Kodak Automatic 35
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 1:59 pm
Got one for $5 plus shipping. Seller didn't know if it worked or not. Said shutter button wouldn't do anything. Well.... yeaahhh.... the camera was designed quirky and won't do anything until you put film into it and wind the film about three clicks. Some later day electronic cameras have that same state of affairs for more of a reason. But what didn't work was the selenium meter so I guess all's fair in the trade.
Back in the day... say 1960..it was a pretty expensive point and shoot at just under ninety bucks. People with ordinary jobs often didn't make $90 a week. But no problem, there was the easy payment plan. It was pretty upscale for a point and shoot consumer camera. There was a selenium powered meter that you could do auto or switch into manual. On manual you had EV settings instead of apertures which made it a bit confusing since you couldn't know what aperture each EV number meant in a camera that could go from an equivalent opening of 2.8 to 32 if I'm reading the literature right. The shutter speed could be known though. You picked between either 40 or 80 and got a slightly amended EV scale with each selection to conjure over.
It's not a rangefinder. It offers a selection of distances of from 2.5 feet to infinity and you have to remember to turn the lens housing and be a good guesser of distance. The load the the film thing is strange but no problem loading. There was a problem unloading with a test roll. Because there is no lever on rewind knob it felt like it was taking forever to rewind, then the spindle release locked up and I thought I was at the end of the rewind....but only a little over half way. Ruined a good number of experimental negatives.
The lens does seem sharp......if you guess the right distance to your subject. It's an Extamar 44mm 2.8. But guess and by god produced all sorts of results. A handful were pretty decent when I guessed the distance right and went for the lower "EV" numbers. There was also a screw on two piece skylight filter with the camera that I didn't bother to take off while shooting.
Check out this old TV advertisement from Ozzie Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=173jZ_P9YU8
Back in the day... say 1960..it was a pretty expensive point and shoot at just under ninety bucks. People with ordinary jobs often didn't make $90 a week. But no problem, there was the easy payment plan. It was pretty upscale for a point and shoot consumer camera. There was a selenium powered meter that you could do auto or switch into manual. On manual you had EV settings instead of apertures which made it a bit confusing since you couldn't know what aperture each EV number meant in a camera that could go from an equivalent opening of 2.8 to 32 if I'm reading the literature right. The shutter speed could be known though. You picked between either 40 or 80 and got a slightly amended EV scale with each selection to conjure over.
It's not a rangefinder. It offers a selection of distances of from 2.5 feet to infinity and you have to remember to turn the lens housing and be a good guesser of distance. The load the the film thing is strange but no problem loading. There was a problem unloading with a test roll. Because there is no lever on rewind knob it felt like it was taking forever to rewind, then the spindle release locked up and I thought I was at the end of the rewind....but only a little over half way. Ruined a good number of experimental negatives.
The lens does seem sharp......if you guess the right distance to your subject. It's an Extamar 44mm 2.8. But guess and by god produced all sorts of results. A handful were pretty decent when I guessed the distance right and went for the lower "EV" numbers. There was also a screw on two piece skylight filter with the camera that I didn't bother to take off while shooting.
Check out this old TV advertisement from Ozzie Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=173jZ_P9YU8
