Tony Kemplen on the …
This Brownie camera was picked up for £3 at a flea market in Chesterfield
Kodak is synonymous with the Brownie brand, at least when it comes to simple mass-market cameras. The name was first used in 1900, and over the next 80 years, nearly one hundred models bore the moniker. The Brownie Cresta first emerged in 1955, and continued with three distinct designs up until 1965. The Cresta 3 is the last of the range, and reflects the design trends of the day by moving away from the curvy models of the 1950s to take on a more angular form.
Its specifications are pretty basic, with two apertures and a fixed shutter speed. There is no focusing, but a built-in close-up lens, which slides in front of the main lens, allows subjects down to 1.2m to be in focus. The viewfinder is somewhat bigger and brighter than the earlier Crestas, and has a mysterious smaller square frame marked in it. This was to allow framing for the short-lived ‘Superslide’ format, in which 4x4cm slides were placed in mounts which could be projected on a standard domestic slide projector. This gave a considerably larger screen presence than the normal 35mm transparency.
My Cresta came from the weekly flea market in Chesterfield. It was in its original box complete with the instruction leaflet, and cost me £3. There was even a half-used Kodacolor II film in it. Just as there are numerous Brownie cameras, there were also numerous Kodak films. The original Kodacolor was launched in 1942, with Kodacolor II being an improved version released in 1972. It was specifically formulated for use in the new 110, or Pocket Instamatic cameras, whose miniature negatives required a higher resolution than what was currently available. It was only after this market had been catered for that the film was released in 35mm and 120 formats, before being discontinued in 1981.
