Accessory shoe question

[EPPaar]

Does any one know why most but not all of the early Retinas don't have accessory shoes but do have screw holes where they would go? I recently picked up a wreck of a Retina I (Type 126) with a shoe that I transferred to a working Type 126. Just curious why some have the shoe and some don't.

Peter

 

[julio1fer]

Home repair going the wrong way?

 

[Sid836]

There were two versions of them, with and without the accessory show. Kodak covered with screws the holes for the accessory shoe. They weren't home repairs, but this is just how they had left the factory.
Not sure why one would not get one with an accessory shoe or if it was at extra cost.

 

[EPPaar]

Curious

Curious

From what I have seen for sale, the vast majority of the Retina I & II (no letter) came without the shoe. It makes no sense to me.

 

[JPD]

Most people didn't use accessory rangefinders for their Retina I cameras, and they didn't have flash synchronisation either. The accessory shoe became standard on the Retina II starting in 1939 with the model 150. It made more sense in the early 50's when the PC contact became standard and when Kodak began to make the close-up sets with the included rangefinder.

 

[EPPaar]

True, but the Retina I manual shows the shoe and illustrates it with their "Pocket Rangefinder".

 

[Dwig]

True, but the Retina I manual shows the shoe and illustrates it with their "Pocket Rangefinder".

+1

The "accessory" (aka "flash") shoe began life as a mount for accessory RFs and later VFs. Flash units were originally too large for such a small mount and only later evolved into units that could mount in the shoe.

I'm not sure where/when the shoe began life, but I do believe it was the original Leica that gave the now common size its start. There, it was the attachment point for the accessory RF. Accessory VFs weren't needed for a number of years until models with interchangeable lenses were introduced.

The same goes for the Retinas. The Retina's original design followed several leads from Leitz. Nagel Kamera Werke designed the Retina to be somewhat Leica compatible, utilizing a Kodak cassette that was compatible with the Leica cameras.