In
1932, George Eastman,
owner of
Kodak purchased the Nagel Camerawerk in Stuttgart, Germany. Dr.
Nagel
was respected internationally as one of the top camera designers in the
German Photographic industry. Eastman agreed to let him run the company
his way and to ship the cameras with Kodak’s name on them. Kodak
acquired a prestige camera line with little more than the flourish of a
pen.
In 1933 Nagel began designing a 35mm camera using Kodak’s newly developed daylight loading cartridge. Both Leica and Contax used special hand-loaded-in-the-darkroom cassettes, factory packaged magazines were not yet available.
In December 1934 the first Retina was sold to the public. Model 117 was followed one year later by an improved version, Model 118 and the rest is history. Over two dozen Retina and Retinette models followed over the next three decades with the last Retina manufactured in 1964.
1941 Retina Model 150 is a rare camera produced during World War II before the United States entered the War.
In 1933 Nagel began designing a 35mm camera using Kodak’s newly developed daylight loading cartridge. Both Leica and Contax used special hand-loaded-in-the-darkroom cassettes, factory packaged magazines were not yet available.
In December 1934 the first Retina was sold to the public. Model 117 was followed one year later by an improved version, Model 118 and the rest is history. Over two dozen Retina and Retinette models followed over the next three decades with the last Retina manufactured in 1964.
1941 Retina Model 150 is a rare camera produced during World War II before the United States entered the War.