Kodak Retina IIa

[Hamish Gill]

The Kodak Retina IIa is a rangefinder camera made in the early 1950's
It is a folder and is actually fairly compact when folded, fitting in my jeans pockets with not to much of a squeeze

There is a little button on the bottom that opens door for the lens to pop out.

This particular IIa has a 50mm f/2 Schneider lens with a synhcro-compur shutter.
There are a few different lens/shutter combinations but all are 50mm f/2 with speeds from 1 - 1/500 sec.

The back has nice embossed branding - A minor thing i know, but i like it!

The film winder has a shot counter built into it that locks the winder from advancing ones the film is finished

The design is very angular, I'm not sure it is as pretty as some of its contemporaries, but it does have a very solid robust feel!

Its fast lens and rangefinder make it quite a good buy for the sort of money they can be picked up for. The main issue with the one i currently have in my possession is the fairly dull viewfinder and slightly finicky shutter advance lever. Other than that, it is a nice camera to use!

some tips on using cameras like this can be found here:
Sunny 16 rule
Zone focusing

 

[Michael Ross]

Some nice shots there Hamish, I love the shallow depth of field, something you don't see so much with digital cameras. I have a Retina IIIs but have never put a film through it, you quite make me want to give it a go.

 

[Hamish Gill]

You should!
There are a few of us here with a penchant for older gear... Its a lot of fun to use...

I've started cataloging my collection of old gear here in this style
Another member here (named Chris Dodkin) has been doing a similar thing with his collection of 8mm cini cameras so i have sort of followed suit ... i think it suits the cameras really!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

What a great looking piece of kit.

The fit and finish, even on a mass produced model, is lovely to see - and that embossed detail is so retro

I see it has IR listed on the film dial - didn't realize they were shooting IR in the 50s - kind of specialized for Joe Public!

Very nice series

 

[Hamish Gill]

It has the corresponding marking for focusing IR too!
I think it would have been quite a high end bit of kit in it's day!

 

[Pete Askew]

Nice write up and images again there Hamish and I love that narrow DoF shot of the top-plate. You know, these series are becoming quite a feature of the site!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Cheers Pete
Loads more to come!
I think I'm going to do one of the real odd balls next ... Keep your eyes peeled

 

[Larry Bolch]

The first compact rangefinder I began carrying after work was a Retina—I believe it was a IIIc. It was replaced by the excellent little Konica S3. Now my Fuji X100 plays the same role.

 

[Hamish Gill]

It's a hole in my kit bag at the moment Larry, currently effectively filled by the humble vito b
Hopefully a x100 will slot in there soon enough!