No. 5 Folding Kodet (1895-1897)

All Kodet cameras were cheap alternatives for Kodak box and folding cameras of the mid 1890's. This camera, called No. 5 Folding Kodet, takes 5 x 7 inch (12,5 x 18 cm) pictures on glass plates or darkroom loaded film in a Kodet rollholder. It's a less expensive alternative for the No. 5 Folding Kodak Improved.

The camera has all kind of settings:

• the lens has a diaphragm range from f/8 to f/32
• the shutter can be set on Time, Bulb and Instantaneous and has speeds of 1/4, 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100 of a second
• the front has rising and slinding movements
• the back has provision for swing along the vertical axis
• there is a little reflex finder on the drop bed, but there's also a ground glass to compose and focus the picture on. (The back door is missing in the model in the video.)

All this means that the camera was intended for the serious amateur, albeit one with a small purse. The price of the No. 5 Folding Kodet was $ 22 or $ 30, depending on the lens. The price of the No. 5 Folding Kodak Improved was $ 75.
The No. 5 Kodet was introduced in 1895 and discontinued in 1897. During this period 1300 were made. There's also a No. 5 Folding Kodet Special.

Ad in The Forum, 1895.