No. 2 Bullet Special

Format

101 daylight cartridge, or a double glass plate holder

System

Kodak Bullet

Shutter

Eastman pneumatic with finger release, later named Eastman Triple Action - three instantaneous speeds plus time and lever

Focusing

fixed

Metering

none

Spec Notes

Two dimensions from the Improved: a Bausch & Lomb rapid rectilinear with an iris diaphragm in place of a single achromatic with three stops, and a three-speed pneumatic shutter in place of the rotary. A SHUTTER CHANGE THAT MUST NOT BE BUILT: 'Eastman pneumatic arranged to work with a finger release' (1898) and 'Eastman triple action' (1900 on) are THE SAME SHUTTER UNDER TWO NAMES - the 1898 text already describes the three actions, instantaneous, time and lever, that 'triple action' names. Science Museum object 1990-5036/1616, serial 573, catalogues a '98 Model with its rear access door SEALED, which contradicts AA-13's plate option and is flagged rather than reconciled - it may be an alteration to that object. THE FILM NUMBER IS NOT KODAK'S OWN. Kodak names no film number for these cameras in any catalogue of the period - it prints only 'N. C. Film Cartridge, 12 exposures'. The numbers 101, 102, 103 and 124 reach this catalogue from AA-13 and from museum records, and are recorded as attributions rather than as Kodak designations. NO PRICE IS RECORDED. AA-13's price column is not a list price; 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 presence contradicts AA-13 the conflict is recorded on the row and NOT resolved. DATING: NONE EXISTS. No serial-to-year mapping and no date code was ever published for any Kodak of this era, and Kodak's catalogues print no serial anywhere. Kodak DID stamp model letters inside some bodies - The Henry Ford transcribes 'IN ORDERING SUPPLIES FOR THIS CAMERA ALWAYS SPECIFY FOR NO. 2 BULL'S-EYE, MODEL D' - but a supply-ordering label is a marking, not a dating scheme.

Fitted Lens

Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectilinear, fixed focus 5 in (5-1/8 in from 1902), iris diaphragm US 4 to 128

Rangefinder

No

Negative Size

3-1/2 x 3-1/2 in

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1898