Brutal Assault and Kodak Retina IIa
In the fog of heavy music, alcohol and I have no idea what else I measured myself against one of the oldest cameras I own. Kodak Retina IIa. A camera designed and manufactured at the beginning of World War II, the valuable museum piece accompanied me on an amazing musical adventure.
I bought my copy in Sinsheim/Germany at a flea market. I paid really small money for it. In retrospect I know that I was very lucky, the camera was mostly in working order, only the rangefinder malfunctioned, but I managed to fix it or at least reduce the distortion.
The camera has an all too bright lens: f2 with a built-in shutter. The bellows design makes maintaining focus at full aperture an absolute lottery and you have to deal with out-of-focus.
I also have the impression (unless it is a film development error) that the fogging is due to the condition of the glass, but in this case I treat it as an advantage and an additional special effect,
Only 5100 units of this model were produced and production ended in 1941 - from a perspective, I am relieved that the camera did not suffer during the festival adventures and is still in excellent condition. From a user's perspective - I carried it in my side pocket and it badly bruised my leg at knee level.
