2026-04-28 Kodak Brownie Starflex Camera (With Kodalite Midget Flashholder)

I have been concentrating my collecting on zoom lenses, gadgets, tripods and even some literature. I have bought some digital cameras, but only if the price is low enough. So this day I was looking through a low priced bin when I noticed two identical film cameras. They were both Kodak Brownie Starflex cameras, made from 1957 to 1964.

 

    One of the two had a broken—missing the reflector— Kodalite Midget Flasholder attached. Both camera and flash were filthy with the yellow deposit that indicates either a smoker in the house or they were still lighting the house with kerosene lamps.

    The Starflex camera has a reflex finder. The light comes through the top lens and is bent 90º by a mirror. Instead of the image being captured by a ground glass screen, the Starflex uses a lens. There are two downsides to this kind of a finder, as well as two huge upsides.
The two downsides are—

1. You are not able to focus the camera using the image created this way. Since this camera has no focus adjustments possible, no big loss.
2. The image is reversed left to right, If someone were to run in front of you left-to-right, through this reflex viewing system they would appear to be running right-to-left. 
   

The two upsides are—

The viewing system is sharp
And very, very bright

So the Kodak folks added a Sports Finder to the bottom of the camera

These two silver wire parts are erected by standing them up.

    You place your eye as centered as you can and as close as you can to the smaller of the two frames and use the front frame to frame your subject, Suddenly you can follow runners flowing across in front of you from head height instead of trying to pivot horizontally the opposite direction from what the reflex image is showing you while shooting from waist height. 
    I suppose you could shoot with the camera the right side up and use the Sports wire finder projecting down to keep the shutter button action straight down, or you could invert the camera and press the shutter button up to take the photograph. Think about how you would choose to do it.
    To return to the cameras themselves, both of their shutters were not working. The Starflex cameras have a cute trick. When their shutters are fired a white patch shows through the front of the lens. When you wind the film the patch turns black to indicate the shutter is wound. It takes just a partial wind to cock the shutter. It takes more than one rotation of the wind knob to advance the film to a fresh frame. It isn’t a practical problem as you always use the small red window on the back of the camera to set the various frames. Wind to frame one and when you are finished the 12 4X4 cm frames, wind off until the window turns dark.
    When fired one camera stopped with the shutter open. It closed when you wound the film on, but that was small conciliation. The other camera varied in what it did, but reliably firing just wasn’t in the cards.
    Looking on the internet for help I found one reference to, “the shutter being riveted together,” so being non-repairable unless you were quite talented. I am far from talented, but I do have some lighter fluid that has worked wonders on other shutters. I just have to get the camera apart enough I won’t be dousing lenses with solvent. 

    I need access to the shutter!

    I had spotted two Phillips head black screws inside the open camera. One screw is in place at the left, just above the thumb. The other screw is out, leaving that white dot at about the same level on the right. Turn the screws out until they seem to release—they don’t have to come out all the way.
NOTE: Just for information purposes note those bits along the top of the camera's edge. The top shiny tab is the Waterhouse Stop aperture lever while the slightly lower black metal lever is the shutter cocking arm we will repeatably use to set the shutter to fire it over and over.

Then you can gently slide the reflex viewing top half of the camera off.

Just under the foam—which one camera had and the other did not—you can see a metal plate held on by two Phillip’s Head screws. Those two threaded holes at the top ends are what those first two screws inside the camera film chamber thread into.

    The whole metal front of the camera can be removed and taken apart. There are two rings that are pushed through from behind with two plastic moulded lenses.  The first camera I took all the bits apart and found it a bit tricky getting everything back. The second camera I was careful to keep everything together. 

The red shutter lever end can simply fall off, but seeing how it has to fit back on is not that difficult. The Waterhouse Stop lever (black in front of shiny metal stamping at the bottom) fits through the front metal faceplate. Here you can see the brass rivets that hold the shutter together.
    “Where do I put the lighter or Bar-B-Quo Starter fluid?” you ask. First you move outside, well away from any flames. Then you can squirt some fluid right down through the lens hole… 

 …and in the side where the shutter release arm is coming out.
    Then you can fire some fluid into the top where the shutter cocking lever is, You can try to fire some fluid through the back of the shutter. If the camera is getting really dripping wet by all means stop and let the fluid evaporate—but you also be cocking and releasing the shutter to get the levers and springs moving the dirt that is hanging them up away from their pivots. I noticed the shutter sound went from a dull “sprong” to a much sharper “snap”.
    I left the camera outside for 15-25 minutes to air out completely. Upon returning inside the shutter was still working fine so I put the bits back together.

    One point to keep in mind when putting the lens back. It is a large plastic moulding with a thin steel surround. The plastic bit has a cut-out that fits over the Waterhouse Stop lever’s hub. Note the red shutter trigger’s orientation too.

Looking at the roll film insert there wasn’t much to do. I used a damp cotton swab to get as much dirt and dust off the surfaces, but being largely inside a camera keeps them pretty clean.

Let’s move on to the flash. You use a coin in the back screw to remove the cover. Level with the screw on the side there is a pale plastic button that ejects the flashbulb.

Inside this is what you see.

 

That crumpled strip of fabric shows two ways the flash could work. 

You could use two AA batteries—WITH BOTH BASES DOWN (this is a pretty rare orientation) or there was a Battery-Capacitor kit that used one 15-Volt battery. The instructions serve double duty as a means to get the batteries out.