An Agfa and a Kodak Retina II

This started as a story about the two 35mm cameras that my dad gave me last year—an Agfa and a Kodak Retina II. He told me that he’d bought them in Germany after his first camera (which already had film and exposures in it) was stolen. Why was he in Germany? He was on leave from the Army and traveling with friends through a couple of countries before it was time to ship out back home. So, I asked him to tell me a little bit more….

He bought the cameras in September 1955 when he, Phil Friend, and Jerry Kresky were on leave from their base in Orléans, France. They’d asked to go to Denmark and Norway but the army said no since it was so close to the end of their tour of duty they weren’t allowed to go that far. Stupid Army.

Dad’s a Korean War veteran even though he was drafted and sent overseas after all the shooting had stopped. He hadn’t quite graduated from college when he went away. And, when he came back again, he completely changed his major so he had a long undergraduate career. I think he might have stayed on the ranch without his army experience which would mean that he never would have met my mom and my brother and I wouldn’t exist. He hated the whole army thing and I don’t blame him (we’re too much alike). There were too many illogical decisions and, really, who likes to be ordered around?

On the way to Europe in February 1954, he shipped out of New Brunswick (?) and was terribly sea sick starting on day four. People kept telling him that sea sickness is all in your head but he couldn’t fight it off any longer. Finally got some Dramamine from sick bay and that fixed him up except for his heightened sense of smell. After days, they finally got off the ship in Bremerhaven, West Germany (at the time). It was cold, really cold when they arrived. They took a train to Innsbruck and a former German barracks. The next day he was reassigned to be a medical aid man which is what he started out as during his first 8 weeks of basic training at Fort Ord (where he’d gotten terribly sick—probably with pneumonia –and they wouldn’t let the soldiers have medical assistance until their temperature reached 104 degrees. There was a meningitis outbreak on base at the time though he didn’t get it--“just” pneumonia. You could tell he was sick because he was smiling in his army “yearbook” photo from that time). Then, when he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, they were in the process of switching all the medical training to Fort Sam Houston right before his arrival and still didn’t have their acts together. So, at Fort Sam Houston he was in the veterinary corps.

He remembers that in Texas they weren’t allowed off the base unless they had brown shoes or boots while at Fort Ord they hadn’t been allowed off unless they had black shoes or boots. They all got their shoes painted brown and well, it didn’t stick too well and cracked and flaked off. He did manage to get off the base a couple of times—driving once with some friends up to an area where a spring was gushing out of the ground and starting a river. He also got off base occasionally by hopping on one of the busses routed through the base and into town. There he had his first Jim Crow experience. He and some friends got on an empty bus and made their way to the back as one did to be polite in order for new arrivals to fill in. The bus driver insisted that they could not sit back there because “that’s where the ‘colored’ folks sit.”

I don’t ever remember Dad carrying his own camera around. The two I have now always lived in the bottom drawer of his night stand in pretty much pristine condition. He always keeps things in really good condition—a trait I wish I shared but my brother got that gene, not me. It seems like my mom was always the designated picture taker in the family. Possibly a function of the fact that she has always absolutely hated having her own picture taken. Or maybe because Dad’s Kodak stopped working properly and the camera shop in Sacramento (much later) couldn’t seem to fix it. I shall have to see if it’s workable myself. And ask him why he stopped taking pictures.

Rolleicord

My brother gave me this great Rolleicord for Christmas. He fixed one of the mirrors but it's supposed to be in working condition. I think it's a Rolleicord IIc model 4 from around 1946. The serial number is #1077616 and the Zeiss Triotar lens has a serial number of #3127655.


Another cool thing is that the case has a previous owner's name and address on it. It looks like the camera spent part of its life in Belgium. It's a little hard to read but I think the label says:
Peeters. J
30 Av Edouard
Lacomblé
ETTERBEEK

Plus the exposure table on the back of the camera is in French.

In other words, the owner lived or worked in Etterbeek, Belgium on Avenue Edouard Lacomblé, 30. Through the power of Google Maps, I can even see the building (assuming the address numbering hasn't changed since the camera case was marked) which now houses a doctor's office and CEFS (Le Centre d'Etudes de la Famille et des Systèmes). I wonder how in the world the camera ended up in Pennsylvania? I know how it got to California.

Meet the Cameras: Agfa Silette

This Agfa Silette with Pronto shutter and Apotar 1:3.5/45 lens belonged to J.'s grandfather ("Grampy"). He died back in the eighties (seventies?) so I never met him but understand he was always interested in the newest cameras. J., who also has a thing for cameras, ended up with a box full of his old ones when the family cleaned out the farmhouse in Canada.

The camera has suffered a bit from being in storage for a long time. There's some corrosion around the lens and some of the case lining has stuck to the body of the camera. No idea if it works but, of course, that's what this project is all about. I found a manual online here so that'll help.

It's in a Ciro 35 case so I thought that's what I had at first. The Agfa makes me happier.

Meet the Cameras: Argus 75

A friend (& co-worker) of mine picked this up at a garage sale. The exciting part: it has two rolls of vintage color 620 film and two flash bulbs included. I'm going to see if they still work.

It reminds me of the first camera I ever had. That was an old hand-me-down that I used more as a toy than as a camera. I think I shot one roll of film on it and never had it developed--should see if I still have that roll in my camera gear somewhere. The camera itself has disappeared.

Meet the Cameras: Brownie

I picked this Kodak No. 2A Brownie up five or six years ago at an "antique mall" not to far from where I live. It was around ten bucks which is what I understand these things are worth being ubiquitous. Seems to be in pretty good condition apart from a layer of dust. Hard to tell for sure since I haven't put it through its paces yet. Of course, it's just a box camera so not at all complicated but The Brownie Camera Page has a pdf of the manual in case I need it. Thanks to Mr. Chuck Baker who apparently maintains that website!

Meet the Cameras: Pinhole

The first day of spring seems like a good time to start a new project. Here's the first camera that I'll be playing with. It's for kids, really, and I got it a couple years out of a toy catalog--one of those educational ones--but haven't used it. It's a kit made out of particle board and all the pieces were pre-cut and just needed gluing together. The interior is filled by a black construction paper box. That smaller square with the "Pinhole Camera" sticker and the screw in the corner is the shutter. Yes, I stuck the sticker on. Why not.