Kodak Target Brownie Six-16
The Target Brownie Six-16 is a Kodak box camera from the 1940s. Its Art Deco faceplate makes it one of the more distinctive-looking Brownies of its era. It was a simple, fixed-focus rollfilm camera, sold during what Coastal Film Lab calls "the golden age of box cameras." The most reliable dating comes from brownie-camera.com, which gives an introduction of July 1946 and discontinuation in November 1951, with an original price of $4.00. Some sources stretch that range back to 1941 or forward to 1946-51, but the 1946-51 window is the best documented.
Mechanically it's about as plain as a camera gets: a meniscus lens, a rotary shutter, and a slide at the top that pulls up to add a bright-sun aperture of roughly f/16. It was designed for 616 roll film, which has been discontinued for decades. Adapters exist that let owners spool 120 film onto 616 spools, and both McBain Camera and several sellers note this conversion is a practical option. The picture size is a generous 2½ × 4¼ inches. The body measures about 5½ × 4 × 5 inches.
Surviving examples are often sold not as working cameras but as decor. Multiple sellers say so outright: LiveAuctioneers notes one unit "no longer works and is meant for use as decor," and ACME Brooklyn states its vintage cameras are "intended for decorative prop use only." One listing on Vintage America even features a Target Six-16 that's been converted into a desk lamp. Working examples do surface. One Pinterest listing reports a shutter that "fires fine," if untested for accuracy. Auction results are modest, with one example selling for $8.63 including buyer's premium.
Known specs:
- Type: Box rollfilm camera
- Film: 616 rollfilm (adaptable to 120)
- Picture size: 2½ × 4¼ inches
- Lens: Meniscus
- Shutter: Rotary
- Body: Art Deco faceplate; approx. 5½ × 4 × 5 inches
- Introduced: July 1946 (per brownie-camera.com)
- Discontinued: November 1951 (per brownie-camera.com)
- Original price: $4.00 (per brownie-camera.com)
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