Kodak Bantam f/6.3

Format

828, 28x40 mm

System

Kodak Bantam

Shutter

fixed-speed, name NOT SOURCED

Metering

none

Spec Notes

The base Bantam, and the naming here is Kodak's own rather than a collector convention: AA-13 designates these cameras BY LENS - 'KODAK BANTAM f/4.5 Camera', 'KODAK BANTAM f/5.6 Camera', 'KODAK BANTAM f/8 Camera'. The engraved lens name is corroborated by four Pacific Rim dealer transcriptions reading '53/6.3 KODAK ANASTIGMAT'. GENERATIONS FOLDED IN: the f/12.5 DOUBLET Bantam (1935-38, $6), which differs by ONE dimension - the lens; and the finder variants AA-13 lists separately as 'Rigid finder', 'metal frame finder' and 'folding optical finder', since viewfinder type is not one of this catalogue's hardware dimensions. Kodak's 1937 catalogue sells the f/6.3 at $10 with a fixed shutter whose name no source gives. Weight and dimensions NOT SOURCED. DATING: NONE. The CAMEROSITY lens prefix is attested only on Ektar, Anastigmat Special and Anastar lenses. No prefixed EKTANAR or ANASTON serial could be found in Kodak literature, museum records, dealer inventory or auction text, and no source states whether those tiers are inside or outside the scheme - so this camera is NOT datable from its lens. The four-letter body date code that cheap Kodaks carry is not sourced for this model either. DATES ARE MARKET DATES, NOT PRODUCTION. Kodak's own AA-13 heads its columns 'ON THE MARKET FROM / TO', and no Kodak-published production date exists for any camera in this slice - every third-party 'production years' figure checked is a restatement of AA-13.

Fitted Lens

Kodak Anastigmat 53mm f/6.3

Rangefinder

No

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1935