“A” is for, well, A

“A” is for A: The Univex Model A camera.

The Universal Camera Corporation lasted from 1933 to 1952. The Model A was one of its first cameras, designed to take photos on special No. 00 roll film.

This camera was sold in 1933 for $0.39. It had a very simple lens and the shutter is actuated by a small lever on the side of the camera to the right of the lens.

Here's the Univex Model A camera. There were quite a number of different versions of this simple-yet-elegant camera. — Here’s the Univex Model A. There were quite a number of different versions of this simple-yet-elegant camera.

The cameras of the Universal Camera Corporation are among my very favorite. Expect to see a few of them this month!

Some other “A” cameras:

The Minolta A

The lens is nice and clear. One day I should put a roll of film through this.

The Argus A3

What's cool here is that the shutter release is on the side of the lens. — What’s cool here is that the shutter release is on the side of the lens.

The Acro-Flash by Herold

The Herold Acro-Flash was one of many, many cheap plastic cameras for 127 film. Such cameras were common in the 1950’s.

One had to read the frame numbers on the film itself to advance the film properly. The numbers could be read through the red windows.

This particular camera still had a roll of 127 film in it when we bought it!

Reference: McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th edition, ISBN 0-931838-40-1

The other cameras featured in this A to Z Challenge are linked on this page.

4 Comments

Corinne says:

April 1, 2014 at 9:20 am

A is for A! What an awesome theme…I love it. These are great old models. Very cool.

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Heather {My Little HEA} says:

April 1, 2014 at 11:23 am

This is something I never knew would fascinate me like it has. Thank you for introducing me to this wold of camera history! Visiting from the A-Z Challenge – xoxo, Heather My Little HEA

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