Kodak Retina Cameras in Collection

1934 Retina I Model 117	1935 Retina I Model 118	1936 Retina I Model 119	1937 Retina I Model 126	1937 Retina I Model 141	1937 Retina II Model 142
1938 Retina I Model 143	1939 Retinette Original Model	1941 Retina IIa Model 150	1947 Retinette Model 147	1949 Retina I Model 010	1949 Retina II Model 014
1951 Retina Ia Model 015	1951 Retina IIa Model 016	1954 Retina Ib Model 018	1954 Retina IIc Model 020	1954 Retina IIIc Model 021	1957 RetinaIB Model  019I
1958 RetinaIB Model  019II	1957 Retina IIC Model 029	1959 Retina IIS Model 024	1958 Retina IIIC Model 128	1963 Retina IIF Model 047	1963 Retina Automatic III Model 039

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.