JediKooter
06-04-2012, 07:00 PM
Still cameras to be specific.
A little background:
I bought an old Kodak Autographic A-3 camera this weekend at an antique store. Still had it's original case, but, I'm pretty sure it is not in working condition. That's ok, I just like how it looks, but, it would be cool if I could get it to work. The best I can tell is, it was originally purchased between 1917 and 1935ish in Edinboro Pennsylvania by a man named Waldo F. Bates Jr. His name was on the case and on the camera if you're wondering how I knew that.
Out of curiosity, I looked on Ancestry.com to see if I could find him on there and indeed he was. He served in WWI with the rank of Sgt. and was also an art teacher at Edinboro State Normal School and then Dean of Arts at State Teachers College at Edinboro. Wondering how this camera ended up in California, I found out that he died here in the Bay Area in 1956 and is buried at this big national cemetery off the 280 freeway. I suspect a family member probably sold a bunch of his stuff off after he died or something similar.
So now I have this camera, a very old camera and would like to try and get it back in working condition. Looking at it, it doesn't look like anything is mechanically wrong with it except that there is this orange/amber glass piece on the back cover that is broken. It almost looks like it would be where a view finder would be, but, it being that color makes me think it is for something else. It's slightly smaller than the circumference of a dime, from eyeballing it.
Does anyone know of where to get parts for these old cameras, if at all? Google hasn't really been much of any help as far as parts go or part numbers or even what that orange piece is even called.
A little background:
I bought an old Kodak Autographic A-3 camera this weekend at an antique store. Still had it's original case, but, I'm pretty sure it is not in working condition. That's ok, I just like how it looks, but, it would be cool if I could get it to work. The best I can tell is, it was originally purchased between 1917 and 1935ish in Edinboro Pennsylvania by a man named Waldo F. Bates Jr. His name was on the case and on the camera if you're wondering how I knew that.
Out of curiosity, I looked on Ancestry.com to see if I could find him on there and indeed he was. He served in WWI with the rank of Sgt. and was also an art teacher at Edinboro State Normal School and then Dean of Arts at State Teachers College at Edinboro. Wondering how this camera ended up in California, I found out that he died here in the Bay Area in 1956 and is buried at this big national cemetery off the 280 freeway. I suspect a family member probably sold a bunch of his stuff off after he died or something similar.
So now I have this camera, a very old camera and would like to try and get it back in working condition. Looking at it, it doesn't look like anything is mechanically wrong with it except that there is this orange/amber glass piece on the back cover that is broken. It almost looks like it would be where a view finder would be, but, it being that color makes me think it is for something else. It's slightly smaller than the circumference of a dime, from eyeballing it.
Does anyone know of where to get parts for these old cameras, if at all? Google hasn't really been much of any help as far as parts go or part numbers or even what that orange piece is even called.