No. 1A Kodak Series III

Format

116 roll film

System

Kodak Series III

Shutter

Diomatic, 1/10 1/25 1/50 1/100 T B. Speeds 10/25/50/100/T/B confirmed on two specimens

Focusing

"Adjustable focus only with lever focusing device" (1924), becoming "Adjustable; screw focusing device" (1927) and "screw focusing device on Nos. 1 and 1A" (1931). A Science Museum Group specimen dated 1926-28 reads "Screw focussing 6'-100'"

Metering

none

Spec Notes

TWO DIMENSIONS AGAINST THE ALREADY-BUILT No. 1A Pocket Kodak Series II, and format is not one of them because both are 116: FOCUSING MECHANISM - a named focusing device, lever then screw, against the Series II's 'Adjustable focus only' with no device named in any year - and a DISJOINT LENS LADDER, this camera never offering a meniscus or a Kodar and the Series II never offering f/6.3 or better. THE RESEARCH BRIEF'S SECOND DIMENSION WAS WRONG AND IS NOT USED: it counted the shutter, but from 1927 the Series II carries the Diomatic itself with an IDENTICAL speed set, so the shutter difference exists only in 1924 and is recorded as a dated note rather than counted. The 1924 difference is real - Series II 'Kodak Ball Bearing with finger release' at 1/25 1/50 1/100 against this camera's 'Diomatic Shutter with cable and finger release' at 1/10 1/25 1/50 1/100 - four speeds against three, decided on a SPEED COUNT rather than on the shutter names, following the method that settled the Speed Kodak shutters in slice 9c. NOTE THE LINE NAME DROPS THE WORD 'POCKET': it is 'Kodak Series III', not 'Pocket Kodak Series III', and there is no Pocket Kodak Series III at all. Specimen serials 48432 and 18951, the latter with shutter no. 40721. An exposure calculator is printed on the iris control - A PRINTED TABLE, NOT A METER. historiccamera was used for NOTHING load-bearing. Datasheet 696 was confirmed uncited this slice and its text is verbatim laundered AA-13; datasheets 580 and 567 likewise list no references at all. Sixth, seventh and eighth occurrences of the pattern. SOURCE-HANDLING: the WebFetch relay fabricates when led, proven five times in this build. Every reading behind this row was taken with neutral questions, an explicit 'or say not stated' escape hatch, control questions whose answer had to be NO, and a second ask in different wording. One relay bleed WAS caught in this slice - asked about the 1913 Six-Three page it returned 'rack and pinion' and 'rising and sliding fronts', both of which are printed on the SPECIAL pages two pages earlier. That read was discarded and the isolated re-read returned the correct answer. Values resting on VULGAR FRACTIONS are unreliable: these scans return different fractions on repeat reads of the same page. Every row-shape call in this slice was decided on prose, on a model name, on a shutter name, on a SPEED COUNT, on an integer or on a dollar figure. Where a catalogue fraction and a museum specimen disagree the specimen is preferred and the conflict is recorded. NO PRICE IS RECORDED. Where a figure decides a row shape it is quoted in these notes instead. DATES ARE MARKET DATES, NOT PRODUCTION - AA-13 heads its columns 'ON THE MARKET FROM / TO'. Where Kodak's own catalogue shelf contradicts AA-13 the conflict is recorded on the row and NOT resolved. DATING: NO SCHEME EXISTS. No serial-to-year mapping and no date code was ever published for any Kodak of this era. Specimen serials are recorded for provenance only and are NOT decodable - and note they are not even a consistent KIND of number: the four published Series III figures mix a camera body serial (No. 3 Series III, 20021), lens serials (No. 1 Series III, 9080; No. 3 Series III, 104717) and an autographic-back serial (13327). Four numbers across two models spanning three orders of magnitude. DO NOT BUILD A DECODER.

Fitted Lens

Kodak Anastigmat f/7.7 (1924), f/6.3 from 1927, f/6.3 and f/5.6 by 1931. Specimen focal lengths 127 mm and 130 mm, both f/6.3

Rangefinder

No

Negative Size

2-1/2 x 4-1/4 in

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1924