a bit out of practice at using the camera, but as always, the uncoated Tessar lens yielded images with a unique look.
From when I first acquired this old Kodak in 2007 I have always regarded it as the most interesting camera in what has now become a rather large collection. The camera's design, materials and construction were all state-of-the-art a hundred years ago, and it still remains a practical and competent performer. What prompted the rescue of the No.1 Special from the display cabinet on this occasion was an email from Scott Rust:
" Hey Mike - I'm curious to see what you think about this one! Early model? Late model? Special order? Is the back a transplant from a different camera?
It's been fun trying to figure it out, but I've hit a wall on any additional information.
I found this on Craigslist probably 7 years ago - seller left it on their front porch and I put $10 under the mat - very clandestine now that I think about it. Maybe it's some sort of geeky nerd illegal photography syndicate fencing unauthorized modded cameras.
At any rate, that mask was a big surprise when I looked at it earlier this week. It'd been there the whole time but I didn't notice it and assumed the camera was a 6x6.
LMK if you want any additional shots.
Scott "
Scott included some photos of his camera which looked much like my 1915 model, but it had a number of different features, the most significant being two ruby windows on the back, and a 6x6 mask to enable the option of getting twelve square images from a roll of 120 film.
Scott, in a subsequent message, also gave me a link to Pacific Rim's collection of yearly-issued Kodak catalogs which included the twelve years during which the No.1 Autographic Special was offered by the company. None of the catalog illustrations or descriptions show or discuss the unique dual-format features of Scott's camera.
So, we would both be interested in finding additional information about this interesting variation of the Kodak No.1 Autographic Special. Scott can be found at the Bluesky site were he posts about his camera adventures, and there is also a link there to his photographic work.
