Kodak 35, 35mm camera. Used - Good condition.

The Kodak 35 was introduced in 1938 as the first US manufactured 35 mm camera from Eastman Kodak Company. It was developed in Rochester, New York when it became likely that imports from the Kodak AG factory in Germany could be disrupted by war. It has no rangefinder.  It takes thirty-six 24×36 mm frames on 135 film. The precision molded black Bakelite body has satin-chromed top and base plates, and a collapsible finder is mounted on top center. The removable Bakelite back with the attached base plate slides easily off for film handling. It is secured by a centrally located wing key in the base plate. Turning the key also slackens the spring tension of the chromed steel film pressure plate, a very unusual feature presumably incorporated to facilitate reassembling the camera after loading a new roll of film.  

On top of the camera are large advance and rewind knobs, the right-hand one is the film advance knob, and both operate in a clockwise direction. Next to the advance it is a manually reset automatic frame counter dial and the chromed wind-on release button, the latter not to be mistaken for the shutter release. The shutter release is located on the front of the lens under a small protective cover. The front element focusing Kodak lens has a rigid lens-mount set in a Kodak inter-lens shutter. The shutter is cocked by a gear coupling to the sprocket-wheel drum, which is turning along with the passing film during the film advance operation. Therefore, the shutter cannot be cocked without a film in the camera. An automatic mechanism locates the next frame on the film by locking the advance knob. It is released for the next frame by depressing the wind-on release button before turning the wind-on knob. This prevents double exposure, but not blank frames since there is nothing to prevents pressing the locking button again and advancing the film. However, there is a red indicator shown to the left in a slot on the top of the shutter cover that indicates the camera has been wound. The shutter release is situated at about 10-o'clock on the shutter housing and is protected from being accidentally triggered by a small cover extending over it.

Rewinding the film into its cassette is accomplished by first pulling the wind-on knob to its raised position followed by turning the left-hand top mounted rewind-knob clock-wise; this is accompanied by a rattling noise. It is not possible to raise the wind-on knob if it is not free to rotate, it is freed by turning the knob clock-wise while depressing the double exposure prevention button. The frame counter dial rotates during rewind as long as the film passes the sprocket wheel drum. The wind gears, which is visible inside the machined steel film chamber. All internal metal parts are either plated steel or brass. The film pressure-plate is chrome-plated polished steel, while the other parts are nickel-plated.

A variety of lens and shutter combinations appeared during the production period.  This model dates to 1947–1948 based on the Kodak Anastigmat Special f/3.5 50mm lens with FLASH KODAMATIC SHUTTER.

The body is black Bakelite and top and base are satin chromed metal. The collapsible viewfinder on top of the camera features a small knob that allows for parralax correction during close focusing. There was no civil production between 1942 and 1945. The post-war models had an accessory shoe added between the viewfinder and the rewind knob. The film advance and rewind knobs are made of plastic and the rewind knob has a film reminder dial in the hub.

This camera would be an excellent addition to any collection. 

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