Fiftieth Anniversary Kodak

The Anniversary Kodak set arrived this week and I am happy to say that the camera, film and instruction booklet are in pristine condition. The dealer card is a bit worn at the edges and discolored, and the box had several loose parts. With pliobond and strips of brown packing paper I glued all parts in the original place and restored the box to a fine exhibition item.

I added a description of the camera to my website, so click here if you want to read more about it.

There are a number of cameras and items I did not buy, but would have liked to bid on and win. First of all there was a fine No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak Deluxe. Thanks to my high bid and to the even higher bid of another collector it went for a nice sum of Uncle Sam $$$, but alas not to me.
Because I did go for the Deluxe, I let pass a nice No. 3 Eastman Plate camera Series D and a No. 1A Speed Kodak. So now I did not get any of these, but they will come again, they always do. More rare is a tin box for developing powder in Art Nouveau style, with a beautiful drawing of a lady with a Folding Pocket Kodak in her hands. I did bid on it, but not enough, so someone else is happy with it now. It would have been a nice addition to my Original FPK set! Alas again...

For the rest I am busy in my garden and don't have much time for blogging. Terraces are ready around the house, but a new teahouse needed / needs electricity, paint and the garden around it had to be planted all over again. The planting is done, but now I have to make a brick path leading to the teahouse...

No. 4 Eastman Plate Series D & Anniversary set

The Eastman Plate camera arrived and it surprised me in a positve way. The camera is not only in a very nice condition, but it is also a high quality instrument with of number of special features for the advanced amateur photographer. The lens panel can move up and down and to the left and right, facilitating perspective adjustments. The back panel can rotate along a horizontal axis, making tilting of the plane of focus possible. My Series D camera has double extension of the bellows, so the camera could be used for close up photos.
There is not much information around about the camera, but I found that it cost US$ 25.00 in its day for the version with the Rapid Rectilinear lens. That was not a small amount. A factory worker had to work more than two weeks at 50 hours per week to earn that. A version with a better grade Plastigmat lens cost $ 62.50.
After a bit of cleaning, reparing the reflex finder on the drop bed and a coating of Venetian Cream the camera was ready for a portrait session. Here are two results.

Because of the winter period (and the bad light) my Black Maria film studio is closed. The video with the rotating camera will have to wait until the spring. Nevertheless I added the No. 4 Eastman Plate Series D to my website. Follow the link to see it there.

Since many years I have a Anniversary Kodak in my collection. My mother gave it to me for one of my birthdays a long time ago. That was in the pre-internet age, when lists of cameras arrived in the mail (yes, on paper!) and if you wanted something you had to call the dealer in the middle of the night (from Europe to the USA). The camera I got is not in the best condition, but as it is a birthday present I never replaced it. I won't discard it now, but I could not resist buying a very fine set, with box, booklet, special card, box of film and a very clean camera in like new condition. It did not arrive yet, but here's a pic.