Some test shots with a WWII camera

Last year I picked up a Kodak Retina IIa, part of Kodak’s popular folding camera line up. It’s got a few features like a frame counter and a rangefinder, but it’s simple compared to some of the later ones which have a meter.

I don’t really stand by any of these shots as great work but when I developed the photos I was shocked by how sharp some of them were. I think this camera is a so-called ‘type 150’ (I think these ‘types’ were in-house numbers that were never used in period), made between 1939-1941 in Germany (yeah I know).

This one is so boring but just look at the detail in the tree and the bricks.

The best ones I couldn’t post because they are of family and I usually like to ask for consent and could not be arsed in this case. But there’s one of my little nephew that was taken in a dim restaurant, and it kind of blew me away. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Possibly needs a crop but I like again how well it does against the light. Perhaps this is also Kentmere 400 doing its job well.

Just another shot from around the house. I didn’t quite get the framing I wanted but I got the vibe I wanted. Again I was surprised that this even worked at all.

Here it is folded up. It’s very pocketable because of this.

Here it is ready for action. I love the simplicity of it, all the shutter bits are front-loaded, a bit like a large format lens, so the moving parts inside the camera are just for winding the film on. Because of this you have to cock the shutter before taking a picture, it isn’t part of the winding mechanism like on other cameras. That’s not hard to get used to.

One fun thing I love is that because the shutter is on the front, the shutter release mechanism consists of a giant hook that reaches out front and yanks a pin down when you press the button.

The viewfinder is not that big but is ok. The rangefinder patch is tiny, and at least on this copy, very dim (to the point where I tend to use the markings on the focus ring instead). I can see now why some cameras in period had a seperate viewfinder and rangefinder, this one is all combined and it’s a little awkward to use.

These were taken in December 2025 but I only just got around to developing them. I’m looking forward to getting out there with this camera again, it’s a great travel and every-day camera.