Simplicity

I like the elegant simplicity of my compact Kodak Retina I; it has just what is needed for making high quality images, and nothing more.  Mine is a Type 010 made just after WWII.  The camera came equipped with a Xenar lens, but I could not seem to remove the dense haze on the lens surfaces, so I transplanted an Ektar from a junker.

    The camera is easily pocketed, and uncomplicated to use once you are accustomed to its capabilities.  Having not used the camera in some time I slightly misjudged the compensation needed for parallax correction on many of the frames on this recent roll of Kentmere 100.  The viewfinder is low and well-centered over the lens, and it requires much less adjustment of the image in the viewfinder than is true of the II and IIa rangefinders.

Using a camera without a rangefinder can be challenging in low light.  With normal open sky conditions, however, a little care in distance estimation and focusing produces good results.  The early Retina I models like mine incorporated a depth of field dial on the camera's bottom which is a good help in determining the range of sharp focus yielded by the selected aperture.   For instance, if you are shooting on a sunny day, the dial shows that with the aperture at f-16 you can set the focus to the hyperfocal distance of 13 feet (4 meters) and everything from about 7 feet to infinity will be sharp.