Klapp – Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

October 23, 2025

Beauty camera family list

Beauty camera family list Preamble Researching camera information can be tedious. Where information is available in print, it takes a long time to retrieve. Online research is much faster when the search subject is unique, such as ‘Konica Autoreflex’. I mentioned this in the past while searching for Taron and had a massive yield of results about actor Taron Egerton,...

16mm/35 mm/Beauty/Japan/Klapp/Rangefinder/Sub compact/TLR/Viewfinder Comments: 0

October 5, 2025

Walz camera family list

Walz camera family list Walz camera origins are shrouded in mystery; there are two versions, one siding with the opinion that they were distributors that sourced cameras from third parties, namely Zenobia, Tougudo, and Okada, while the other version suggests that they were actual manufacturers. There is no cut-and-dry evidence either way. The company first appeared in 1936 as Nihon...

120/127/35 mm/Japan/Klapp/Rangefinder/Walz Comments: 0

September 20, 2025

Aires Family List

Aires Family List Post-war Japan saw an abundance of camera makers, being a spending outlet for the American soldiers stationed there. Only a few manufacturers were in this trade before; most have converted existing facilities, such as those for making clocks, bicycles, sewing machines, and pecil sahrpeners, into camera production. Looking back at the long list of post-war brands, most...

120/35 mm/Aires/Japan/Klapp/Rangefinder/SLR/TLR/Viewfinder Comments: 0

July 27, 2024

Voigtlander Vitessa L 140

Voigtlander Vitessa L 140 The first in the Vitessa line was the 125, introduced in 1951. Several minor updates ended with the Vitessa N – 134 of 1954, the last of almost identical models. The market for hobby photography grew, as was the appetite for advanced technology, where on-camera, embedded light metering became a threshold for an upscale model. Voigtlander...

35 mm/Germany/Klapp/Rangefinder/Voigtlander Comments: 0

July 25, 2024

Voigtlander Vitessa N 134

Voigtlander Vitessa N 134 Of the many cameras that pass my desk, only a few are genuinely outstanding in design and ingenuity. The Vitessa N is such a model. It is a superbly built camera designed to compete with the Leica models as a high-end camera, but regrettably failed. As described on the Vitessa family page, Voigtlander was late to...

35 mm/Germany/Klapp/Rangefinder/Voigtlander Comments: 0

December 26, 2022

Japanese Semi and Six models

Japanese Semi and Six models The 120 format was popular worldwide from the 1930s onwards. A size that is small enough for compact, portable cameras, and large enough for contact printing. Came the war, which had ended with a large GI contingent in Japan. Buying power was there, but little to apply it for. To fill the need, a whole...

120/Japan/Klapp Comments: 0

August 4, 2022

Motoshima Zeitax

Motoshima Zeitax Zeitax current value: Folding viewer Tube viewer Optical viewer Just a handful of sources are available on the Zeitax camera. Camera-wiki page mentions some references, but most end with a dead link. It mentions that the Zeitax is related to the Condor Semi cameras, which judging by the image it is. A step further down the heritage line...

120/Japan/Klapp/Obscure Comments: 0

April 13, 2022

Kodak Retina I – 013

Kodak Retina I – 013 Kodak Retina I – 013 current value| Korak Retina family page The Retina I 013 was the last designated at this name, but not the last in Kodak tradition of using the same name for different camera models. At the same time, it is the first of three similar-looking models, followed by the 1a and...

35 mm/Klapp/Kodak/USA Comments: 0

April 3, 2022

Kodak Retina Ib – 018

Kodak Retina Ib – 018 Kodak Retina Ib – 018 user manual Kodak Retina Ib – 018 current value Kodak Retina family Still within the Retina I realm, Kodak introduced the Ib (018) in 1954. In the tried and true Kodak tradition, three years later they’d added two other cameras under the same name, the [019-1] and the [019-2]. As...

35 mm/Klapp/Kodak/USA Comments: 0

March 28, 2022

Kodak Retina I – 010 / 149

Kodak Retina I 010 / 149 Kodak Retina I 149 current value Kodak Retina I 010 current value Retina family page Kodak kept the Retina I coming with several style groups, having minor changes within each group. Group 1, containing 117,118, 119, and 143, had a flat top with a center-mounted viewer. Group 2, the top fascia on the 126,...

35 mm/Klapp/Kodak Comments: 0

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