The Edmonton Photographic Historical Society had a monthly meeting and the subject was Plastic Cameras. Brian, our president, brought a small carton of cameras and three pages he read for his presentation.
Then he gave me all the cameras!
Here are the three pages (in no particular order)—
Then he gave me all the cameras!
Here are the three pages (in no particular order)—
Page one (List of all cameras)—
Brian's Plastic Cameras
Elgin Laboratories "Elgin Miniature" 127 film—Made in the 1940’s
Note: The only other camera Elgin Laboratories ever made was the "Elgin", a lovely creation of stainless steel and leatherette covering. It used 828 film. It sold used for $55‑85 dollars while the "Miniature" was made of plastic and sold used for $1 ‑10 dollars.
Page two—(Three sources on the Univex Winar)
Argus Super Seventy‑Five (with flash) —Made 1954‑1958.
Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash (with flash)—Made 1954‑1962
Kodak Brownie Starflex (with flash)—Made 1957‑1964
Imperial Camera Corp. Delta 127 film 4x4—Made 1964
Note: The only other camera Elgin Laboratories ever made was the "Elgin", a lovely creation of stainless steel and leatherette covering. It used 828 film. It sold used for $55‑85 dollars while the "Miniature" was made of plastic and sold used for $1 ‑10 dollars.
Winar with plastic case.
Univex Winar
The Univex Winar is a very simple, cheap camera, typical of the hard years of the Franco bloody dictatorship in Spain. Made in Barcelona between 1954 and 1962, it was based on similar American models (Univex was originally a subsidiary of the American Universal Camera Corp., although it is unclear whether or not it was by then a separate company).
The Winar runs on 120 (4.5 x 6 cm) roll‑film and its limited features include a fixed speed of approximately 1/50 sec or B (bulb) mode, and focus. The lens is a simple meniscus. The body is made of bakelite.
The Univex Winar is a very simple, cheap camera, typical of the hard years of the Franco bloody dictatorship in Spain. Made in Barcelona between 1954 and 1962, it was based on similar American models (Univex was originally a subsidiary of the American Universal Camera Corp., although it is unclear whether or not it was by then a separate company).
The Winar runs on 120 (4.5 x 6 cm) roll‑film and its limited features include a fixed speed of approximately 1/50 sec or B (bulb) mode, and focus. The lens is a simple meniscus. The body is made of bakelite.
Second Source
Bakelite camera manufactured in Spain by Univex, in Barcelona, between 1954 and 1962, under license from Universal Camera Corp. of New York, USA. Univex was the first major Spanish company of photographic material, representing the American company from which it took its name.
The camera has a simple meniscus lens with a shutter speed of 1/60 and position B. The focus is variable, ranging from 1.5 m to infinity.
The viewfinder is an optical one integrated into the camera body, with the peculiarity of being vertical instead of the usual horizontal one.
The shutter release is located to the right of the lens and at the top is the selector for position B or Instant.
It features cable release access and a European 3/8" tripod thread on the bottom. It uses 120 film in 4.5 x 6 cm format with 16 exposures.
Specifications
Year of introduction: 1954
Film: 127, 1‑1/4" x 2‑1/4" format
Width (cm): 12.5
Height (cm): 9.5
Depth (cm): 7.5
Weight (g): 282
Considered Art Deco Style for the three line decorations
Third Source
The activity of the Spanish company Univex initially consisted of the import and sale of photographic equipment, especially from the American manufacturer Universal Camera Corp. However, from the 1930s onwards, it also began to produce some camera models in-house.
Made of Bakelite, the Winar model is similar to the Unica and Univex models, from the same manufacturer, and has a meniscus lens f/5 / 60mm, a single‑speed, 1/60 and time shutter, using 120 film for 16 exposures of 45 x 60mm.
Made of Bakelite, the Winar model is similar to the Unica and Univex models, from the same manufacturer, and has a meniscus lens f/5 / 60mm, a single‑speed, 1/60 and time shutter, using 120 film for 16 exposures of 45 x 60mm.
Page 3—(details of two Kodak Brownie cameras)
Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash Camera
The Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash camera is a solid body eye level roll film camera first introduced in October 1954 and discontinued in April 1962. It is exactly the same as it's earlier brother, the Kodak Brownie Holiday camera (1953‑1962), except it is synchronized to use a flash. Both the Holiday and Holiday Flash versions use 127 roll film, giving a picture size of 1 5/8" x 2 1/4".
Holiday Flash cameras were manufactured in the United States and Canada, and are made from bakelite, the world's first commercial synthetic plastic. They feature a rotary shutter, and either a Kodet lens from 1954‑1955, or a plastic Dakon lens from 1955‑1962. There is no double exposure interlock.
The original purchase price was $5.00.
Holiday Flash cameras were manufactured in the United States and Canada, and are made from bakelite, the world's first commercial synthetic plastic. They feature a rotary shutter, and either a Kodet lens from 1954‑1955, or a plastic Dakon lens from 1955‑1962. There is no double exposure interlock.
The original purchase price was $5.00.
Kodak Brownie Starflex Camera
The Kodak Brownie Starflex camera is a moulded plastic simple twin lens reflex camera. (The finder optics are simpler than those of the main lens) There was a wireframe finder mounted on the bottom, useful when trying to follow moving objects instead of the reversed right to left image in the reflex view.
Winding the film cocked the shutter preventing multiple‑exposures. There is an exposure selector below the lens, marked for Color (Exposure Value 13 = f/11) and B&W (Exposure Value 14 = f/16).
Manufactured in the United States from March 1957 to September 1964, the Starflex uses 127 roll film giving a picture size of 1 5/8" x 1 5/8". It features a rotary shutter and a Dakon lens.
The original purchase price was $10.00.
End of Brian’s three pages.
Tomorrow we will finish with two of the cameras—
- the Elgin Miniature camera
- the Argus Super Seventy-Five
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