Today my dad found an old camera in the loft. All I can find out about it after a quick google is that it's this - Kodak No. 1 Supermatic (Ref. No. 114A/ 2550)
and quite possibly was used in the military for something?
I wanted to upload a picture of it to this post but I'm not sure how?
Does anyone know anything about it? Perhaps when/where it was used, when it was made, what kind of film it takes or anything?
My quick googling didn't give me too much info, so I thought where am I likely to find some camera savvy friends? 365 of course :p
Don't know if anyone will know anything, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed :D
Hi Sarah, if you want to upload picture in the post, first you need to upload the picture in your 365 album. Than you when you see your picture there, click on the "Copy and paste code" that appears on the right side below . Copy it and than paste it in your discussion.
The No. 1 Supermatic is the name of the shutter mechanism, it can be fitted to various cameras. You should be able to cock it with the cocking lever, and release it with the release lever (or possibly also a shutter button on the camera body). Some details here on the levers:
Depending on what camera it's fitted to, it could take standard 35mm film or 620 film (or probably something else). If it looks like the camera @hjv posted, it might be a Kodak 35 (the one posted looks like a variant without a viewfinder, for some reason) and will take standard 35mm film:
I have been googling and could not even find the camera as Kodak No. 1 Supermatic (Ref. No. 114A/ 2550) on the website of the Eastman museum. What I did find, just as @abirkill explained, was references to the shutter with that name. Judging from the pictures I found, the camera should be a Kodak 35. On e-bay you will find quite a number of this camera type stemming from WWII.
As always, take anything on the Internet with a pinch of salt, especially with no corroborating sources. However, the arrow on the top plate appears to be a Broad Arrow, as used to identify property owned by the Australian Department of Defence (rather than as an indication as to which way to point the camera, although with the Navy...):
And the lack of a viewfinder would certainly support the theory that it was intended to photograph through a periscope (or at least, that it was intended to photograph something where the viewfinder wouldn't work.)
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/18378305@N00/6597351545/
http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/supermatic.html
Depending on what camera it's fitted to, it could take standard 35mm film or 620 film (or probably something else). If it looks like the camera @hjv posted, it might be a Kodak 35 (the one posted looks like a variant without a viewfinder, for some reason) and will take standard 35mm film:
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kodak_35
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360424569314
As always, take anything on the Internet with a pinch of salt, especially with no corroborating sources. However, the arrow on the top plate appears to be a Broad Arrow, as used to identify property owned by the Australian Department of Defence (rather than as an indication as to which way to point the camera, although with the Navy...):
http://www.army.gov.au/Our-history/Traditions/The-Broad-Arrow
And the lack of a viewfinder would certainly support the theory that it was intended to photograph through a periscope (or at least, that it was intended to photograph something where the viewfinder wouldn't work.)
http://www.cameraquest.com/nikonmil.htm
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/78539-ph-324-wwii-military-kodak-camera-and-wwii-usmc-patches/page__st__20
http://www.hardscrabblefarm.com/ww2/camera-ph324.htm