Depth of Focus

  If you are a collector of cameras, or have seen a good number of vintage cameras, then the Kodak Bantam Special should be a camera whose looks, if not reputation, precede itself.  Praised for it's unique art-deco body styling, the Kodak Bantam Special was the highest end consumer camera that Eastman Kodak produced and sold in the USA at the time of its release. Imported German Retina cameras were also being sold, but the Bantam Special represented an American footstep into the high end miniature camera market, with a feature set that not even the German made Retinas could compete with.  History The Kodak Bantam series, and importantly the history of the 828 film format begins in 1935 and was aimed to correct some of the deficiencies of the 135 film format we are familiar with today.  Kodak launched the 135 film cartridge alongside their German made Retina folding cameras in 1934. The concept of using 35mm double perforated motion picture film for still photography was not new. Le

  These are the Kodak Bantam f/4.5 and Kodak Flash Bantam, two miniature strut folding cameras, making eight 28x40mm negatives on 828 roll film, manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company between 1938 and 1953  While I wouldn't normally review two cameras simultaneously, these cameras should really be considered two examples of the same lineage, with improvements made over time.  The Kodak Bantam series, and importantly the history of the 828 film format begins in 1935 and was aimed to correct some of the deficiencies of the 135 film format we are familiar with today.  Kodak launched the 135 film cartridge alongside their German made Retina folding cameras in 1934. The concept of using 35mm double perforated motion picture film for still photography was not new. Leica and Contax cameras were already using it, but required photographers to reload metal cassettes from motion picture rolls in a darkroom, which limited the user base open to these cameras.  What Kodak's 135 format br