Brand New (well, almost) Retina IIc

[Mr. 2H2O]

Hi y'all. Just wanted to share with you my excitement over a new (old) "toy". My grandfather bought a Kodak Retina IIc in 1958. He was only able to use it for 4 years until his untimely death. My dad picked it up and used it for family photos during the '60's and '70's. He found it in a box in the attic recently and passed it onto me. With this lovely camera came the original sales receipt, the original manual, my g-dads camera bag, and two light meters - one purchased by my grandfather back in '58 (its a Weston 737). In the '70's, my dad bought a great Vivitar 45 meter that still works and looks like new (the Vivitar shows both EV reading plus apertue/shutter speed for both incident and reflected light). I mostly shoot digital and mostly in manual mode so this camera is like second nature to me. Its got the original 50mm F2.8 lens and everything is pretty much like new. All functions work perfectly including shutter speeds, focus scale, winder, etc. Here's some pics:

As you all already know, this camera is an absolute scream to use - its so much fun and its so easy to use the EV scale. I can almost guess the EV for incident light now.

- Mike

 

[sweathog]

Very nice find!
That thing is in fabulous condition, it has certainly grown old gracefully!

 

[former member]

Looks very nice, and the F2.8 Xenon is very sharp.

I just spent some quality time cleaning the VF on a Retina IIa, and cleaned one for a friend a couple weeks ago. They are first rate cameras.

 

[robin a]

Hi,i have a IIc and it's just all fun.Takes great picture too.Like Brian said the 50 2.8 is very sharp.Enjoy yours it's special.............Robin

 

[mcgrattan]

Brian,

Are there any instructions around on doing that? I have a IIc just like the poster and love it -- the picture quality is stellar. The viewfinder is a little dim/dark, though.

thanks!

 

[Mackinaw]

Are there any instructions around on doing that? I have a IIc just like the poster and love it -- the picture quality is stellar. The viewfinder is a little dim/dark, though.

This guy has a very helpful website on repairing Retinas'. While he doesn't specifically cover cleaning the viewfinder, one of the articles will tell you how to open the camera up, the rest is pretty intuitive.

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~Srawhiti/

Jim B.

 

[Mr. 2H2O]

Brian,

Are there any instructions around on doing that? I have a IIc just like the poster and love it -- the picture quality is stellar. The viewfinder is a little dim/dark, though.

thanks!

Mine seems a little dim too - I've tried hunting around to find out if its normal since it has the split diamond view or the VF should be brighter...

- Mike

 

[Spider67]

Congrats! A good story to go with it also! I think when the IIc was planned by the engineers it was meant to be somethimg passed from father to son just like a high quality pocket watch. The retina VF's are a chapter of their own. A short breakdown what to do and what to avoid would be very good...Not everyone has a Brian among his friends.
Sometimes the RF can be clogged too meaning it works OK until you realize it can't focus to infinity or it tends to "slide" in the VF after you focusssed and it did not react.

 

[Mikey420]

"The Schneider f/2.8 50mm lens is one of the best ever put on a 35mm camera."
(from an article in Popular Photography many years ago.)

I'm so jealous I could cry! ;-)

regards
Mikey