Kodak Bantam F/8 (1938–1942)
The Kodak Bantam F/8 is a compact Bakelite snapshot camera made from 1938 to 1942. It belongs to Kodak's series of pocket-sized Bantam cameras, produced from 1935 to 1948. Most Bantams in that line have strut-folding lens mounts. The F/8 doesn't. It uses a rectangular retractable lens board, and the square lens housing springs forward about half an inch when you release it and retracts flush with the body when closed. One collector noted that this collapsing housing anticipates a feature Kodak would revisit years later on the Instamatic S-10.
It shoots 828 roll film (essentially 35mm stock on a paper-backed roll) and makes 28×40mm frames through a fixed-aperture Kodalinear 40mm f/8 lens. There is no focus, aperture or shutter speed control. You get a single-speed, instantaneous shutter and a folding frame finder. A small catch interferes with the shutter lever when the camera is closed, so it works as a shutter lock, and a double-exposure prevention device is built in. A button near the film advance knob must be pressed to wind the film. The camera measures roughly 4.5 inches wide, 3 inches tall, and 1.5 inches thick, and the molded black Bakelite body fits easily in the palm of your hand. Kodak's own booklet touted the Bantam f/6.3 and f/8 together as "two of the most convenient cameras ever designed."
The Science Museum Group Collection describes it as an "eyelevel plastic body camera" with an "instantaneaous" shutter. A period Kodak booklet simply notes the cameras are "little more than four inches long." The original price appears to have been 4.75, though the currency isn't specified in surviving records. An original instruction manual (KO276) has been listed at $12.00.
Surviving information on this model is otherwise thin. There are no production numbers, no original advertising beyond the Kodak booklet mention, and little in the way of period reviews. The collector record shows a boxed example with chipped areas listed at $50 in the Pacific Rim Camera catalog. Another, with its worn box, packing, and an empty 828 spool, was described as working with a couple of body chips. The camera is simple enough that it has found its way into at least one film photography classroom as a teaching piece.
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