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Check list of Varying features on Kodak 35RF cameras
SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE KODAK 35RF WITH OTHERS ON THE KODAK 35RF CHAT BOX ON MY GUEST BOOK PAGE! Here is a check list of features for the Kodak 35RF so owners can see the many changes and maybe itemize their own. Possibly other owners will see features I have missed due to my limited selection of bodies at present. I have 7 bodies presently, only one of which is pre-WW II.The previous page, next page and links page illustrate many changes to help you see what I am describing. Using eBay items illustrations and my own bodies I have found 13 main variations so far.
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FEATURES LIST:
1- Rangefinder arm - black paint or brushed aluminum. Also length of front segment that has focus indicator - 1 1/8" long or 1 3/8" long. The picture of the lens at the left shows both arms - Left one the end of the arm is less than 1/8" below the focus indicator, the other the arm extends over 1/4" below the focus indicator.
2 - Focus wheel support - black paint or brushed aluminum
3 - Wind/rewind knobs - Black or aluminum color with diamond pattern; aluminum or grey plastic with grooves. May also be a aluminum variation with shallow grooves.Prewar version had the vertical grooves (only one I have seen). Rewind - prewar was just a knob, post-war had a film minder in the top. Styling around sides same as the wind knob;5 - Focus wheel - silver with radial lines, silver with concentric circles or black with radial lines.; plain silver one with no designs on it also,and grey with radial lines.
6 - Flash sync - no sync or has an ASA bayonet post on bottom left side of shutter
7 - Speed selecting collar - Older version have an groove in them and painted black. Later ones have a plain silver collar, black cut in line to indicate shutter speed. Lenses to left show each style.
8 - Takeup spool retainer - Spring that holds bottom of take-up spindle can be either black or silver.
9 - Rear lens element - Later back elements mounted in flat plate. Earlier lenses are in a plate with a rim that extends out at edge of mount.
10 - Back Lock inside - old cameras have just a simple lock. It may be plain or charcoal. Later bodies have a odd shaped plate below the lock that releases pressure on the pressure plate.
;11 - Back Lock outside - The older rotating lock arm has a small protrusion that moves in a slot to stop the arm. "Lock" and arrow are in black. Newer version has no slot or protrusion (plate inside stops the arm). "Lock" and arrow are not painted.
12 - Pressure plate support - Old models, back has a arm at the top and a pin going vertical through it - not quite sure how it holds the plate - don't want to pull too hard. On the newer models, the odd shaped plate below the lock presses back and arm that is part of the arm at the top to release pressure on the back for loading and unloading.
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MORE 35RF FEATURES
13 - Body Serial Number location - Older bodies it is imprinted in the outside bottom near the tripod socket. Newer bodies is inside in the bakelite between the decal and the pressure plate or on the odd shaped plate adjoining the back lock (center bottom of back)
14 - Shutter - two I am aware of - Kodak No. 1 Kodamatic (no sync) and Flash Kodamatic Shutter (ASA bayonet sync post). Flash Kodamatic came in at least 2 versions, plain and with a slot near the rangefinder for adjusting flash delay to F or M. Illustration near top of page shows a shutter with the sync adjustment set on M and a shutter without the adjustment.
15 - Self-timer arm - the arm just below the rangefinder arm on the shutter is a self-timer on non-sync shutters. I am not sure on sync shutters - I have heard that it is the 20ms delay on the sync shutters, but my on sync shutter is dead.
16 - f-stops - continuous stops and two styles of click stops shown at left. .Top left camera has indents adjoining the f-stop numbers and a dimple on the aperture arm that drops into the indents to provide click stops. The bottom right has a metal plate on the back side of the shutter that has cutouts. The aperture arm has an extension that drops into these cutouts.
17 - Decal inside back - Big print on old says "Use Kodak 135 film" and shows a box of Panatomic-X. On newer one it says "Load with Kodak 135 film" and no picture of box.
18 - Lens - Two I am aware of - Kodak Anastigmat Special and Kodak Anastar.
19 - Coating - Early lenses were not coated. If there is an "L" in a circle, it is a coated lens. I believe that all Anastar's were coated and some Anastigmat Special lenses.
20 - Screw in takup chamber - Looking up into the takeup chamber at the top-back, some bodies have two dull small spots. Some have one dull spot and a screw.
21 - Screw on side of lens mount - on the mount piece that is screwed onto the body, look at the round side of it. Some are plain, some have 2 screws on the take-up side and 1 screw on the rangefinder side.
22. Take-up spindle. Until I got my pre-WW II camera, I thought all were chrome. There are black ones around too.23. Back lock camera side. The plate the lock turns into can be charcoal or plain. Screws I have seen are always plain.
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Combinations
There is a great deal of intermixing of these pieces. It would make sense that black knobs would be on cameras with black rangefinders - and that is sometimes the case. However there are black knobs on cameras with aluminum colored rangefinders, and aluminum knobs on cameras with black rangefinders. I have not so far though seen plastic wind knobs on cameras with black rangefinders, so there are some unlikely combinations. The 4 knob styles used post-war that I am aware of are shown to the left. Pre-war knobs may be seen on the next page. Also, I am not aware of synchronized shutters on any with black rangefinders. The radial lines on the focus wheel (I guess that is the right word, curved lines next to each other all the way around the wheel) appears to have come and gone and come and gone, based on serial numbers of cameras with each wheel. For age, see top of previous Kodak 35RF page for dating cameras with the code "Camerosity".
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