No 3A Pocket Kodak Camera

Eastman Kodak Company

Name:	No 3A Pocket Kodak
Manufacturer:	Eastman Kodak Co.
Country of Origin:	USA
Construction:	Conventional folding bed camera for 122 film. The complete folding section, including the bed, is formed as a single piece that then fits into the rollfilm back, with a sliding latch to lock it in place. The two have to be separated to load and remove the film. The camera has an autographic back.
Production Period:	1927 - 1933

The No 3A Pocket Kodak camera replaced the No 3A Folding Pocket Kodak Junior, which was a quite basic model that formed a companion to the more expensive No 3A Folding Pocket Kodak camera.

Plate / Film Size:	A122 autographic rollfilm (3¼" x 5½")
Lens:	Meniscus Achromatic
Shutter:	Kodex No 1
Movements:	None
Dimensions (w x h x l):	11 x 24.5 x 4.5 cms (closed)
Date of this Example:	c1930
Serial Number:	Kodak serial 8812 on support stand and repeated on end of box.
Availability:	Common  Uncommon  Hard to Find  Scarce
Inventory Number:	645

Description

This example of the No 3A Pocket Kodak is complete with its original sleeve box. The camera was made in the period 1927 to 1933. The serial number of this example is 8812, but Coe [4] does not declare the number made, so it is not apparent how to date from the serial number.

The camera has imitation leather covering and black leather bellows. The single extension bellows have a screw focusing adjustment for fine focus. It has a fixed lens standard (no movements). The back is fitted with an autographic slot, with the stylus mounted to one side of lens (stylus present).

Notes

While similar in form to the No 3A Folding Pocket Kodak (same film), this is a simpler camera with less expensive lens / shutter combinations, and is therefore more aligned with the No 3A Autographic Kodak Junior (see pg 83 in Coe). It appears very likely that the No 3A Pocket Kodak filled the position in the catalogue previously occupied by the No 3A Autographic Kodak Junior as the date the latter was discontinued matches the date of introduction of this camera (Feb 1927). The main difference between the No 3A Autographic Kodak Junior and this camera is that the former had a removable back, while the No 3A Pocket Kodak has a removable front assembly that separates from the rollfilm back, held in place by a slider on the front face below the hinge line for the fold down front, in common with a number of other Kodak models dating to this period such as the Vest Pocket Kodak Model B.