Kodak Bantam special Analogue camera

The Kodak Bantam Special has been described as "a masterpiece of art-deco styling" - McKeown, and "one of the most beautiful camera designs ever" - Stephen Gandy of Cameraquest.

Anyone who lays eyes on this design icon would struggle to disagree.

This Kodak Bantam Special was the top of the line for the Kodak Bantam line. Designed by the renowned industrial designer, the 'Dean of Industrial Design', Walter Dorwin Teague, the curved lines of the body are a call back to Art Moderne, while it's strking pinstripes were prescient of the transition to Streamline Modernism that came to be emblematic of 1950s American Industrial design.

The Bantam is smaller than most cameras of the period because Kodak had developed a special unperforated film for the Bantam series that required less space than the standard 35 mm sprocketed film. This, combined with its protective clamshell design, made it one of the first truly pocketable cameras.

The Camera is in very good condition.

The viewfinder is clear and contrasty, and, to my eye, accurate when testing with a piece of ground glass against the open film back. I have not, however, run any film through it, so I cannot be 100% confident in my assessment.

The lens is also in excellent condition with clean and clear elements showing only few minor cleaning marks and micro scratches under bright torchlight that accentuates these conditions. There is nothing there that will affect the performance of the lens though. The faster shutter speeds seem accurate, but the slower speeds are sluggish so the shutter will need a CLA if you intend to shoot with this camera

The body is still in good condition, showing no corrosion and only minor chipping and scratches.

Included but not pictured is an exposed roll of 828 film that you may choose to develop in the hopes of finding the next Vivian Maier, use as a take up spool and recycled backing paper should you decide to attempt to shoot with with camera rather than let it sit as a shelf queen, or simply keep as a souvenir of a time when experimentation in the photography world was rife and new formats were being released almost yearly.

The item will be doubled boxed and insured to ensure it arrives in your hands without coming to any harm.

According to § 437 BGB, this is a private sale without return as the function is given. Purchase is as seen. You will receive exactly what was described and shown in the photos. Filmtest was not made.

I am not a dealer and sell privately "without any warranty", I give a functional guarantee on items sold where I am able to test them to confirm as such.