Kodak AG

Kodak AG is the German branch of the Kodak company. It originated at the end of the 19th century as German branch of Kodak in Berlin, named Eastman Kodak GmbH

Later, in the 20th century, the German Kodak branch became listed at the German stock market, and it bought the independent camera maker Nagel, and its founder Dr. August Nagel became general director of the company when it was bought by Eastman Kodak Company on December 1, 1931. Kodak A.G. Dr. Nagel Werk developed its own line of products including the Kodak Retina Camera. The first Retina camera (Type 117) was introduced in the summer of 1934 along with a new 35mm film Daylight Loading Cartridge (DLC). Dr. August Nagel held the German patent for this new 35mm DLC. This 35mm Daylight Loading Cartridge was designed for the Kodak Retina camera and was also designed to retrofit into existing Leica and Contax cameras. Nagel's son Helmut Nagel led the company after the war.

Kodak made in Germany image by Francisco Javier Cornejos C. (Image rights)

35mm

Folding

Retina I

• Viewfinder cameras (scale focusing):
  • Retina I (117, 118, 119, 126, 141, 143, 148, 149, 010, 013)
  • Retina Ia (015)
  • Retina Ib (018)
  • Retina IB (019)
  • Retinette (Types 147, 012, 017, 160)
• Coupled rangefinder cameras:
  • Retina II (122, 142, 011, 014)
  • Retina IIa (150,016)
  • Retina IIc (020)
  • Retina IIIc (021)
  • Retina IIC (029)
  • Retina IIIC (028)

Rigid-bodied

• Viewfinder cameras
  • Retina I BS (040)
  • Retina IF (046)
  • Retinette (Type 022 - 1954)
  • Retinette I (Type 030 - 1958)
  • Retinette IA (Types 035 - 1959, 042 - 1960, 044 - 1963)
  • Kodak Retinette Ib (Type 037 - 1959)
  • Retinette IB (Type 045 - 1963)
  • Retinette II (Type 026 - 1958)
  • Retinette IIA (Type 036 - 1959)
  • Retinette IIB (Type 031 - 1958)
• Rangefinder cameras
  • Retina IIS (024)
  • Retina IIF (047)
  • Retina IIIS (027)
  • Retina Automatic I, II & III (038, 032, 039)
  • Retina S1 & S2 (060, 061)
• SLR cameras
  • Retina Reflex
  • Retina Reflex S
  • Retina Reflex III
  • Retina Reflex IV

126 film

Instamatic 500

Viewfinder

See the Instamatic page for a comprehensive list.

SLR

• Instamatic Reflex

110 film

• Mini-Instamatic S 30
• Mini-Instamatic S 40
• Pocket Ektra 200 Camera
• Tele-Ektralite 600 Camera
• Pocket Instamatic 300 Camera
• Pocket Instamatic 500 Camera electronic

127 film

folding

• Vollenda

rigid

• Pupille
• Ranca

120 & 620 film

folding

• Duo Six-20
• Kodak Regent
• Regent II
• Suprema
• Vollenda 620
• Kodak Junior 620

616 film

folding

• Junior Six-16

plate

folding

• Kodak Recomar 18
• Kodak Recomar 33

Literature

• COE, Brian: Kodak Cameras: The First Hundred Years, Hove Books, 2nd ed., 2003. ISBN 1874707375.
• NAGEL, Helmut: Zauber der Kamera: Beispiele aus dem Kodak-Nagel-Werk, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1977. ISBN 3421025169.
• KEMMLER, Karl Otto: Nagel und Kodak Kameras, Gisela Kemmler, 1983.
• GUBAS, Larry: Further Thoughts on August Nagel, available at Zeiss Historica, vol. 29, Fall 2007, pages 21-22. ISSN 1553-5371.
• GUBAS, Larry: Zeiss Ikon and Dr. August Nagel (History), available at Zeiss Historica, vol. 6, Spring 1984, page 4. ISSN 1553-5371.
• WALLAGE, Peter: August Nagel and the Retina, available at Zeiss Historica, vol. 27, Fall 2005, pages 10-15. ISSN 1553-5371.

Links

• Historical Society for Retina Cameras
• Retina Rescue - Chris's Camera Pages, by Chris Sherlock
• Kodak Classics by Mischa Koning ~ Contains, besides information about more than 500 Kodak cameras, online copies of the "Retina Guide", the "Retina Reflex Guide" and the "Retinette Guide" by Focus Press.
• Kodak Retina documentation (German), at Schneider Kreuznach
• Cameras and User manuals at www.collection-appareils.fr