Quirky Cameras - Kodak Retina 1a 35mm film camera

 It's Quirky Camera time again. This time I talk about the Kodak Retina 1a 35mm film camera. This is a camera I purchased recently as a part of a job lot from ebay. I went hunting on the bay for a ground glass viewfinder for the Maximar I spoke about in February, you can go back and read that blog via the link below. I found what I was looking for in a bundle of vintage cameras from an ebay store I hadn't used before.

I did a little due diligence, liked what I saw and put in a bid. A few days later I had the highest bid and I became the owner of not just a ground glass viewfinder for my Maximar, it was a whole Maximar 207/3, a Ricohmatic 126 clockwork camera, an Ensign Midget 16mm camera and today's Quirky Camera, a Kodak Retina 1a.

When I got it I could see it had been looked after. It was in a leather ever ready case, looked reasonably clean and had a roll of colour film in it that I intend to develop in black and white chemicals. It looks like 1980's film by the design on the cartridge and I don't know if anyone has opened the back as the film hadn't been rewound. I carefully rewound the film before opening the camera and I wont be losing anything but my time developing it to find out if there's anything on it or it's a bust.

The Kodak Retina 1a was made between 1951 and 1954 in Germany by Kodak AG - Dr Nagel Werk. The manufacturing plant was founded by Dr August Nagel, one of the founders of Zeiss Ikon who made my Maximar. Dr Nagel left Zeiss Ikon in 1928 and formed his own company, the Nagel Camera Werk. Kodak liked what they saw coming from Dr Nagel's factory and bought it in 1931 to manufacture cameras for their European customers. You can read about August Nagel via the link below.

The Kodak Retina 1 was a basic 35mm viewfinder camera and the staple of the Nagel Camera Werk. It was in production up to WW2 when, for obvious reasons, production stopped. Their pre-war cameras had a reputation for being dependable and affordable for the photography enthusiast and sold well. Kodak AG returned the Retina to production in Germany as soon as possible after the cessation of the war. The Kodak Retina 1a, an upgrade to the Retina 1, was introduced in 1951 and remained in production until 1954 when the Retina 1b model was introduced.

The Kodak Retina 1a is the same basic 35mm viewfinder camera as its predecessor, but with added features and better materials that became available after the war. It is a small, pocket sized folding camera with a lens and shutter cover that springs open by pressing a button on the base of the camera. This reveals a Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm f/2.8 Retina-Xenar lens housed in a Compur Shutter attached to a short section of folding bellows. It is a very easy camera to operate. You find your composition using the view finder, but the viewfinder and lens are separate. What you see in the view finder is not coupled to the lens and shutter, you need to zone focus.

Zone focus is an easy concept once you get your head around the numbers and lines. On the lens/shutter housing is a focus ring with measurements shown in feet from 3.5 feet through to infinity. You estimate the distance to the subject you wish to photograph, lets say 10 feet and you set the distance scale to 10 on the focus ring so it lines up with the centre line on the apertures marked on the shutter housing.

At ten feet, if you select an aperture of f/16 using the setting arrow on the lower front of the lens/shutter, everything between 5 feet and infinity should be in focus. You can point and shoot all day long with this setting on bright sunny days. If you want to add some background blur, select an aperture of f/5.6 and everything from 8 to 15 feet will be in focus. Select the widest aperture of f/2.8 and everything between 9 and 12 feet will be in focus.  

Then you choose the shutter speed which is marked on the front of the lens/shutter. They range from 1 second to 1/500th of a second and B for hand timed long exposures. If you are a sunny 16 shooter like me, on bright sunny days 1/500th at f/16 is all you need. More experienced sunny 16 users can usually guess the right aperture and shutter speed based on the conditions of the day. Here in Wigan we tend to get 1/250th of a second at f/11 days when the sun decides to make an appearance. Overcast days are usually around 1/60th or 1/125th of a second at f/8. Wind the film on with the lever on top of the camera, recompose your shot and when you're happy with it press the shutter button.

It sounds complicated, but once you get used to it you can do it easily. Some people use a rangefinder accessory that slots into the shoe mount on top of the camera. I have a Watameter rangefinder that I used with my Agfa Isolette I. It makes life much easier when you have something to help with estimating distance. Folks with more modern tastes can get a digital rangefinder from your local hardware store for a reasonable price. Do whatever works for you, but I like the old way, no batteries required.

You can of course take the guesswork from finding your aperture and shutter speeds with a decent hand held light meter like my trusty Gossen Trisix or you can use a Light Meter app on your phone. I have Light Meter-Lite produced by WBPhoto that I got for free from the Google Play Store, but there's plenty to choose from, both free and paid for.

Once I got my head around the Zone Focus system used by the Kodak Retina 1a and I was happy I could operate the camera, I loaded a roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 35mm black and white film into the camera and set off out for a wander to see what I could find. My photos are nothing special, just a test to see if the camera is light tight and the shutter and aperture works as it should. The camera was in very good condition for its age and I was hopeful I would get a few useable images. I used my Watameter rangefinder and my trusty Gossen Trisix as well as having a guess to get my settings and I got used to the quirkiness of Zone Focus pretty quickly.

We are spoiled with all manner of cameras these days that show you the view through the lens or through a viewfinder with a coupled rangefinder to help with getting your composition in focus. This camera really tested my skills and you can see how I did when you see my photos at the end. As is often the case when I'm having fun with my camera, my walk seemed to fly by. I had reached the end of my roll of film and headed home. 

I developed my roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 the following day in Kodak HC110 dilution E 1+47 for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my trusted Nikon D700 and Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 led light source. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

When I hung my film to dry I was immediately impressed with my exposures. Alex Luyckx is right when he says HC110 dilution E is an often overlooked magic potion. I couldn't wait to get my film digitised, but had to wait for it to dry. It was the longest evening of my life....  Once I started editing my RAW files I saw why this camera was a big seller in the 1950's and how well the Kodak AG - Nagel Camera Werk built it. I am beginning to question my choice of camera for the Frugal Film Project 2025 and it's only my second Quirky Camera. Light leaks? None. Missed focus? None. Sharpness? Dang that Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenar lens is sweet! I may just do double duty again with my Kodak Retina 1a as my 35mm camera.

I really enjoyed my first ever experience of using a Kodak Retina 1a, it's a sweet little camera, fits in my pocket and I will definitely be taking it out and about a lot more this year. If you would like to help me feed my addiction to film photography and continue writing about my adventures, you can make a donation to the cause using the Ko-Fi links on the page. Here's a few of my favourite photos from my first roll of film shot with my Kodak Retina 1a, as always I have placed them and more in a album on Flickr you can vist using the link below. I hope you enjoy them

Kodak Retina 1a
August Nagel - Camera designer 
Quirky Cameras - Zeiss Ikon Maximar