kodak retina | Olderly Camera Project

A box of goodies

I was hired as a laborer at a steel warehouse, aided by a contact I had gained through the Boy Scouts. Mrs. J was certainly the coolest mom active with my old troop, and the two of us enjoyed lambasting different individuals in our group whenever I had to venture into the office and happened to see her.

Knowing my penchant for photography, one day she offered me a camera and accompanying accessories, recently acquired from the passing of a relative. Having my photographic education start on a camera that was probably 10 years older than myself (and a good 20-odd years old when I began with it, my trusty Canon AE-1), and already being interested in old fashioned technical stuff, I happily accepted a box containing a leatherette case, a manual non-battery-operated viewfinder/light meter, and solidly built Kodak Retina Ia.

Retina Ia

I am fortunate enough that the camera that really planted the idea of the Olderly Camera Project in my head takes a fairly typical and easy-to-find 35mm film, or else it would have kept its spot in that box, or possibly on a shelf as eye candy while I went about my business converting to a DSLR and not thinking twice about it.

A simple folding camera

The little folding viewfinder camera is not necessarily something that would catch the eye of a passerby on the street until you brought it to your own eye to compose. It’s a very well built device, a mixture of shiny silver metal and slightly faded black vulcanite, quiet to operate and somewhat understated in appearance (and features, having no built-in light meter or focusing screen/rangefinder).

And I think it is brilliant. If a bit squiffy.

Olderly Camera Project

A project in vintage

Tag Archives: kodak retina

Kodak Retina Ia: The Seeds of a Project