The Kodak Vest Pocket line of compact film cameras was so-called because they were small enough to slip inside a top pocket. These little analog devices used small, 127 film canisters and folding lenses to maintain an extremely small footprint. However, an Instagram Reel by @kanabcameraco has surfaced, centering around a Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic. These later incarnations were made for use with Kodak’s specialist Autographic film, which allowed the user to inscribe notes directly onto the film itself.
The example in the video has a built-in stylus, clipped onto a flap on the rear of the body. The flap would be lifted up to reveal a small strip of carbon paper attached to the film itself. It was this strip of paper that allowed the photographer to use the metal stylus to inscribe the carbon surface, jotting down brief notes such as the date, time, location, etc, effectively an analog form of metadata. How neat is that?
The sample in the video has an adjustable aperture on the front of the lens and is said to shoot at 1/25 sec and 1/50 sec. Truly, a point and shoot for the early 20th century. The first Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic was released in 1915, during the First World War.
It’s not surprising then that Vest Pockets earned the nickname, the 'Soldier’s Kodak', presumably due to their portability and durability. And indeed, according to the Science and Media Museum, over two million cameras were sold before the line was discontinued in 1926.
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