Kodak Stereo 35mm

Stereo cameras had fascinated users since the early days of photography, going back to the mid-1800s, with the classic mahogany-and-brass luggables. Viewing was via a crane-like, long-billed device, with a postcard-sized double image, looking through a mask. Artists took the liberty of adding extra features, as an angel hovering over a baby, a sample of which I have in my collection, together with some photos of the very early Toronto neighbourhoods, amazing in 3d. With post-war optical and mechanical advances, stereo cameras shrank in size to just larger than the yardstick of everything camera, the Leica. Joe Ollinger’s article is a good source of information.

For the amateur photographer, the golden age of stereo shooting was the narrow window of the post-war decade, when European, Japanese, and American makers offered compact, user-friendly stereo cameras.

Nonetheless, the images were viewed through handheld viewers that were smaller, yet cumbersome. For a viewing party, specialized stereo projectors were available, much to the chagrin of the guests who were trapped to sit wearing polarized glasses through the presentation if the last trip to Venice. As such, the novelty of this format promptly waned and all but vanished in the early 1960s.

Kodak, which ruled the amateur photography market during its heyday, saw the popularity of the stereo mode and threw its hat in, just to see this fad fade away in no time. To be on the safe side, they based this model on the tried-and-true Realist system. It is worth noting that Kodak produced plate-based stereo cameras since the late 19^th century.

I have a shelf of compact stereo cameras from the postwar era. I have already reviewed the Rokuwa Stereo Rocca and the Vredeborch Nordetta 3D, so now is the time for the rest. The most obvious to begin with is the Kodak 35 stereo, which I believe was the best seller of them all.

For such a popular model, there is little in print or online, and where information is available, it is often compared to the Realist models, so both are on my desk. I would fully agree that the Kodak looks like the poor cousin of the Realist, which could well be on purpose, as it was marketed as a cheaper alternative to the Realist. Just to mention a pet peeve of mine, the information found online consists mainly of cut-and-paste.

The first impression of the Kodak Stereo is that the designers had resigned midway or were hasty to market, as it looks incomplete. There are no fine touches or finesse, the opposite of the Realist, not to mention the Japanese or German models. The body assembly looks haphazard, as if it were assembled from leftover parts. It is not an inviting camera; it seems ready for the final touches. It may be my impression only, but look at images of other stereo cameras and form your own opinion. To sum it up, it looks crude.

• The body is made of bakelite, the magic material of the time, which was found on most American cameras of the era. It is heavy, yet 100gr/3.5oz lighter than the Realist. It is bulky, with no natural grip, and requires both hands.
• The top has two large dials, for winding and rewinding. The winder stops at each pair to eliminate double exposure, which can be overridden via a slider at the bottom. Note that the trigger is self-spring-loaded and is not cocked by the winder. Further, the double exposure stop is activated by the cogs on the film path.
• A film memo and a frame counter disk are positioned on both top sides. The frame counter is manually reset, with the count declining. The #20 is marked red, for a #335 roll. For a regular #135 roll, there is a red diamond mark for 36-exposure cartridges and a red dot for 20-exposure cartridges.
• Recommended film use was #335, which was the same as #135 but with a longer leader and a note to the developing lab to individually cut it and keep the stereo pairs.
• The hinged back opens via a slider on the right side. The film chamber is very long, with two 23x24mm masks and a 48mm blank in between. Guess the distance is on purpose to match the average pupil distance of a human eye. Two cogs on the film path keep the film well-behaved and activate the double-exposure stop. A large take-off spool and a guide roller are at the left. Two pressure plates are mounted on the back.
• The images are taken in pairs, skipping two for each pair. See below. The slides are mounted at the same distance as they were taken on the camera.
• he bottom has the rewind release latch and a double exposure override slider. See image below.
• The viewfinder is at the top middle back, the smallest I have seen on a modern camera. It bordered on impracticality. A spirit level is mounted at the viewer’s bottom, hardly visible.
• At the front on the lens assembly are:
  • The trigger is the winder knob, with short travel.
  • A flash sync at the other side.
  • An aluminum tab is the aperture scale, selected by a protruding nub.
  • A slider in front of it selects the shutter speed, marked both speeds and lighting conditions.
  • Both look like an afterthought, mounted this way for the lack of other location.
  • At the front are two lenses that turn in unison. One dial marked in feet and the other with distances: close-ups, groups and scenes.
  • In between the lenses is the viewer window, very large compared to the actual view through it. The spirit level is shown at the bottom of the window.
  • Note that it takes winding two void frames to reach the first twin stereo image pair.
• The image sequence is referred to as the Realist convention. On some German/Japanese stereo cameras, the lens distance follows this convention; on others, the lenses are closer together, I would think, with some optical correction to match the human pupil distance.
• A detachable front cover was supplied with the camera, but it is likely to have been lost over time, so it is rarely seen on units offered for sale.

For the collector, there is a dissonance. There are many offered for sale, most at a reasonable price. They use unsophisticated mechanics and are easy to fix, so there is no gamble in having one. For the shooter,  I do not believe the blank slides are still available. Blank slides are readily available on eBay. It would take getting a viewer, again, offered at a low cost.

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