Kodak Brownie Starflex (1957–1964)

The Kodak Brownie Starflex is a pseudo-TLR box camera. Kodak made it from March 1957 until September 1964. It was aimed at casual, occasional photographers, and it was typical Kodak in putting simplicity ahead of sophistication. It sold for $10 when new.

The body is molded plastic. The camera takes 127 roll film and makes 1⅝-inch square negatives. The twin lenses up front are a bit of an illusion. The top lens belongs only to the viewfinder and doesn't help with focusing, which is why people call it a "pseudo TLR" and not a true twin-lens reflex. The shutter is a fixed, rotary type with two aperture settings, labeled for color (13) and black & white (14) shooting. The lens itself is a plastic Dakon.

The Brownie Starflex was sold as an outfit with the camera, neck strap, flash attachment and box. It was one of several "Star" Brownies that shared a similar molded plastic body through the late fifties and sixties. 127 film is still available from select outlets (look for Rera Pan 100-127) if you want to try one. The instruction manual is also still online as an 8-page PDF.

Surviving documentation on this model is moderate. Production numbers, precise lens specs and common failure points aren't recorded in the sources available. What's clear is that this was a budget, fixed-focus camera for family snapshots, not a precision instrument.