Retina IIIS (Type 027)

Format

135

Shutter

Synchro-Compur

Metering

coupled single-range selenium

Spec Notes

The camera that brought the DKL three-point bayonet to the Retina line, and the first rigid-front Retina - no folding door. WHOLE lenses interchange here, not front components: this is a different system from the C-types above, and the fifteen Retina DKL lenses already in this catalogue are its glass. Standard lens: Schneider Retina-Xenar 50mm f/2.8, Schneider Retina-Xenon 50mm f/1.9, Rodenstock Retina-Ysarex 50mm f/2.8 or Rodenstock Retina-Heligon 50mm f/1.9 - unlike the C-types, the maker here is NOT a keying constraint, because Kodak kept one DKL keying across all its own bodies. Coupled single-range selenium meter. PRODUCTION END UNCONSTRAINED: 1961 (retinarescue) vs 1960 (Wikipedia). Shutter speed range NOT SOURCED for this Type. Weight and dimensions NOT SOURCED. DATING: Kodak AG published no serial-to-year table, and the collector lists that exist map serial to MODEL with OVERLAPPING ranges - Retina Ia (015) and IIa (016) share two bands character-for-character, as do Retina I (013) and II (014), and a 50001-ish low block recurs across Types 018, 019/2, 028 and 029. A serial-only lookup is not merely imprecise, it is actively wrong. Where the fitted lens is Schneider-built, the LENS is datable from Schneider's own 63 published serial bands, already loaded; Rodenstock publishes none.

Rangefinder

Yes

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1958