Universal Camera Corp. products are a favorite of mine. For information on the Kodak 35 Rangefinder camera, go to my Ken's Pictures site - links at the bottom of Home Page and in Favorite Links
Universal was an early favorite of mine because of the decision I had to make for my first 35mm camera. I ended up with a Kodak 35RF. But my other two choices that were within my price range were both from Universal Camera Corp. A Mercury II and a Buccaneer. When I started buying on eBay, my first purchase was a Buccaneer - I already owned a Mercury II. My middle brother's first camera was a Univex Norton camera - I also got one of those off eBay. My parent's only movie camera was a Cinemaster II. I don't have a lot of Universal cameras, but I do have a Uniflex I, Uniflex II, a pre-war Mercury, the Univex Norton, Cinemaster II, 2 Buccaneer's and 3 Mercury II's. The Mercury II's are the common one with f2.7 lens, one with an f3.5 lens and a black one. I also have the Univex extinction meter and the Mercury flash |
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The Venerable Mercury II 35mm camera.
Above is a Mercury II with some of the major accessories on it - the flash gun, which accepts large screw mount flash bulbs, and the extinction light meter. There are 2 accessory shoes, 1 for each of these, plus a shoe on top of the meter in case you need to stack another accessory. The shoe the flash is on is also an early version of the "hot shoe" - the flash makes contact through the shoe. The Mercury cameras used a unique shutter. It was called a rotary shutter (covered by flash here, it is more visible on the camera collecting page). The hump on the top contains part of the shutter, a rotating plate that works much like the shutter on old movie cameras. It was said to be quite reliable and accurate at the time.
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Universal made cameras other than 35mm
Shown here are their answer to the 120 Twin Lens reflex. Glitzy/Art Deco in appearance. Universal was not afraid to try unusual designs. Their cameras were often affordably priced. We owned a Cinemaster II and matching Universal movie projector when I was a boy - and being military, I know my parents looked for inexpensive choices. Same reasoning when they gave my 3 year old brother a Univex Norton to shoot on vacation. |
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Perfex, a U.S. focal plane shutter 35mm
My only Perfex model presently is the Deluxe. I have also shot the 55. Not a bad handling 35mm camera for that generation. Solid stamped metal body. The Wollensak lenses seem to vary in quality, but the good ones are excellent shooters. |
Probably the best known of American 35mm's, Argus
Most people are more familiar with the "brick" shaped Argus C-3. This Argus C-20 is like the first Argus camera I owned back in the early 60's. A nice, lightweight 35mm rangefinder camera, but also one of the lesser rugged of their cameras. Mine made surpisingly sharp images for a low priced 35mm. Argus C-3 fans have discovered there were actually many small changes made of the years - number of shutter speeds, color or shape of timer arm, with or without accessory shoe and more. In the 70's when I was an avid collector, I had catalogued a large variety of changes - unfortunately my charts have been lost in the numerous moves since then. There is an Argus site that will help you date your C-3 by it's features. |
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Bolsey went for small
The Bolsey B, B-2 and other Bolsey rangefinder models were very compact 35mm cameras. They are generally easy to find at reasonable prices. The unique model C that has both rangefinder and twin lens reflex viewing that is shown to the left. Because of the limited numbers of this model and it's unusual styling they are more costly and harder to find. Very rugged, generally about the only problem the Bolsey cameras usually have is with the shutter, which quite often is dead, especially if the camera has been left to set without use for any extended period of time. |
GRAPHIC PRESS CAMERAS
Carrying one of these babies around was almost as good as having a press pass 50 years ago. It was the badge of the professional press photographer. There were competitors, but the Pacemaker Speed Graphic was the recognized symbol. When I worked for a University Photo Service in the 60's we were still doing a majority of our work on 4X5. The other 2 staff photographers used the older Pacemaker Speed Graphics they had grown accustomed to, and the part time student employee (me) was handed the new Super Speed Graphic, which continued to be my assigned camera when I moved to full time. The wire frame sports finder, which seems so questionable for critical composition, was what we usually used, and with the amount of shooting we did we could fill the negative nearly completely. |
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Rescued by Graflex
Originally made by the Candid Camera Corporation(Perfex) as the Cee-Ay 35, it was re-introduced by Ciro Cameras as the Ciro 35, then finally bought out by Graflex. Graflex continued to make the Ciro 35 models, but eventually Graflex modified the camera to have push-button focus and named it the Graflex 35. The Ciroflex 120 Twin Lens Cameras eventually became Graflex models also. |
What else would you expect from a Scout leader
This is my first Boy Scout camera in my collection, and I have a second on it's way. Items to put into my Scout memorabilia collection. Like my photo items, most are low cost, but they provide interesting items to look at. |
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One of the first American 35mm cameras
This was not the first American 35mm camera, but introduced in 1924, it was a very early 35mm camera. Unusual upright design with a pull down claw in the back of the camera to advance the film. It shot Rapid cartridge film, which wound from cartridge to cartridge. Agfa tried to re-introduce it in the 60's to compete with Instamatic 126 cameras, but it never was successful in the U.S. |
Kodak and 35mm
Kodak made a large selection of 35mm cameras. The Signet 35 shown is an enjoyable camera to use. Compact size, rugged die-cast aluminum body, sharp Ektar lens. A working one is still a great performer. Later Signet models were generally not up to the standards of this original model. Very popular were the inexpensive Pony models - which are still easy to locate and still inexpensive. |
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Solid built 8mm movie cameras of the 50's
One of my favorite movie cameras was the Bell & Howell 134TA, shown on the right in the photo on the left. Even when I had sold much of my collection I kept one of these and shot a roll or two of tilm through it each year until the film was discontinued. The Revere was one of many popular models of Revere movie cameras. Wollensak, DeJur and Kodak were among other popular American companies making a large selection of movie cameras. |
Spartus hit the low priced 35mm market
The Spartus made some fairly nice 35mm cameras that were just a step above box cameras. Generally easy to find on eBay and still at low prices, they can be fun to try out. This two-tone model I think has the most solid feel of their 35mm cameras, however I expect optics are pretty simple, as is the shutter. |
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One of the hotest cameras ever made
These simple 126 drop-in cartridge cameras ranked as possibly the hotest selling cameras to come from Kodak. The drop in cartridge eliminated one of the biggest irritations of using a film camera. |
Popular cheap 127 camera
There were a large selection of these cameras with only minor changes between them. They were used as premiums - I remember seeing them as prizes in kids contests when I was young. They used 127 film and shot 16 exposures to the roll. There are 2 red windows in the back, and you wind the number on the back of the 127 film to the first window, then the second window. Repeat this sequence with all the 8 numbers on the back of the 127 film. Want to try out your old relic - 127 film is still made in Europe and can be found for sale at a few select dealers - check your internet. |
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