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Classic cameras - The Vest Pocket Kodak
The Vest Pocket Kodak was a miniature folding bellows camera with over 1,800,000 being sold between January 1912 and September 1926. When not in use the camera folded into compact shape measuring only 2½ x 4¾ x 1 inch, smaller than many present digital cameras. It was the first to use 127 roll film which provided 8 exposures measuring 1.5/8 x 2.½ inches, a size big enough to make contact prints as well as enlargements. With few exceptions cameras had a Kodak ball-bearing two speed shutter firing at 25th and 50th sec. as well as B (bulb) and T (time).
The small size and rugged construction made it suitable for use in the trenches in World War 1 and despite the illegality of this many soldiers carried these cameras in their battledress pockets.
Before use, the front lens plate of the camera was first pulled forward almost three inches on trellis struts until it clicked into position with its bellows fully extended. The standard camera (left) had a fixed-focus single meniscus lens situated behind the diaphragm and shutter. More expensive versions had Kodak and other manufacturers lenses, some of them focusing types. The camera on the right has a K. Koristka-Color Berthiot f6.8 lens which is the only known version in Great Britain. After 1915 all cameras had an Autographic facility which allowed the photographer to write a short message on the film which came out on the negatives/prints.
The following WebSite has more information: www.vpk.staff.shef.ac.uk/
Classic cameras - The Vest Pocket Kodak
The Vest Pocket Kodak was a miniature folding bellows camera with over 1,800,000 being sold between January 1912 and September 1926. When not in use the camera folded into compact shape measuring only 2½ x 4¾ x 1 inch, smaller than many present digital cameras. It was the first to use 127 roll film which provided 8 exposures measuring 1.5/8 x 2.½ inches, a size big enough to make contact prints as well as enlargements. With few exceptions cameras had a Kodak ball-bearing two speed shutter firing at 25th and 50th sec. as well as B (bulb) and T (time).
The small size and rugged construction made it suitable for use in the trenches in World War 1 and despite the illegality of this many soldiers carried these cameras in their battledress pockets.
Before use, the front lens plate of the camera was first pulled forward almost three inches on trellis struts until it clicked into position with its bellows fully extended. The standard camera (left) had a fixed-focus single meniscus lens situated behind the diaphragm and shutter. More expensive versions had Kodak and other manufacturers lenses, some of them focusing types. The camera on the right has a K. Koristka-Color Berthiot f6.8 lens which is the only known version in Great Britain. After 1915 all cameras had an Autographic facility which allowed the photographer to write a short message on the film which came out on the negatives/prints.
The following WebSite has more information: www.vpk.staff.shef.ac.uk/