Kodak Automatic 35 / Motormatic 35 (1959–1964)
The Kodak Automatic 35 and its spring-driven sibling, the Motormatic 35, were Kodak's first automatic-exposure 35mm cameras. They were also the last American-made 35mm cameras Kodak produced. The Automatic 35 ran from 1959 to 1964 at an original price of $84.50. The Motormatic 35, introduced in 1960, was built only until 1962 and listed at $109.50 in a June 1961 advertisement.
Both are viewfinder cameras with a fixed Kodak Ektanar 44mm f/2.8 four-element Tessar-style lens. The Automatic 35 has a two-speed Synchro 80 shutter (1/40 and 1/80 second) and a selenium meter that reads film speeds from 10 to 160. The camera is based on the Kodak Signet 50. Its "electric eye" system sets the aperture automatically, and a 1960 commercial featuring Ozzie Nelson was built around exactly that.
The Motormatic 35 is the same design with a spring-driven motor that advances the film. A period Kodak ad put it this way: the camera "winds its own film, and sets its own lens opening - not only for daylight but for flash pictures as well." It shares the Automatic 35's Tessar-style lens, auto-exposure system, large bright viewfinder, and solid body. For a few years it was one of Kodak's most expensive consumer models.
The later Motormatic 35F (1962-1967) and Automatic 35F variants exist, but their exact specifications are not well documented. What little period commentary survives is cautiously positive. One reviewer of the 35F called it "a decent performer, if you can find one working," and noted that the selenium meter and auto-aperture mechanism can still function passably after all these years.
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