Just a quick post to show the amazing quality of the lens on a Kodak Autographic Special No. 1 that’s north of a century old. The lens is a triplet of Zeiss origin, sometimes marketed as a Baush and Lomb Kodak Anastigmat, or Kodak Zeiss Anastigmat. Click for larger image, 5000 pixels wide.
I have a bunch of these Kodak folding cameras from the turn of the century to the 1930s, and all of them have shutter problems, so plan on getting that fixed if you want to use one for walk around snaps.
The Kodak No. 1 cameras take commonly available 120 film today (6×9 size), as they did way back in the day using wooden spools with metal ends, but they will work just fine with modern film using plastic spools. Beware of the Kodak No. 1-a, it takes a completely different size film that is no longer available, and it’s often listed alongside the no. 1.
I used Kodak Portra 400 for this image, with the aperture set to F/22, at 1/10 second. My camera shows some signs of a light leak, see the reddish blotches along the left bottom. Once I get that, and some other issues fixed, I’ll do a proper review and get it posted.
I see more resolution in this 6×9 negative as I would get with even the most expensive 35mm camera and lens. Sure, the negative size is much larger with 6×9, but we’re looking at a simple anastigmat lens that was designed almost 110 years ago!! Talk about future proofing, I wonder how the current Sony Zeiss and GM lenses will compare to top grade lenses in 2128?