Kodak Retina Series
I/Ia/Ib/II/IIa/IIIc
by Karen Nakamura
Overview and Personal Comments
OK, so let me get my collecting biases on the table: I hate Kodaks!
I've been to too many antiques shows and seen just way too many Brownies, Instamatics, and broken folders stacked up to the ceiling and worth their weight in scrap metal. To me, the notion of a "quality Kodak camera" is an oxymoron. Kodaks are cheap, mass-market commodities, the early equivalents of disposable cameras.
But... there was one Kodak camera* that actually attempted to be quality. This was the early Kodak Retina series that was first released in 1934. That was until the bean-counters at Kodak realized they could cheapen the quality and mass produce it in the 1960s. The later non-folding Retinettes and SLR Retinas were nowhere as nice as the early rangefinder ones.
* OK, I've been informed the Kodak Medalist is equally as nice and has perhaps as strong a cult following, despite its 620 film size.
Kodak went on to produce a series of non-folding rangefinders (Retina IIIs and kin [1959-1969]), low cost Retinettes, and SLRs under the Retina Reflex name (1956-69), but none of them quite reach the brilliance of the original Nagel Retina series.
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I own six Retina rangefinder cameras: the Retina I, Ia, Ib, II, IIa, and IIIc. The Retina series all share the following characteristics:
- Folding lens design (there were some non-folders later on, but I will bar them from inclusion in this write-up as I don't collect them)
- Coupled rangefinder (except the I series)
- Compur-type leaf shutter, allowing electronic flash sync up to the maximum speed of 1/500 sec (try that on your Nikon F!)
- Excellent German optics
- The same design flaw in converting the winder rotation to the lens winding mechanism - it's easy for the L-shaped crank pin to get jammed (which is what happened with my IIIc below) Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law and your terms of serivce.
If you find a good condition Retina for below $100-150 (the later series are more expensive), buy it. The cameras are real jewels. The lenses are fantastic German optics. They fold down to smaller than any SLR and while they are a bit heavy because of the all-metal body, they can take a real beating.
There are pre-War (1930-1941) and post-War Retinas. Although Retinas are numbered I, Ia, II, IIa, IIIc and so forth, the numbering is confusing. The I series have no rangefinders; the II series have a rangefinder but no meter; and the III series have both a rangefinder and meter. However, each Retina model had several variations and the model numbers overlap, so there are about 9 different pre- and post-War variations of the Retina I for example.
Like the Leica Barnack cameras and the Contax RF cameras, the I & II in the Retina I & Retina II do not necessarily indicate a temporal sequence (i.e., "first the Model I, then the Model II came out...") but rather the absence or lack of a rangefinder. The I series had no rangefinder and just scale focused. The Retina I was produced in several different variations from 1934-1950; the Ia was produced from 1951-194; the last Ib model was produced into 1960. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
I bought this pre-War Retina I (Type 148; 1939-1941) at an antique market in Saint Paul in early 2004. The wind-shutter-release mechanism was frozen (it could be manually released from the front but the sprocket mechanism that interlocked with the top shutter release was frozen) and the shutter did not work on the slow shutter speeds. But it was otherwise in excellent outside condition with good leather, so I bought it. Oleg Khalyavin later restored the shutter function for me.
I purchased the Retina Ia to round out my collection. This model (015) was made from 1951.01-1954. My unit, with the Synchro-Compur shutter and Retina-Xenar lens was produced between June 1951 to Spring 1954, according to this historical chart. I was fortunate to buy a unit in excellent condition with the leather case and original instruction manual. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
David Jentz of the Historical Society for Retina Cameras tells me:
| The Type 015 Retina Ia serial number ? 712xxx - can't make out the complete serial number in your image - was manufactured April of 1953. The identified serial number ranges of the Typ 015 Retina Ia and Typ 016 Retina IIa are: 400093 to 400402 and 405026 to 894235 We estimate that at least 489,477+ Type 015 Retina Ia and Type 016 Retina IIa cameras were manufactured between January 1951 and April 1954. |
Retina Ib (Type 018) 1954-1957
David Jentz of the Historical Society for Retina Cameras tells me:
| The Type 018 Retina Ib no. 61090 was manufactured in the second week of July, 1954. The number 1062283 on the underside of the shutter housing is the shutter serial number. F. Deckel in Munich manufactured the shutter. The identified serial number ranges of the Type 018 in our database are: 50001 to 199894 and 450629 to 460383. Your Type 018 is a early production model. We estimate that at least 160,383+ Type 018 Retina Ib cameras were manufactured from March, 1954 to July, 1957. |
Retina II
The II series was produced in roughly the same time period as the I series (1934-1960) and represented the model with the rangefinder. The first II came out in 1936 (type 122) and the last IIC (type 029) was manufactured in 1958. My camera pictured here is the Type 142 variation Retina II produced 1937-1939. A rapid winder replaced the winder knob and the shutter button was downsized compared to the original 122 version.Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
Retina IIa
Although the Retina IIa was produced from 1951-1954, for some reason my Retina IIa (serial #74716x) is stamped on the inside [December 3 '57]. Maybe that's when it was last serviced. I'm also lucky to have the relatively rare Retina case, although it's in rather poor shape. It needs a good leather repair store.
David Jentz of the Historical Society for Retina Cameras contacted me and informed me that judging "from the serial number and the camera's attributes," my camera, "was manufactured in the last week of June, 1953. The camera was originally sold thru the PX system to US military personnel in Europe."
The Retina IIa was priced at $168.50 on its release in 1951. Using the AIER calculator, that's $1,172.37 in 2003 dollars! So the Retina IIa was pretty expensive, much more than any of the other Kodaks and certainly rivaling the other German, U.S., and Japanese cameras of the day. I'm guessing that the Retina series was most probably Kodak's most expensive series to date. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
Retina IIIc
The IIIc was produced between 1954 and 1957. The III series added the coupled selenium meter to the top of the camera. My version has the coated lenses and was in excellent condition. The III series is also famous for having interchangeable lenses, you can remove the front element and replace it with telephoto and wide lenses. The one bug in this design is that if you replace the standard lens or add a filter, you cannot close the camera fully. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
The IIIc a beautiful piece of machinery, quite a jewel. My shutter cocking mechanism was jammed - a standard problem with all the Retinas due to a design flaw (the rack and pinion drive that converts the horizontal rotational force of winding the film to the vertical rotation of cocking the shutter is a weak point). Oleg Khalyavin fixed it and it's now a great shooter, although I take care of the winding mechanism more than I like to.
At an estate sale in April (2004), I bought another Retina IIIc that was almost new in the box, with just slight wear. It also came with both accessory lenses: the 35mm f/4 Curtar and the Longar Xenon C 80mm f/4, also new in the box.
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| 35mm f/4 Retina Curtar Xenon C |
50mm f/2.8 Retina-Xenon C |
80mm f/4 Retina Longar Xenon C | |
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Schneider-Krueznach ( Kodak AG ) | |||
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Stuttgart - Wangen | |||
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Focus using Retina rangefinder, then use distance conversion table on lens mount to convert actual distance to focusing distance. | |||
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Retina Xenon C bayonet mount | |||
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9 elements in 6 groups total |
6 elements in 4 groups total |
9 elements in 6 groups total | |
| Note: Using the text or images on this site in an ebay auction without permission is a violation of the ebay Terms of Service. I will report you to ebay if I discover such a violation taking place. This may result in your account being cancelled. I also reserve the right to file claim for civil penalties. | |||
Interesting quirks
Did you know the Nagel Retina (Type #117; 1934) was the first to use the Type 135 cartridge that's now the standard 35mm camera cartridge format? Until then, each manufacturer had their own proprietary cartridges. The wildly successful Retina popularized the 35mm format and the current style of felt-lined, disposabled, light-tight cartridges became the standard. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
Most Retina's, have two Dreaded Interlocks that you should watch out for while evaluating the camera:
- Dreaded Lens Closure Interlock: The Retinas will only fold back up if the lens is set at infinity (which is the fully retracted position). This releases the interlock that will enable the pins on the top and bottom of the lens to be depressed, folding up the camera.
- Dreaded End-of-Film Interlock: The Retinas will not let you wind the camera if the camera thinks it is at the end of the roll, indicated by the '1' position in the film counter. The film counter reads backwards (20..19..18....3..2..1). Reset the counter to '20' to test it out.
Close-up set: In early September of 2003, I went to an antique fair and found the Retina Close-up set in the display case of a vendor who didn't know what it was. It comes with an automatic parallax-compensating auxiliary rangefinder and two diopter lenses. You have to buy them for the particular focal length you have. Mine was marked "f=50mm" and fits well with my Retina IIIc above. It's a very nice design except for the fact that at 10cm (about the minimum distance), your depth of field is essentially zilch and the scale on the aux rangefinder and Retina body really aren't accurate enough for this kind of work. Pics of the set will be uploaded.
Separated at birth? The lines of the Retina (especially with the case closed) are very reminiscent of the Zeiss Super Ikonta foldable medium format camera.Were they separated at birth? You be the judge. From a distance, can you tell them apart? The difference is that the Retina is cute and truly pocketable while the Super Ikonta can be used as a weapon of mass destruction when swung. Photos below not to scale! The Super Ikonta is about twice the size and weight.
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Technical Details
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Kodak | |||
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Stuttgart, Germany | |||
| 1939-1941 | 1951-54 | 1954-57 | |
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Simple viewfinder | |||
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Kodak-Anastigmat Ektar 50mm f/3.5 (uncoated) x elements in x groups |
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenar 50mm f/2.8 x elements in x groups |
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenar 50mm f/2.8 x elements in x groups | |
| Compur-Rapid 1 sec - 1/500 sec + B |
Synchro-Compur leaf (in-lens) shutter: | ||
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n/a | |||
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f/3.5 - f/16 (stopless) |
f/2.8-f/16 (1 stop steps) |
f/2.8-f/22 (0.5 stop steps) | |
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None. No accessory shoe. Shutter not synchronized. |
Cold shoe on top PC flash connection on bottom (M-X switch on top) | ||
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Type 135 (35mm standard) | |||
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n/a | |||
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499g |
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Note: Using the text or images on this site in an ebay auction without permission is a violation of your ebay Terms of Service. I will report you to ebay if I discover such a violation taking place. This may result in your account being cancelled. I also reserve the right to file claim for civil penalties. | |||
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Kodak | |||
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Stuttgart, Germany | |||
| 1949-50 | 1951-1954 | 1954-57 | |
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Combined rangefinder/viewfinder |
Coupled rangefinder | ||
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Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f/2 6 elements in 4 groups |
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f/2 6 elements in 4 groups |
Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50mm f/2 6 elements in 4 groups | |
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Compur-Rapid leaf (in-lens) shutter: 1 sec. - 1/500 sec + B |
Synchro-Compur leaf (in-lens) shutter: 1 sec. - 1/500 sec + B |
Synchro-Compur leaf (in-lens) shutter: 1 sec. - 1/500 sec + B | |
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n/a |
n/a |
Selenium cell (uncoupled) | |
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f/2-f/16 (stepless) |
f/2-f/16 (1 stop steps) |
f/2-f/22 (0.5 stop steps) | |
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none |
Cold shoe on top |
Cold shoe on top | |
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Type 135 (35mm standard) | |||
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n/a | |||
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122 W x 83 H x 43 D mm (folded) |
122 W x 83 H x 43 D mm (folded) |
126 W x 89 H x 50 D mm (folded) | |
| $168.50 in 1951 | |||
| Note: Using the text or images on this site in an ebay auction without permission is a violation of your ebay Terms of Service. I will report you to ebay if I discover such a violation taking place. This may result in your account being cancelled. I also reserve the right to file claim for civil penalties. | |||
About Kodak
Let me get something straight: Kodak was never about high quality photography. George Eastman wanted to make photography available for the masses, to put a camera in every hand. Previously, photography was a messy, icky affair with wet chemistry glass plates that had to be coated before each exposure and processed immediately in a darkroom tent. You literally needed your own pack mule to take photos anywhere.
Kodak developed the technique of putting film emulsion onto a thin flexible backing and thus developed the first roll film. Kodak also gave us the numbering system (Type 135 for 35mm film; Type120/220 for medium format roll film, etc.). Originally, 35mm film was designed solely for motion picture usage. It was Oscar Barnack's brilliant idea to use it for still photography that led to the Leica, and the development of 35mm miniature cameras.
Despite the fact that I'm a technical snob and wouldn't use (or touch!) any Kodak camera except a Nagel-type Retina and a film snob so the only Kodak film I use is Tri-X (I'm Fuji Film all the way otherwise), I do have to credit Kodak (and Leica) with making photography available to everyone. Otherwise, we'd all still be hauling heavy glass plate cameras around on our pack mules. If you think your SUV gets bad mileage! ...
On the Net
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