Kodak Camera Serial Numbers

[Brinda]

Ihave a lovely little No1 Pocket Kodak from about the 1920s or 30s. It is the bottom of the range model with the "Single lens". The aperture is not marked in f-numbers, but just labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4.

I'd like to use a 35mm camera as a meter, and figure out a conversion for the vintage camera. The more expensive cameras in the same range have f7.9 and f6.3 lenses, so I would guess it's higher than that? But I could imagine a cheap single element lens being quite bright, but sacrificing sharpness.

I have the original manual, which includes 3 exposure tables for the 3 different lens options (single, "Kodar f.7.9" and "Kodak Anastigmat f.6.3"), the page for the single lens is reproduced here. I gather however that films of the day were pretty slow, so this would be likely to over-expose modern film.

Other Camera details. It takes 120 film, and seems to work. I've run a roll of out of date Ilford FP4 through it, and got 4 or 5 really good pictures, but I was guessing and bracketing exposures in full sunlight. I think it says more about the latitude of film than my skill with the camera.

I've got some fresh Ilford Delta 400, and I'm hoping to take portraits in natural light indoors (A very well lit room), the same conditions using a 35mm camera, with a cheap f3.9 lens using Ilford FP4, 125 ASA have had no problems.

Interestingly, the aperture is in front of the shutter, which are both in front of the lens element. By holding up a ruler and squinting, I'd guess the aperture at setting 1 is about 8mm in diameter, and at setting 4 about 2mm.

From my research, I can assume the average film speed of orthochromatic film in the 1920s was between ISO 20 and ISO 30. Panchromatic films, like most modern films, were considerably slower. However, these films were still relatively new back then, so I will assume Kodak made that table for orthochromatic film.

Taking Sunny 16 into account, we could determine the f-stop of No. 1 to be f/16, or a close equivalent. This is because the shutter speed in that case matches the film speed, and because the scene is described to be a brightly lit area, without bright parts such as the sky or snow.

This all required some guesswork, so you still don't know for sure the apertures for this lens. I'm especially hesitant seeing as how f/48 would not be usable in most situations with an ISO 25 film, especially given how these cameras were made for the public, who did not regularly lug a tripod about.

Additionally, films had some leeway, meaning films rated ISO 200 may be ISO 400 in today's standards.

and says Kodak used the US system in the 1920s... but the 3 seems to rule that out here. Our modern f/stop system was present at that time too, and was becoming somewhat popular about that time too. Anything later probably was always the f/stop system.

Eastman Kodak, the legendary American film and camera company that's struggled to adapt to the digital age, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Though the company insists it has no intentions to file for bankruptcy protection, Kodak's share price plummeted to $0.78 on Friday amid fears of that very scenario. Here, a brief guide to Kodak's rise and fall, by the numbers:

The sequence to watch for is: first, the backing paper color changes from yellow to white (perhaps not visible through a red window); then, after a bit, there are two arrows, then there is (in tiny print) the name of the film; then, IMMEDIATELY!, there are the numbers 1 - but as I said they look like a vertical dotted line unless you know otherwise.

Every film-maker uses different markings - Ilford's gray circles leading up to the number are often hard to see in a red-window camera. Agfa and Fuji seem to have the easiest and most unmistakable markings.

To load them, you wind the film until you see the actual frame number (1), printed on the paper backing of the film, show up in a red glass window in the camera back. That's the frame counter, as well - you look at the numbers printed on the actual film backing for each and every shot. It's normally kind of fool-proof - and you never forget whether the camera is loaded or not if you are actually laying eyeballs on the film before each picture.

It first became necessary to specify which Kodak roll film was required with the introduction of the No. 2 Kodak camera in 1889. As different models and sizes of cameras were introduced, the film boxes were marked with the names of the cameras that the roll would fit.

By 1908, this system had become difficult to use for ordering film. It was now necessary to specify the image size and the camera the film was to be used in, as not all films for the same size pictures could be used interchangeably. To simplify this system, it was decided that the daylight-loading roll films on flanged spools would be numbered in the order of introduction, starting with the first Kodak film of this type introduced with the No. 2 Bullet camera in 1895 as number 101.

This system was gradually phased in as new film boxes and camera instruction manuals were printed, but the numbers did not appear in Kodak price lists until 1913. By this time, numbers 101 through 129 were used. Numbers 106 through 114 were used for films spooled for Cartridge Roll Holders, which allowed roll film to be used with cameras designed to use glass plates. In 1916 one more number in this series was added: No. 130 for pictures 2-7/8 by 4-7/8 made with No. 2C Kodak cameras.

Some Kodak and Brownie folding cameras made from 1914 to the 1930's have a little door on the back which is marked "use Autographic film A-(number)". A-116 film, for example, was for the same size pictures as 116 film but instead of red and black duplex paper, the film was wound with a sheet of carbon paper and thin red paper. This film used in an Autographic Kodak camera allowed a brief message to be written on the film in the space between the pictures. Pressure of a stylus on the backing paper transferred the carbon to the red paper and light passing through these lines in the carbon paper would photograph the message onto the film.

When 620 and 616 films were designed in 1931, considerable thought was given to the numbering. These films were for the same picture sizes as 120 and 116 but the spool diameters were smaller to allow them into thinner cameras. The "6" was to indicate the number of pictures per roll but by the time this product had reached the market, the decision had been made to increase the number of pictures on this size and on sizes 120 and 116 to eight exposures so the "6" became meaningless.

Size 220 was introduced in 1965, and is twice the length of 120 size film -- although it uses the same spool. This film has only a paper leader and trailer for light protection and no paper behind the film. It is used with professional cameras which advance the film automatically instead of using a window on the back of the camera to position the film.

In 1916, a very small box camera named the No. 00 Cartridge Premo camera was introduced using a No.35 roll film. This was numbered differently as it was not the same as the Eastman Non-Curling film supplied in the other roll film sizes but was apparently made from unperforated 35mm motion-picture film. In 1934 when 35mm film in cartridges were introduced with the Kodak Retina camera, number 135 was assigned to this product. This film size could also be used in the Contax and Leica cameras. Daylight-loading spools of film for these two cameras were also offered, and were numbered 235 and 435. In July 1952, a special length of film for 20 pairs of pictures made with 35mm stereo cameras was introduced and designated as 335.

In 1963 the Kodak Instamatic cameras were introduced. These used roll film in cartridges from drop-in film loading. The image size is 28 x 28 mm, but slight masking is required in printing and slide mounting so the useable image is 26.5 x 26.5 mm. The number 126 was used, as the original roll film for this size had been discontinued in 1949.

Credit where credit is due... I did not do the research that brings you this info on the history of Kodak roll film numbers. I found it at and copied it from Thom Bell's "Photographic Filters, Light Conversions, and More" website. I express my sincere thanks to Thom for his efforts in gathering this information and making it available.

I've been to too many antiques shows and seen just way too many Brownies, Instamatics, and broken folders stacked up to the ceiling and worth their weight in scrap metal. To me, the notion of a "quality Kodak camera" is an oxymoron. Kodaks are cheap, mass-market commodities, the early equivalents of disposable cameras.

But... there was one Kodak camera* that actually attempted to be quality. This was the early Kodak Retina series that was first released in 1934. That was until the bean-counters at Kodak realized they could cheapen the quality and mass produce it in the 1960s. The later non-folding Retinettes and SLR Retinas were nowhere as nice as the early rangefinder ones.

Not to be unpatriotic, but there's perhaps a reason why the early Retinas were great: they were designed and built in Germany (Stuttgart) by the Nagel Camerawerks. Kodak bought the Nagel company in 1931 and while the German government seized it during the War, Kodak regained control in 1945 and produced cameras until 1969. The Nagel-era Retinas ooze German quality. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Kodak went on to produce a series of non-folding rangefinders (Retina IIIs and kin [1959-1969]), low cost Retinettes, and SLRs under the Retina Reflex name (1956-69), but none of them quite reach the brilliance of the original Nagel Retina series.

If you find a good condition Retina for below $100-150 (the later series are more expensive), buy it. The cameras are real jewels. The lenses are fantastic German optics. They fold down to smaller than any SLR and while they are a bit heavy because of the all-metal body, they can take a real beating.

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