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Folding Cameras

Folding Cameras

Typical Folding Camera Traits

Construction: metal / wood
   
Lens Quality: medium to high
   
User Controls: moderate to comprehensive

Folding Camera Characteristics

Folding Cameras are generally characterized by a flexible bellows between the lens and the body which allows the camera to significantly reduce its footprint when not in use. Perhaps one of the most mechanically complex types of cameras out there, folding cameras typically employ a rail and/or strut system that must be strong enough to keep the camera rigid during use but still flexible enough to gracefully fold out of the way when necessary.

Optical quality for folding cameras is generally fairly good since they were considered the pinnacle of photographic technology for many years. As a result, there were many high-end folding cameras like the original Kodak Retina models which came equipped with some of the most advanced lenses available at the time. Even when it comes to simple folding cameras like the Kodak Jiffy, the lenses were still relatively good.

The level of user controls in folding cameras can vary greatly from model to model. Some examples like the Univex Model AF-4 hardly need any user input at all while others like the Graflex Crown Graphic give you total control over nearly anything you can think of. Generally, however, most folding cameras will provide control over standard settings such as focus, aperture, and shutter speed.

While the vast majority of folding cameras look more or less the same, there are several unconventional models such as the SX-70 instant folding SLR, the Voigtländer Vitessa which uses “barn doors” to hide the lens when not in use, and the spectacular Welta Perfekta folding twin lens reflex camera.

Interested in starting or growing your own collection of folding cameras?
Check eBay to see what’s available.
References:

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 369-370, 546, 676-677.

Other Camera Types

Minox 35 GT

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Minox 35 GT

The Minox 35 GT is a compact viewfinder camera introduced in 1981 as the third variant of the Minox 35 EL which is arguably the smallest full-frame 35mm camera ever made (other contenders include the Rollei 35, Olympus XA, and Minolta TC-1). With the exception of the Minox 35 ML and MB (which had a more rectangular body) as well as the 35 PE (which had a built-in flash on the side), the Minox 35 GT and its siblings are virtually identical with the only real differences between them being internal. In one form or another, the Minox 35 was manufactured from 1974 to 2004, giving it an impressive 30 year production run.

Kodak Retina II

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Kodak Retina II

The Kodak Retina II is a high-end 35mm folding camera introduced in 1936 by Kodak AG, Eastman Kodak’s branch in what was then Nazi Germany. Like the original Retina, the Retina II was designed by Dr. August Nagel, founder of Nagel (which he sold to Kodak) and Contessa as well as co-founder of Zeiss Ikon. There are a number of different variants of the Retina II, the first three of which were manufactured before and during the early stages of World War II. In 1941, the Kodak AG factory in Stuttgart halted operations and began contributing to the war by making time-delay fuses for shells used by the much-feared 88mm Flak anti-aircraft gun. Then, shortly after Germany’s surrender in May 1945, camera production resumed and more versions followed. The exact Retina II pictured here is a type 142 (produced from 1937-1939) which is characterized by having separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows as well as a knurled knob for advancing the frame.

Kodak Flash Bantam

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Kodak Flash Bantam

The Kodak Flash Bantam is a compact folding camera introduced in 1947 by Eastman Kodak. As the name suggests, the Flash Bantam is the flash-ready variant of the original Bantam line of compact folding cameras which have no flash synchronization capabilities. Like previous Bantams, this model also utilizes 828 film, the unperforated 35mm film that Kodak developed but ultimately abandoned in favor of the now-standard 35mm cartridge.

Vest Pocket Kodak

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The Vest Pocket Kodak (commonly known as “VPK”) is an early compact folding camera introduced in 1912 by Eastman Kodak. Designed to fit neatly into users’ 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 Mallory’s remains were discovered in 1999, Irvine’s body and camera are still missing. Once found, the hope is that the film inside Irvine’s 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 Norgay‘s 1953 expedition.

Ernemann Heag II

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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 today’s 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.

Univex Model AF-4

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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 Universal’s success came from their business plan to sell cameras at very low prices and rely on the sales of their proprietary film cartridge.

Zeh Goldi

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The Zeh Goldi is a small folding camera introduced by Dresden’s Zeh-Camera-Fabrik in 1932. Designed for Kodak’s 127 film format (often called vest pocket film), the Goldi is significantly smaller than the 35mm cameras that would eventually herald the end of 127 and is actually on par with many modern-day compact digital cameras.

Franka Rolfix Jr.

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The Franka Rolfix Jr. is a medium format folding camera introduced in 1951 by Franka-Kamerawerk in Bayreuth, then part of the American Zone of Allied-Occupied Germany. Founded in 1909 by husband and wife team Franz and Leoni Vyskocil, Franka produced consumer cameras, many of them on behalf of other brands both in Germany and abroad. Designed to be the cheaper alternative to the normal Rolfix by being equipped with slower lenses and shutter assemblies, the Rolfix Jr. was debuted by Franka near the height of its success, about a decade before the company was purchased by the German manufacturer Wirgin.

Ansco Karomat

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The Ansco Karomat (also known as the Agfa Karat 36 and Agfa Karomat 36) is a 35mm rangefinder camera built by Agfa and introduced in 1951 by Ansco. Although based on Agfa’s original Karat which was designed to use the precursor to Agfa’s proprietary 35mm Rapid Film cartridge, the Karomat actually uses today’s standard Kodak 35mm cassette.

Graflex Crown Graphic

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The Graflex Crown Graphic (also known as the Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic) is a large format press camera introduced by Graflex Inc. in 1947. The lesser known Crown Graphic is commonly mistaken for the Graflex Speed Graphic which is often regarded as the most famous press camera of all time. The mistake is easy to make, however, since the two cameras are identical apart from an additional focal plane shutter on the Speed.

Ernemann Bob 00

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The Ernemann Bob 00 is a multi-format folding camera introduced in 1914 by Ernemann-Werke AG. Founded by Heinrich Ernemann in 1889, Ernemann produced both still and cinema cameras as well as film projectors. After its defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay 132 billion marks in reparations (about 442 billion USD in today’s economy, a mind-blowing sum they spent nearly a century repaying) which laid waste to their national economy. The German camera industry was not spared during this period of hyperinflation and Ernemann was forced to merge with three other companies (ICA, Goerz, and Contessa-Nettel) to form Zeiss Ikon.

Ernemann Heag XV

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Roughly the size of a large stack of playing cards, the Ernemann Heag XV is a pocket-sized folding camera introduced in 1911 by Ernemann. Founded by Heinrich Ernemann in 1889, the company produced both still and cinema cameras as well as projection equipment. After its defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay an enormous amount of money in reparations (about 442 billion USD in today’s economy, a sum they only just finished paying off in 2010) which absolutely devastated its economy. Unfortunately, the German camera industry floundered during this period of hyperinflation, causing Ernemann to merge with three other companies (ICA, Goerz, and Contessa-Nettel) to form Zeiss Ikon.

Kodak No. 2A Folding Pocket Brownie

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The Kodak No. 2A Folding Pocket Brownie is an early folding camera introduced by Eastman Kodak Company in 1910 at a price of $7 (about $170 in today’s money). The No. 2A is designed for the now defunct 116 film format which is very similar to 616 but with wider spool flanges. While we may think it’s a bit strange for Kodak to name this brick-sized camera a “Pocket” Brownie, it was considerably more portable than many of its contemporaries.

Toyoca Six

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The Toyoca Six is an extremely rare dual format folding camera introduced in 1957 by Toyohashi Y.K. Tougodo under the brand name Toyoca, a contraction of “Toyohashi” (the city in which the company was based at the time) and “Camera.” The other part of the name, “Tougodo,” was named after one of Japan’s most famous naval heroes, Admiral Togo Heihachiro who shared a hometown with one of the company’s founders.

Polaroid Land Model 95A

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The Polaroid Land Model 95A is a variant of the Model 95, the first of the flagship Land Cameras (named after Polaroid founder Edwin Land) and the very first practical instant film camera in history. Polaroid is synonymous with instant film and Edwin Land’s name adorned Polaroid’s most advanced instant cameras for well over 30 years until he finally retired from the company in 1982.

Kodak Jiffy Six 20

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When it was introduced, the Kodak Jiffy Six 20 was marketed by Eastman Kodak as the simplest, most user-friendly folding camera ever made. Up until that point, most folding cameras were of the same basic design (example: Kodak No. 3A Autographic). They were relatively difficult to handle, complex, and required users to manually unfold the camera and extend the lens in order to take photos. In the spirit of simplicity, the Jiffy boasts a simple two button operation. The first small metal button can be found on the film advance knob’s side of the camera and releases the front plate, causing the metal struts on either side to snap into place and automatically extend the lens. The second button is the shutter lever which can be found on the side of the front plate once extended.

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta A (521)

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The Zeiss Ikon Ikonta A (521) is a medium format camera introduced in Nazi Germany shortly before the outbreak of World War II. During that time, Zeiss Ikon produced some of the most advanced cameras of the day until the Second World War all but ground things to a halt. The brutal carpet bombing of Dresden in the war’s final stages caused heavy damage to Zeiss Ikon’s factory and destroyed the schematics and prototypes of many of its models.

Balda Super Baldinette

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The Balda Super Baldinette is a folding rangefinder and became Balda’s flagship camera in the early 1950s. Shortly after World War II, Balda moved from the eastern city of Dresden to B ünde in West Germany where founder Max Baldeweg opened a new factory and began manufacturing modified versions of existing models. Along with the Super Baldinette, there is also a “normal” Baldinette which has no rangefinder assembly.

Kodak No. 3A Autographic

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The Kodak No. 3A Autographic is one of Kodak’s early folding cameras and was designed to take a variant of 122 format film, commonly known as the postcard format. The specific variant in question is 122 autographic which allows you to use the camera’s metal stylus (seen here held by a metal clip onto the back of the camera) to record information about the photograph you just took by opening the long window underneath the stylus holder on the rear panel of the camera and writing directly onto the margin of the negative via carbon transfer paper. However, since autographic 122 seems to be nearly impossible to find these days, regular 122 film also works.

Polaroid Land Model 104

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The Polaroid Land Model 104 is Polaroid’s first lightweight, plastic Land Camera (named after inventor and Polaroid co-founder Edwin Land). It belongs to the lower end of Polaroid’s 100-400 series of instant cameras which, despite sometimes wildly varying levels of affordability and build quality, all feature folding bellows, clearly labeled operating sequence, and automatic exposure.

No.1 Pocket Kodak

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The No.1 Pocket Kodak is designed to take Kodak’s then-popular but ultimately short-lived autographic film which allows you to use the camera’s metal stylus (which is usually found attached to the brackets just next to the shutter lever but is missing from mine) to record information about the photograph you just took by opening the squat T-shaped window on the rear panel of the camera and writing directly onto the margin of the negative via carbon transfer paper. Regular 120 film also works, of course.