Retina I (Nr. 119)

Format

135

Shutter

Compur or Compur-Rapid

Metering

none

Spec Notes

Last of the all-black bodies. Lens options sourced: Schneider Retina-Xenar 5cm f/3.5 (uncoated, 4 elements) and Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 5cm f/3.5. Standard lens NOT SOURCED. A reviewer measured one example at 458 g; that is a measurement, not a published spec, and is recorded here rather than as a weight value. GENERATION FOLDED IN: Nr. 126, the chrome-plated version. Two sources state the 119 and 126 were introduced SIMULTANEOUSLY and are identical but for nickel vs chrome plating - so this is a finish variant, not a successor, and finish is not a hardware dimension (the precedent is Sherlock treating the Retina IIIc's trim changes as in-Type production changes). END YEAR DISPUTED for the 126: 1937 (camerapedia, retinarescue) vs 1938 (camera-wiki, mikeeckman). *** A CORRECTION TO THIS PROJECT'S OWN KICKOFF BRIEF ***: that brief used '119 is 1936-38 while 126 is 1936-37' as its evidence that Kodak AG Nr. numbers are not chronological. The example does not work - the two were introduced together, so nothing is out of order, and the end years are themselves disputed. The conclusion stands on better evidence: Type 019 (1957-58) carries a LOWER number than Types 020 and 021 (both from 1954), three years earlier.

Rangefinder

No

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1936