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1920’s Cameras

The first flexible movie camera films measured 35-mm wide and came in long rolls on a spool. In the mid 1920's 35mm roll film was developed for the camera using this technology.

Oskar Barnack, who was in charge of research and development at Leitz, decided to investigate using 35mm cine film for still cameras while attempting to build a compact camera capable of making high-quality enlargements. He built his prototype 35mm camera (Ur-Leica) around 1913, though further development was delayed for several years by World War I. Leitz test-marketed the design between 1923 and 1924, receiving enough positive feedback that the camera was put into production as the Leica I (for Leitz camera) in 1925. The Leica's immediate popularity spawned a number of competitors, most notably the Contax (introduced in 1932), and cemented the position of 35mm as the format of choice for high-end compact cameras.

In the 1920s, wooden cameras began to be replaced by metal bodied cameras as mass production made cameras more affordable. Black painted bodies, black leather bellows and black leatherette covering featured in many designs, contrasted by nickel plated parts and occasionally chrome plating. Aluminium began to be used in the construction of cameras as pressed bodies and castings.

The first practical reflex camera was the Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex medium format TLR of 1928. Though both single- and twin-lens reflex cameras had been available for decades, they were too bulky to achieve much popularity. The Rolleiflex, however, was sufficiently compact to achieve widespread popularity and the medium-format TLR design became popular for both high- and low-end cameras.

1922 Kodak Camera Advertisement

No.1 Autographic Kodak (1922). Price $50

Exposures as fast as 1/200 of a second and six other adjustable speeds down to 1/2 second, all timed with scientific accuracy, give the No.1 Special a picture range hitherto associated with large cameras only. And yet you scarcely feel it in your pocket. Since the introduction of the the Kodak thity four years ago there has been no more single achievement in hand camera construction.

The lens: The high speed, high quality Kodak Anastigmat f6.3, eastman made from formula to finish, produces sharp, brilliant clean-cut pictures - the kind you will be glad to keep and proud to show. The shutter: Kodamatic shutter has seven adjustable speeds as well as time and bulb action, and each speed is dependably accurate.

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