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Camera
- Description
- Part A is the camera. The camera is black with a grey top and silver accents, including a knob at the top for advancing the film. The front of the camera opens to reveal bellows and the lens.
Parts B & C are the cardboard box. The top (B) is black with red and yellow lettering. It has a picture of…
- Title
- Kodak Tourist
- Brand Name
- Kodak
- Manufacturer
- Kodak
- Category
- TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR COMMUNICATION
- Sub-Category
- PHOTOGRAPHIC TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
- Start Date
- 1951
- End Date
- 1958
- Description
- Part A is the camera. The camera is black with a grey top and silver accents, including a knob at the top for advancing the film. The front of the camera opens to reveal bellows and the lens.
Parts B & C are the cardboard box. The top (B) is black with red and yellow lettering. It has a picture of the camera with the lens visible. The base (C) is yellow.
Part D is a black and brown leather strap.
- History Of Use
- The Kodak Tourists were the last in a long line of American-made folding roll film cameras from Eastman Kodak. The Tourist II, introduced in May of 1951, featured a redesigned top cover and a new viewfinder, which contained frame lines for the optional 828 roll film adapter. Production was discontinued in July of 1958.
The Tourists used 620 film making 8 2¼×3¼ exposures. The use of 828 roll film for 8 28×40mm exposures was an option. The Tourist’s most unusual feature was its back. Through the use of cleverly engineered latches, it could be opened on the left side, right side, or removed completely.
Removing the back allowed the use of the multi-format Kodak Tourist Adapter Kit, which consisted of: a camera back with red windows for 4 different formats; 2¼×2¼ inch, 2¼×1 inch and 28×40mm masks; 828 roll film supply and take up spool adapters; and viewfinder masks for each of the three additional formats.
The Tourists were well made and featured a die cast aluminium body, covered in black Kodadur (a synthetic leather of remarkable durability). All models featured a tripod socket, a lens door mounted shutter release, and eye-level viewfinders. All Tourists featured flash synchronization. Frame spacing and shutter cocking were completely manual.
A variety of lens/shutter combinations were available on the Tourists. At the low cost end, the camera was little more than a folding equivalent of a box camera, but at the upper end it was capable of producing professional level results.
The top-of-the-line Anastar version of the Tourist was introduced at a price of $95 US.
- Number Of Parts
- 3
- Accession No.
- 2013.24.126 a-d
- Model Name or No.
- Tourist
- Type of Record
- Museum Artifact
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