Kodak number 3 Autographic Camera,Model H

[mike_s9]

Just been given this lovely old Camera as a Present, or more accurately a kind

donation to my growing collection of old Cameras. This model is a Canadian one

and the patent date for this is 1916, so its a good 91 years old.! Question

is,not that its for sale or anything, is it worth anything,if so what do you

think its value may be.?, just curious.! Thanks in anticipation.! Overall

condition is good, mechanically sound, it all works as it should, apart from the

bellows, which do leak a bit.! Still got the original leather case, which needs

some TLC and polish.

[colin carron]

Have a look on ebay 'completed items'. Generally the popular and cheap Kodak cameras are not valuable today as they made millions and supply exceeds demand. Collectors of these plentiful cameras are looking for excellent quality so any problem at all such as the leaky bellows will reduce an already modest value still further.

 

Nice present though. Enjoy it!

[mike_s9]

Hi Colin, had a look on EBAY,as you suggested,you are quite correct,the value is very low,which is suprising considering the camera's age,if you are lucky,you might get a tenner for it.! What I might do,purely for fun,is patch up the bellows, and try exposing little sheets of paper.

Obviously you cannot get this Autographic Film anymore.! Should be an interesting experiment.! Otherwise as you said,it was a very thoughtful present for my Birthday,and a lovely display item for my collection.!

P.S Twenty One ( again ).!

[art_haykin]

What size film does it take: 120, 620, 116, 616 or other? The Autograph feature will work with any film emulsion.

[sean_mcgroty]

Although, technically, the autographic feature works with any <i>film</i>, for it to work you

needed the special two-layer backing. Basically, when you "wrote" on the backing with the

stylus it made a translucent pattern in the backing. Holding the opening in the camera back

up to light completed the recording by exposing the film through the now-translucent

backing.

[James G. Dainis]

According to McKeown's Price Guide, The No. 3 Autographic has a value of $20-$30. Made from 1914 to 1926 it used 118 film. With all the old cameras in closets and attics today (no one ever throws out an old camera) and a venue like eBay to unload them, I feel that McKeown's Guide is now a bit optimistic.

[colin carron]

You can adapt these old kodaks quite easily to take 120 film. You make spacers to fit each end of the 120 film spool to take up the extra space and a rod to go through the whole lot to engage on the wind on mechanism. You will also need a thin card or plastic mask to fit in front of the film to get the right image size.

[gordon_ian_stalker]

I would not disagree that there are a lot around, however I sell a lot of cameras on eBay myself, and often the prices exceed my expectations, with cameras of this type sometimes selling for as much as ?30!

 

What seems to make a difference is where the buyer is, as well as the condition. In some countries these cameras are not so common, usually because they were not marketed there. I recently sold a lens alone for ?28 (excluding postage) to an Australian address. Ok, the lens was unusually clean, and the sutter worked properly, but even so I did not expect it to make more than the minimum price.

 

Possibly the particular camera it was used on was not very popular, or strongly marketed in Australia at the time!

 

The same applies to places like Korea, where at the time that these cameras were produced, there was simply no market for them as the cost would be far in excess of the income of the average Korean, and in many countries the only people who could afford them were foreign nationals. (The British!) Now a large proportion of these countries command a highr enough income to indulge a camera collecting hobby, and to them these cameras are comparatively rare. Often the only source is via online auctions, and often the sellers will not dispatch overseas, and some models do not appear all that frequently.

 

When they do they are often hoplessly overpriced, or sold by casual sellers. The overseas buyer is less likely to buy from a non-expert, as the risk of buying a poor or incorrectly described example is high, and internet auction sites provide little means of redress.

 

So a well described item, sold by someone who clearly knows about the camera, and who has a good after-sales record can sometimes reach top-prices.

 

As for price guide books....

 

These days they are worse than useless, as they are hoplessly out of date by the time the prices have been compiled, and the book published. That applies to many collectibles, not just cameras. These books were of use when collectibles were for the most part bought and sold at conventional auctions and specialist retailers.

 

In general members of the public simply do not have the time or inclination to attend such auctions, or sell via them. The internet auction (and to a certain extent boot-sales) has created an easy acess market for anyone to buy and sell at their leisure, which has led to a flood of cameras (and other goods) imagined rare and valuable by their owners.

 

The first few to appear in internet venues do sometimes get a good price, but then people remember the one that granny left them, and decide to sell it for the cash. Overnight almost hundrds begin to appear, and the price falls to a more realistic level. Some collectors respond to this by refusing to bid for an item which has not been seen before (or at least for a long while) expecting the prices to fall as the 'market settles'.

 

It is easy to inagine that with so many pressures the prices can change in a chaotic and unpredicatable manner. However, the general trend for vintage cameras is downwards. There are very few cameras which are truly rare, and in collectible condition these days, and sometimes even those sell for silly prices.

 

Last month an aquaintance got a genuine vintage Leica at a general sales auction for a bid of ?5. There was simply no-one else there interested. (I was elsewhere!) One month later at the same auctin house, a couple of collectors turned up, and started bidding high prices for quite common cameras. So a Pentax SP500 requiring some attention sold (with fees) for ?60, (Normally ?10-?30.) while a genuinely (Certificated!) rare Leica sold for ?5 at the same venue. That's how unpredictable the prices can be!