Kodak Retinette IB type 037 Analogue compact camera

This Kodak Retinette 1B, type 037 is a handsome rangefinder camera made in Germany by Kodak AG. This was the renowned company of one of the finest camera manufacturers: August Nagel, co-founder of Zeiss-Ikon and designer of the pre-loaded 35mm small-format cartridge. Previously photographers had to buy pre-cut lengths of film and load their own cassettes with the help of a darkroom or changing bag. This became the 35mm film standard that is still used today. In 1932 he sold his company to Eastman Kodak and became its director. Dr. Nagel was internationally respected as one of the best camera designers in the German photography industry. Famous models such as Vollenda, Nagel, Ranca, Pupile, Suprema, Ikonta were designed by him and successfully sold. The Retina camera series were all folding cameras. This compact, easy-to-use design with simple film loading was meant to reinforce Kodak’s slogan: you press the button, we do the rest. But then in Nagel’s quality. That has succeeded, see this Retinette. The camera was for the European market and was never sold in the U.S.

- The brushed chrome finish of the Retinette is solid and very precise. A very large viewfinder with clear white boundaries and a light meter needle, which is clearly visible at the bottom of the viewfinder. The camera measures 125 x 85 mm and weighs 530 grams. The top plate is made of bright plated brass. Above the lens we see three openings: left the Gossen selenium exposure meter, middle the viewfinder window, and right the frame illumination. The shutter is a pronto LK = light meter coupling. The lens is a Rodenstock Reomar 2.8/45mm.
The camera is complete with the original bag 67112-original Kodak screw-in lens hood and Biermann/Weber UV 29.5e screw-in filter. If only there were more such fine quality items.