No. 1A Autographic Kodak Junior
I visited my family in Ohio this past weekend for Christmas. My parents gave me a beautiful 100+ year old No. 1A Autographic Kodak Junior from a thrift store. From what I’ve read online, these were first manufactured in 1914 and shot 116 film, which is no longer in production. You can shoot 120 with these, but you have to get an inexpensive adapter to feed the film properly. This particular model has an F7.7-45 lens, and a ball bearing shutter with four modes: 1/25 sec, bulb, time, and 1/100 sec. The focus is adjusted by sliding the entire mechanism forward or back, depending on the distance to subject. The top down viewfinder can also rotate to the left to allow for landscape orientation. Although the aperture and shutter mechanisms appear to be fully functional, I did find some small holes in bellows with a flashlight, and I’m not totally sure if the housing is totally light-tight. Regardless of its actual working condition or value, it’s one of my favorite gifts I have ever received. It feels like a work of art, a piece of history.
