| Construction: | metal / plastic |
| Â | Â |
| Lens Quality: | low to medium |
| Â | Â |
| User Controls: | minimal to moderate |
Unlike rangefinders, SLRs, TLRs, and view cameras, viewfinder cameras are unable to show what is (or isn’t) in focus. Accurate focusing systems are typically missing on viewfinder cameras because their absence makes these models considerably cheaper and easier to produce. Higher end cameras in this category like the Kodak Instamatic 500 employ relatively complex optics in their viewfinders while many box cameras like the Ansco Anscoflex use brilliant finders (a magnified waist-level finder that uses a mirror to reflect the image upward). At the lowest end of the spectrum, models such as the Univex Model AF-4 simply provide a hole to look through.
The argument can be made that the prevalence of viewfinder cameras is in direct correlation to the widespread introduction of rollfilm in the early 1900s. While holders for sheet film and/or photographic plates could easily be swapped out for the ground glass screens used for both focus and composition in older cameras, newer ones designed specifically for comparatively inflexible rollfilm were forced to find workable alternatives. Advanced rollfilm cameras like the Leica II rangefinder, the Rolleiflex TLR, and the Auto Graflex SLR solved this focusing/composition problem with expensive cutting-edge technology but manufacturers had to get creative when it came to other models.
Camera companies decided to divide and conquer by divorcing focus from composition in order to address each function separately. The simplest way to deal with focusing was to design a lens able to simultaneously focus on everything from a certain distance (one meter, for example) to infinity and then lock it into place. However, these lenses were typically not very sharp and fitted only to lower end models. Cameras with these fixed-focus lenses were then given primitive composition aides like the wire frame finder on the Kodak Hawkeye or a simple tube like the one atop the Herco Imperial 620 Snap Shot. Folding cameras like the Kodak No. 2A and Ernemann Heag II, which used more advanced lenses, could be focused by determining the distance from the subject and then shifting the lens standard forwards or backwards on the camera’s rails accordingly. The small brilliant finders used for composition could be neatly tucked away when the camera was collapsed.
Notable viewfinder cameras include the groundbreaking Leica I Model A, the Argus A which almost single-handedly popularized the use of 35mm film in the United States, and the ubiquitous Kodak Brownie series which brought affordable photography to the masses. Unusual ones include the Houghton Ticka pocket watch camera which had a removable viewfinder, the pistol-shaped Mamiya Speed Shot Special and Doryu 2-16 which were used to train Japanese policemen, and the lizard skin-clad Hunter Gilbert with a rotatable brilliant finder.
McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 2001-2002. (Grantsburg, WI, USA: Centennial Photo Service, 2001), p 180, 255, 281, 416-417, 449, 579-582.
The Spartus Press Flash (also sold as the Falcon Press Flash, the Galter Press Flash, and the Regal Flash Master) is an unusually designed box camera introduced by the Spartus Camera Corporation in 1939. It is widely believed to be the very first camera of any kind to feature a built-in flash unit.
The Dacora Digna is a medium format fixed-lens viewfinder camera introduced by Dacora-Kamerawerk in 1954. There are several variants of the Digna with different lenses ranging from the relatively high-end Enna Correlar 80mm f/2.9 to more basic offerings like my exampleâs Dacora 80mm f/7.7 Achromat. The Digna was also sold as the Ilford Sporti in the British market.
The Taron Chic is a vertically oriented 35mm half-frame camera introduced by Taron in 1961. The only other camera that Iâm aware of that bears any resemblance to the Chic is the Yashica Rapide. However, since they were both introduced in 1961, itâs unclear as to who copied whose vertical design or if there was indeed any copying done at all.
The Bilora Bella 44 is a viewfinder camera introduced in 1958 under the brand name Bilora by KĂźrbi & Niggeloh, a manufacturer based in the German town of Radevormwald some 40 kilometers west of DĂźsseldorf. So named because it produced 4x4cm exposures, the Bella 44 was very similar to the original Bella of 1953 and the Bella 46, both of which delivered 4x6cm negatives. During its production life, the Bella 44 was also sold in the US as the Tower No. 5 and the Ansco Lancer as well as in Germany as the Foto-Quelle Revue 44.
The Kodak PH-324 was the military version of the Kodak 35 built by Eastman Kodak on behalf of the United States Army Signal Corps for service during World War II. Mechanically, it was identical to the 35 with the only major differences being an olive drab green and black finish.
The Kodak 35 was the first 35mm camera manufactured by Kodak in the United States. The Kodak Retina seriesâearlier 35mm modelsâwere being made in Germany starting in 1934 but as war loomed on the horizon, Kodak decided to develop a 35mm camera that wouldnât have to rely on imported components. The other major motivation for Kodak to make the 35 was to compete directly with the Argus A and Argus C series of cameras, a battle it would eventually lose.
The Certo Certina (also sold by German retail giant Foto-Quelle as the Revue Junior) is a simple, fixed-lens medium format viewfinder camera introduced by Dresden-based Certo-Kamera-Werk in 1966. The Certina is heavily based on the Certo-phot of 1958 with the notable addition of a left-handed frame advance lever.
The Hunter Gilbert is an unusual British-made box camera introduced in 1953 by R. F. Hunter, Ltd., a London distribution company that sold cameras under its own brand as well as those of other companies.
The LaBelle Pal is a 35mm viewfinder camera designed by Bolsey and sold by LaBelle Industries of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The camera was actually meant to be the Bolsey Model A, which was supposed to slot in nicely as an entry model alongside the Model B (a rangefinder) and the Model C (a twin lens rangefinder). Unfortunately, the Model A never quite materialized for reasons unknown and so only exists as the Labelle Pal. As a result, this camera is fairly rare.
The Agfa Parat-I is a fixed-lens half-frame 35mm cameras introduced by Agfa in 1963. There are a total of three nearly visually identical cameras released in 1963 that use the Parat name with a few key differences: the Parat-I (no meter), the Paramat (fixed shutter speed, automatic aperture control), and the Optima-Parat (automatic exposure system, different lens options).
The Ferrania Ibis 34 is a viewfinder camera introduced in 1959 by Ferrania, an Italian camera manufacturer based in the village of the same name. The Ibis 34 is basically a slightly more compact version of its predecessor, the Ibis 44 which took 4x4cm exposures on 127 film as opposed to the Ibis 34âs 3x4cm images.
The Ansco Shur-Shot is a simple, mass-produced box camera made of wood, leatherette-wrapped cardboard, and aluminum introduced by Ansco in 1948. A combination of simple mechanics and large production numbers mean that itâs relatively easy to find a Shur-Shot in good working condition even today.
The Vest Pocket Kodak (commonly known as âVPKâ) is an early compact folding camera introduced in 1912 by Eastman Kodak. Designed to fit neatly into usersâ pockets and later heavily marketed to British, American, Australian, French, Italian, and other Allied soldiers during World War I, the Vest Pocket Kodak was one of the most successful cameras of its day, reportedly selling over two million units during its 15 year production life. The VPK is also famous for having accompanied English mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine during their fatal expedition to Mount Everest in 1924. While Malloryâs remains were discovered in 1999, Irvineâs body and camera are still missing. Once found, the hope is that the film inside Irvineâs Vest Pocket Kodak may finally tell us whether or not the two climbers had succeeded in reaching the summit nearly thirty years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgayâs 1953 expedition.
The Tower 39 Automatic 35 is an unusual looking fixed-lens viewfinder camera manufactured in Japan as the Mamiya Automatic 35 EEF and rebadged for sale in America under the Sears, Roebuck & Companyâs Tower brand. As one of the largest retailers in the world at the time, Sears sold a huge variety of cameras including those that it arranged to have sold under its own in-house brands.
The simply named Rolls is a viewfinder camera made of Bakeliteâan early plasticâintroduced by the Rolls Camera Mfg. Co. in 1939. This same camera was sold under a wide variety of names in many different variations, particularly by what is commonly referred to as the âChicago Cluster,â a group of Chicago-based brand names that produced so many near-identical cameras that itâs widely believed to be just one actual company.
The Bell & Howell Electric Eye 127 (also known as the Infallible Electric Eye 127) is a premium automatic exposure box camera introduced in 1958 by the Bell & Howell Company of Chicago. While better known for its motion picture cameras and projectors, Bell & Howell also manufactured several still camera models from the late â40s to the early â60s and sold rebadged Canon cameras in the 1970s.
The Minolta Autopak 500 is a stylish viewfinder camera introduced in 1966 and designed for the 126 film cassette. Rebadged and sold as the Ilford Monarch in the United Kingdom and the Revue-matic 500 in Germany, the Autopak 500 pioneered an auto exposure system capable of automatically firing the flash in low light situations, a feature that has since become standard in all cameras.
The GOMZ-LOMO Voskhod is an unconventional 35mm viewfinder camera introduced in 1964 by GOMZ shortly before it reorganized and became the Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Union, better known as LOMO. The Russian term âVoskhodâ means âascentâ or âsunrise,â an appropriate moniker since most cameras produced in the Soviet Union at the time were inelegant, utilitarian, and designed for large-scale mass production. With a relatively small production run of just a little over 59,000 units, the Voskhod is far from the average Soviet camera.
The Ansco Anscoflex is an unusual pseudo TLR camera introduced in 1954 by Ansco. The Anscoflex (and Anscoflex II) was crafted by the world-renowned French-American industrial designer Raymond Loewy, the same man whose portfolio includes the iconic Greyhound Scenicruiser bus, several steam locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad, various cars like the Studebaker Avanti, Sunbeam Alpine, and Hillman Minx, the interiors of the supersonic Concorde and NASAâs Skylab space station, as well as the livery for Air Force One. Small wonder he was referred to by the press as âThe Father of Industrial Design.â
The Ernemann Heag II is a multi-format folding camera introduced in 1913 by Ernemann. Founded in the German city of Dresden in 1889, the company manufactured still cameras, cinema cameras, and projection equipment. After Germany lost World War I, the Treaty of Versailles meant that the country had to pay an exorbitant amount of money in reparations (approximately 442 billion USD in todayâs economy, a vast sum they finally paid off in 2010) which left its economy in utter ruin. The German camera industry floundered, forcing Ernemann to merge with three other companies (ICA, Goerz, and Contessa-Nettel) to form Zeiss Ikon in order to stay afloat.
The Toyoca 35-S (also sold as the Strato 35) is a 35mm viewfinder camera introduced by Toyohashi Y.K. Tougodo in 1957 under the brand name Toyoca, a contraction of âToyohashiâ (where the company was based) and the English word âCamera.â The name âTougodo,â on the other hand, was in honor of one of Japanâs most famous naval heroes, Admiral Togo Heihachiro who was born in the same city as one of the companyâs founders.
The Kodak Hawkeye (also commonly sold as the âBaby Hawkeye,â âHawkeye Ace,â and âHawkeye Ace De Luxeâ in several slight variations) is a simple box camera made of leatherette-covered cardboard with a metal face. The Hawkeye was manufactured by Kodak Ltd., Londonâthe British subsidiary of Eastman Kodakâand appears to have only been available in select European markets when it was introduced in 1936.
The Univex Model AF-4 is a compact folding camera introduced by the Universal Camera Corporation of New York in 1938. Amazingly, the founders of Universal had no previous experience in the photography market but still managed to create innovative yet easily mass-produced cameras. Much of Universalâs success came from their business plan to sell cameras at very low prices and rely on the sales of their proprietary film cartridge.
The Ansco Memo is an unusual 35mm half-frame box camera introduced in 1927 by Ansco. The âMemoâ name has been used by Ansco and Agfa Ansco on several different 35mm models (for example the Memo II Automatic) over the years which can sometimes lead to confusion. To combat this, collectors will usually differentiate these models by including the year of introduction to avoid confusion. This particular modelâwhich was the very first camera to bear the nameâcan also be referred to as the âAnsco Memo (1927 Type).â
The Spartus 35 is the direct successor to the original Spartus 35F. After Herold bought out Spartus in 1951, it decided to update the 35 (which was modeled after the Argus A), creating the design you see above which was probably based loosely on the Kodak Pony.
