Kodak Instamatic Reflex
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Kodak Retina Reflex is a discontinued series of four
single-lens reflex camera In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...
s made by
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
in Germany between 1957 and 1974, as part of the
Kodak Retina Retina was the brand-name of a long-running series of German-built Kodak 35mm cameras, produced from 1934 until 1969. Kodak Retina cameras were manufactured in Stuttgart-Wangen by the Kodak AG Dr. Nagel Werk which Kodak had acquired in Decembe ...
line of
35mm film 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on ...
cameras.


Overview

The earliest Retina Reflex (Type 025, 1957) uses the convertible lens system introduced with the Kodak Retina IIc/IIIc in 1954. The successor cameras, starting with the Retina Reflex S (Type 034, 1959), use DKL-mount lenses, introduced with the Retina IIIS of 1958. The Retina Reflex brand was discontinued in 1966, then revived as the
Instamatic : ''For the film formats associated with the ''Instamatic'' and ''Pocket Instamatic'' camera ranges, see 126 film and 110 film respectively.'' The Instamatic is a series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 film, 126 and 110 film, 110 cameras made b ...
Reflex in 1968, using the same DKL-mount lenses with the easy-loading ''Kodapak'' line of
126 film 126 film is a cartridge-based film format used in still photography. It was introduced by Kodak in 1963, and is associated mainly with low-end point-and-shoot cameras, particularly Kodak's own Instamatic series of cameras. Although 126 was o ...
cartridges. The Instamatic Reflex was discontinued in 1974.


Convertible lens camera


Retina Reflex

The Kodak Type 025 Retina Reflex is an SLR camera that uses
convertible lens A camera lens, photographic lens or photographic objective is an optical lens or assembly of lenses (compound lens) used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capa ...
es (German: Wechselobjektiv), made by
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, Germany. It was made between Spring 1957 and October 1958. Like many 35 mm SLR cameras of West German heritage it is equipped with a
leaf shutter In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period, exposing photographic film or a photosensitive digital sensor to light in order to capture a permanent image of a scene. A shutter can also be used to allow ...
instead of a
focal plane shutter In camera design, a focal-plane shutter (FPS) is a type of photographic shutter (photography), shutter that is positioned immediately in front of the focal plane of the camera, that is, right in front of the photographic film or image sensor. ...
. It was named Type 025 Retina Reflex since it inherited several features from the contemporary Retina rangefinder cameras, like the Retina IIIc: The film advance and exposure counting system, the film channel, the
selenium meter A selenium meter is a light-measuring instrument based on the photoelectric properties of selenium. The most common use of such light meters is measuring the exposure value for photography. The electric part of such a meter is an electromagnetic m ...
, and the focusing mechanics of the lenses. Even the Synchro-
Compur Friedrich Deckel GmbH, also known as F.Deckel, was a German company founded by Friedrich Deckel and Christian Bruns in Munich as Bruns & Deckel in 1903. Its most famous product is the ''Compur'' line of leaf shutters used on many photographic lense ...
shutter is very similar to the earlier designs. The convertible lenses of early Retina reflex models are equipped with interchangeable front elements and a fixed set of elements that remain on the body. Later models had fully interchangeable lenses. In these first models, the front three elements are contained in a cell that bayonets into the front of the lens assembly. The standard front cell can be replaced with one of three Schneider components - an 80mm and two different 35mm components. The rear part of the lens (which is a permanent part of the camera body) contains the focusing apparatus, the entire Synchro-
Compur Friedrich Deckel GmbH, also known as F.Deckel, was a German company founded by Friedrich Deckel and Christian Bruns in Munich as Bruns & Deckel in 1903. Its most famous product is the ''Compur'' line of leaf shutters used on many photographic lense ...
shutter, the aperture, and the three rear elements, which are common to all 4 lenses. This interchangeable front component concept was introduced in 1954 with the folding Retina IIc and IIIc models. Care must be exercised when using front components other than the standard (50mm) one, as it is possible to set the body mounted aperture wider than the maximum aperture of the lens (i.e. f/2 instead of f/4 or f/5.6). A similar system was introduced in 1953 with the
Contaflex (SLR) The Contaflex series is a family of 35mm format, 35mm Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR) equipped with a leaf shutter, produced by Zeiss Ikon in the 1950s and 1960s. The name was first used by Zeiss Ikon in 1935 for a 35mm Twin-lens reflex camera, ...
. The Retina Reflex is, on rare occasions, found with very similar lenses made by Rodenstock. As the Rodenstock front components are not compatible with the Schneider rear component (and vice versa), minor changes were made to the bayonet mount for each manufacturer. These interchangeable Retina lens components can also be used on the Retina IIc, IIC, IIIc, and IIIC rangefinder cameras. The camera offers the convenience of image composition with wide open aperture. The aperture is stopped down to the selected value after the shutter is released. After exposure the mirror stays up until the bottom-mounted single-stroke film advance lever is again wound. Focusing is via a ground glass screen with a central split-image rangefinder. The camera's top plate has the manually set frame counter, the shutter release, the film rewind knob with film reminder dial, the exposure needle window, meter adjustment knob with EV and ASA/DIN scales, the film (advance) release button, the frame (counter) advance slider, and the
accessory shoe file:Canon 350D Hot Shoe.jpg, Canon EOS 350D Hot shoe file:Konica Minolta Dynax 7D hot shoe.jpg, Proprietary hot shoe used by Minolta and older Sony cameras (Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D) A hot shoe is a mounting point on the top of a camera to atta ...
. The bottom plate contains the tripod socket, the film advance lever, the back release latch, and the film rewind release button. In use, the Retina Reflex frame counter works down from 35 (or 20) to 0, at which point the film advance locks. While this is convenient for the user and does prevent torn film sprockets at the end of a roll, setting the counter up properly at the beginning of a roll is complex, awkward, and time-consuming. This is a typical example of much of Retina engineering - complex and ingenious, but perhaps over-done. The non-coupled selenium cell exposure meter reads out in exposure values (EVs) only. The camera is then set to the proper EV setting via an easily reached aperture release tab, though the EV scale itself is rather inconveniently located on the underside of the lens assembly. Once the aperture release tab is set and released, the shutter ring is coupled to the aperture ring - moving the shutter ring automatically moves the aperture ring, so that the same exposure value is maintained. In other words, when in use, the camera is normally locked into one EV setting until the aperture release tab is pressed. Needless to say this can be confusing to those unfamiliar with the camera. All the Retina Reflex cameras are remarkably complex instruments and quite heavy for their size. The Retina Reflex originally sold in 1958 for . Approximately 65,000 were made.


Lenses for the Retina Reflex

The standard ''Retina-Xenon'' lens is a 50 mm lens with a different maximum aperture, depending on the camera. The maximum aperture of the standard ''Retina-Xenon'' fitted to the IIc/IIC was , while the IIIc/IIIC was equipped with a faster version. The Retina Reflex was equipped with either a Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Xenon'' or a Rodenstock ''Retina-Heligon'', both . For each camera, the standard lens is a six-element, four-group
Double-Gauss lens The double Gauss lens is a compound lens used mostly in camera lenses that reduces optical aberrations over a large focal plane. Design The earliest double Gauss lens, patented by Alvan Graham Clark in 1888, consists of two symmetrically-arrang ...
split into two parts: a set of three front elements that can be removed and a permanently-fixed set of three rear elements, set behind the aperture and shutter. In the Retina convertible lens system, which is used with the Retina Reflex and earlier Retina IIc, IIC, IIIc, and IIIC rangefinder cameras, the same set of three permanently-fixed rear elements are shared with the standard lens and the user exchanges the front set of lens elements to modify the focal length. There are two groups of accessory front element sets: a wide-angle group which has a focal length of 35 mm and a maximum aperture of either or , and a telephoto group which has a focal length of 80 mm and a maximum aperture of . For the Retina Reflex, the wide-angle 35 mm unit could be fitted, but this combination was not recommended as the resulting image on the ground glass screen would be dim and hard to focus. There are six distinct front lens units in total from the two manufacturers; each of the wide-angle and telephoto front lens units include six elements in four groups. Users were cautioned to stay with the same manufacturer for the front conversion lens units: that is, cameras originally equipped with the Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Xenon'' are intended to be used with the ''Retina-Curtar-Xenon'' or ''Retina-Longar-Xenon'' front lens units exclusively, while those originally equipped with the Rodenstock ''Retina-Heligon'' were advised to use ''Retina-Heligon'' wide-angle and telephoto front lens units. In addition, the front and rear standard lens units were matched, and the serial number on the lens should match the serial number engraved inside the outer bayonet ring. When equipped with either of the telephoto (80 mm) lens units, the minimum focusing distance is . Kodak sold a
close-up lens In photography, a close-up lens (sometimes referred to as ''close-up filter'' or a ''macro filter'') is a simple secondary lens used to enable macro photography without requiring a specialised primary lens. They work like reading glasses, allo ...
labeled "T 1/60" (denoting application, diopter, and attachment thread size) that extended the minimum focusing distance to .


Interchangeable (DKL-mount) lens cameras


Retina Reflex S

Introduced in 1959, the Type 034 Retina Reflex S was a major redesign of the original Retina Reflex. The major difference is its use of fully interchangeable lenses, the same lenses that were made for the
Kodak Retina IIIS Retina was the brand-name of a long-running series of German-built Kodak 35mm cameras, produced from 1934 until 1969. Kodak Retina cameras were manufactured in Stuttgart-Wangen by the Kodak AG Dr. Nagel Werk which Kodak had acquired in December ...
rangefinder camera. The lens mount is commonly referred to as the
Deckel Friedrich Deckel GmbH, also known as F.Deckel, was a German company founded by Friedrich Deckel and Christian Bruns in Munich as Bruns & Deckel in 1903. Its most famous product is the ''Compur'' line of leaf shutters used on many photographic lense ...
mount, after the manufacturer of
Compur Friedrich Deckel GmbH, also known as F.Deckel, was a German company founded by Friedrich Deckel and Christian Bruns in Munich as Bruns & Deckel in 1903. Its most famous product is the ''Compur'' line of leaf shutters used on many photographic lense ...
leaf shutters. This same mount, with minor differences, was also used by a number of other German camera makers, including
Braun Braun is a surname, originating from the German language, German word for the color brown. In German, ''Braun'' is pronounced – except for the "r", equal to the English word "brown". In English, it is often pronounced like "brawn". Notable p ...
and
Voigtländer Voigtländer () was a significant long-established company within the optics and photographic industry, headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany, and today continues as a trademark for a range of photographic products. History Voigtländer was fo ...
. It was also used in the later Retina Reflex III, Retina Reflex IV, and the
Kodak Instamatic Reflex The Kodak Retina Reflex is a discontinued series of four single-lens reflex cameras made by Kodak in Germany between 1957 and 1974, as part of the Kodak Retina line of 135 film, 35mm film cameras. Overview The earliest Retina Reflex (Type  ...
. As for the original Retina Reflex, lenses were available from both Schneider and Rodenstock, but this time the lenses had identical bayonet mounts. The shutter is a Synchro-Compur behind the lens unit, which is part of the camera body. The aperture is now in the interchangeable lenses, which eliminates the problem of setting the wrong aperture on the original Retina Reflex. Speed are from 1 sec. to 1/500th plus bulb. It features M and X syncs and a self-timer. What was the meter adjustment knob on the top plate is now a fixed housing for the ASA/DIN scale. The selenium cell exposure meter is now coupled to a "setting wheel" located on the very bottom of the lens mount. This setting wheel sets adjusts the camera's exposure value (EV) by changing (in a most complex fashion) the aperture and/or shutter rings at the same time that it changes the depth-of-field pointers on the camera's lens. When another button (located on the top plate) is pushed simultaneously, the setting wheel is also used to set the exposure meter's ASA/DIN setting. The top plate, bottom plate, and camera body are otherwise nearly identical to the Retina Reflex. The Retina Reflex S originally sold in 1959 for . Approximately 78,000 were made.


Retina Reflex III

A later variant is the Type 041 Retina Reflex III. It was made from 1960 to 1964. Its match-needle meter instrument scale is visible in the viewfinder as well as on the top plate. The camera was originally equipped with the same coupled
selenium meter A selenium meter is a light-measuring instrument based on the photoelectric properties of selenium. The most common use of such light meters is measuring the exposure value for photography. The electric part of such a meter is an electromagnetic m ...
as the Reflex S, but after 1962 a larger one was fitted, again made by Gossen. The Reflex III features the same "setting wheel" and interlocking aperture/shutter rings as the Reflex S. As it was fashion in the early 1960s the shutter release button on top was replaced by a shutter release shifter beside the lens mount. The film advance release button was eliminated, that function being incorporated in the frame reset slider, which was moved to the bottom plate along with the (still) manually reset frame counter. The ASA setting button was moved from the ASA dial to the spot vacated by the release button. This redesign made a new camera case design necessary, leaving additional space for the frame counter, and the frame reset slider. The Retina Reflex cases were already something special before since the film advance lever (Reflex) and aperture/shutter setting wheel (Reflex S) are located on the bottom. The photo shows just how complex the Retina case had become. The Reflex III has the same aperture/shutter setting wheel (which Kodak called simply the "setting wheel") and interlocking aperture/shutter rings as the Reflex S. The Retina Reflex III originally sold in 1961 for . Approximately 116,000 were made.


Retina Reflex IV

The Type 051 Retina Reflex IV was made from 1964 to 1967. It has a characteristic little window in the front of its
pentaprism A pentaprism is a five-sided reflecting prism (optics), prism used to deviate a beam of light by a constant 90°, even if the entry beam is not at 90° to the prism. The beam reflects inside the prism ''twice'', allowing the transmission of an i ...
housing, which displays the aperture in use in the viewfinder. The
accessory shoe file:Canon 350D Hot Shoe.jpg, Canon EOS 350D Hot shoe file:Konica Minolta Dynax 7D hot shoe.jpg, Proprietary hot shoe used by Minolta and older Sony cameras (Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D) A hot shoe is a mounting point on the top of a camera to atta ...
now had flash contacts. The frame counter now automatically resets to 36 when the back is opened; the frame advance slider is used to set the counter for shorter rolls. The split-image rangefinder on the ground glass is now at a 45 degree angle. The Retina Reflex IV originally sold in 1964 for . Over 524,000 were made.


Instamatic Reflex

The shutter speeds on the Instamatic Reflex, billed as the camera which "does simply everything, and everything simply", range from to 20 seconds, with flashcube sync at and with an electronic flash. Two PX825 button cell batteries are used to power the exposure meter, flashcubes, and shutter speed control; without batteries, the  second shutter speed was still available. For the ''Xenar'' 45 mm lens included with most kits, the aperture could be linked to the focus to provide the correct exposure when using flashcubes. The Instamatic Reflex was sold from 1968 until 1974; when it was introduced, the list price ranged from for the body only, finished in black, to with the 1.9 lens.


Lenses for Retina Reflex S, III, IV, Instamatic Reflex, and Retina IIIS

The 135 mm lenses could be fitted with the earlier "T I/60" close-up lens to bring the focusing distance range to , or a "T II/60" close-up lens, which brought the focusing distance range to . The 85 mm lenses could be fitted with a "T I/32" close-up lens, which brings the focusing distance range to . ;Notes List of
Schneider-Kreuznach Joseph Schneider Optische Werke GmbH (commonly referred to as Schneider) is a manufacturer of industrial and photographic optics. The company was founded on 18 January 1913 by Joseph Schneider as Optische Anstalt Jos. Schneider & Co. at Bad Kr ...
Retina
DKL-mount Friedrich Deckel GmbH, also known as F.Deckel, was a German company founded by Friedrich Deckel and Christian Bruns in Munich as Bruns & Deckel in 1903. Its most famous product is the ''Compur'' line of leaf shutters used on many photographic lense ...
lenses: *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Curtagon'' 28mm f/4 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Curtagon'' 28mm f/4 (for Instamatic Reflex) *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Curtagon'' 35mm f/2.8 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Curtagon'' 35mm f/2.8 (for Instamatic Reflex) *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Xenar'' 45mm f/2.8 (for Instamatic Reflex, can be used with Retina Reflex S, III, IV, but not with the Retina IIIS) *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Xenar'' 50mm f/2.8 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Xenon'' 50mm f/1.9 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Xenon'' 50mm f/1.9 (for Instamatic Reflex) *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Tele-Arton'' 85mm f/4 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Tele-Arton'' 90mm f/4 (for Instamatic Reflex) *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Tele-Xenar'' 135mm f/4 *Schneider-Kreuznach ''Retina-Tele-Xenar'' 200mm f/4.8 (does not have the rangefinder cam necessary for focussing through viewfinder with the Retina IIIS) List of Rodenstock Retina DKL-mount lenses: *Rodenstock ''Retina-Eurygon'' 30mm f/2.8 *Rodenstock ''Retina-Eurygon'' 35mm f/4 *Rodenstock ''Retina-Ysarex'' 50mm f/2.8 *Rodenstock ''Retina-Heligon'' (and ''Retina-Ysarex''???) 50mm f/1.9 *Rodenstock ''Retina-Rotelar'' 85mm f/4 *Rodenstock ''Retina-Rotelar'' 135mm f/4 List of third-party Retina DKL-mount lenses: *Univer-sar Tele Photo 135mm f/4 *Bittco Super Vemar 135mm f/4 *Vemar Telephoto 200mm f/4.8 *Vemar Telephoto 135mm f/2.8


References


Sources

* Brian Coe, ''Kodak Cameras - The First Hundred Years'', Hove Foto Books, 1988 * * Original Kodak user manuals for the Retina Reflex, Retina Reflex S, and Retina Reflex IV


External links


Retina Reflex IIIRetina Reflex
an
Retina Reflex s
a
Sylvain Halgand's Collection-appareils.frGerman article in Schneider-Kreuznach archive

Retina Reflex section at Retrography.com
by Simon Simonsen, Denmark

an

at Westford.co



at "Photoethnography"

at "Innovative cameras" {{From Camerapedia, Kodak Retina Reflex, 27 December 2012 Kodak SLR cameras