I've recently stepped into the world of photography and being a bit of a old-fashioned guy I thought I would go back to basics and try out a classic 35mm camera(That's the ones you load with 35mm film and pay through the nose to get developed).
The camera itself was one I picked up for just £4 from my local charity shop and I have to say it does look absolutely beautiful. Below is a picture of my 1967 Retinette B Kodak camera, with inbuilt light meter and multi-funtion Proton-K lens.
I have to say that it was love at first sight and I could not wait to try it out and see if it actually worked, 67-years after it was originally put on sale. To my amazement it all worked pretty well and I am very pleased with its initial performance. After going through several rolls of film and learning from scratch, how it all worked and what all the different features did to the resulting stills, I now have a good idea how to use the old girl.
So when the day arrived and girlfriend and I set off for a weekend in Salisbury, home of the Novichok poisoners (If you believe the hype), I was only too happy to bring along my new friend. Our first stop was at the UK's very own "wonder of the world", Stonehenge. and the weather was perfect for trying out the old Kodak. I had been having trouble getting a good focus when shooting pictures from a distance of more than 10-feet and this was happily overcome by the use of a camera stand. It seems my hands aren't as steady as I would like to believe and once I had utilised this basic tool I was blown away by the results. On this occasion I had switched from a 400 speed-rated film to the 200 speed-rated film. The Retinette range of cameras have setting for both types and more besides, but I have found the 200 to be less grainy and a little more forgiving for an amateur like myself.
Here are just a few pictures from the day at Stonehenge
The only problem I have with it now is the light meter is slightly inaccurate and there seems to be a build up of water/oil condensation inside of the lens. I have since stripped down the camera completely and cleaned all of the lenses and if I wouldn't have accidentally broken the shutter-cocking spring, I would have a perfectly working camera that is as good today as it was in 1967.
I'm not best pleased about this situation but at least I know the cameras are worth the money and I now have one on order from Ebay. I also now have 2 other Retinette 1 A cameras, one I received for free and one I have repaired myself. Unfortunately the 1A range doesn't have as many features as the 1B and neither does it have the internal light meter, but hey-ho, I am still creating a nice little collection of retro cameras and am thoroughly enjoying learning how to use and repair them.
For anyone who is interested, here is the full description of how to dismantle a Kodak Retinette 1A camera: https://retinarescue.com/files/retinette_1a_shutter_repair.pdf
Hope you have all enjoyed this short post and please feel free to pass on any photography advice.
PTYAY
This is an original post by Rebel-Dan, aka
