Kodak Bantam Special 1936-48

The Tomei Collection

Walter Dorwin Teague is often given credit for the design of the Bantam Special which turned out to be arguably the most strikingly beautiful camera ever produced by Kodak. However, though Teague was the creative aesthetic force behind the final design, the Bantam Special was more accurately the product of joint efforts between Teague and Chester Crumrine at Kodak, to whom the design patent was jointly issued in 1936. The smooth curved lines of the die-cast body and baked black enamel contrasted with strong horizontal bright metal lines created a camera that was to become a benchmark in industrial design. Personally, the design of the Bantam Special had a strong sense of architectural weight as with the Bronx Arboretum.

Teague insisted on using his middle name in business not as an affectation, but more likely to ensure that he would not be confused with Walter Teague, President of Standard Oil, a name that has now passed into obscurity. This was to become more important after Standard Oil commissioned Walter Dorwin Teague to design gas stations in the 1930's. His wonderful art deco gas station pumps are not unlike the profile of the Bantam Special.

In 1927 Teague began his long career soon to propel him as one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th Century. Soon thereafter Teague was engaged by Kodak to design cameras and accessories. Many if not most so-called art deco cameras and accessories produced between 1928 and 1940 by Kodak were the creation of Teague's studio, although Teague never created any mechanical or optical designs.

In 1934, Kodak engaged Teague to extend existing work on the bellows camera designs of 1929 to include a completely new design for a line of miniature cameras to be called the Bantam's. Beneath the skin of the cameras, the engineering design and ergonomics were the product of Chester Crumrine although Joseph Mihalyi, both from Kodak, had produced a prototype design in collaboration with Teague several years earlier (cf. Photographic Canadiana 32(3):8, 2006). Perhaps the single flaw in the design of the Bantam and Bantam Special was introduced by Kodak marketing and business executives who required the cameras use 828 film. The creation of the 828 film type was driven by Charles Z. Case, who was in charge of "special developments" at Kodak (cf. Eastman-Butterfield Collection) and a powerful creative force at Kodak. Case had grown up with cameras and creative design since his father, Charles V. Case, had been one of the co-founders of the Monroe Camera Company in 1897. There were several good reasons for introducing the 828 film as an alternative to the standard 35mm cassettes. For instance, Case felt that double sprocketed 35mm film wasted image area on the film. The paper-backed 35mm wide film had no sprocket holes and thus could accomodate a 28 x 40mm image instead of the 24 x 36mm image of 35mm film - a 30% increase in image area available for each frame. Whatever reasons seem to be logical and compelling from a design or engineering POV, from the marketing viewpoint the 35mm film cassette was never threatened by 828 film.

The collection includes two examples of the first model of the Bantam Special. There is a very early camera produced in 1936 having serial number 4088 and an Anastigmat Ektar no. 3627, and a second camera built near the end of the production with the German Compur-Rapid shutter in 1940 with serial number 18215 and Anastigmat Ektar number 16513. Only two relatively minor differences can be seen on the cameras when compared.

The original price in 1936 was $110.00 which was rather expensive. Based on the CPI this was equivalent to about $1600 today (i.e. 2006). However, based upon wages, it is equivalent to almost $7000 which suggests that this camera was purchased only by the wealthy during the Great Depression years. None the less, between 1936 and 1940 approximately 18,000 cameras were produced before WWII halted the use of the Compur-Rapid shutters that were built in Germany.

All Bantam Specials were equipped with the excellent f/2 45mm Anastigmat Ektar lens. In late 1940, this was called simply the Ektar lens and was the first Kodak lens to be coated. However, since the early coating was fragile, it was used only on internal glass surfaces.

Above and right: Camera no. 18,215, c1940.

The coupled rangefinder design is clearly unusual for a Kodak product. Actually, it reflects perhaps the admiration and close business collaboration that existed between Zeiss Ikon and Kodak for many decades. From the outside the rangefinder of the Bantam Special appears to be similar to that found in Zeiss Ikon cameras such as the Super Nettel which were based upon rotating prisms. However, the similarities end there.

The rangefinder window provides a magnified view of the image field which is organized as a sharply split image making focusing very easy and precise. This design, attributed to Chester Crumrine of Kodak, provided optical precision significantly more sophisticated than that used by others including Leitz.

Perhaps the Bantam Special could have gone forward beyond 1947 when the final decision to discontinue production was made. Kodak and Charles Case had miscalculated and the 828 film was never very popular and eventually was phased out of production completely in favor of the enormously successful 35mm cassette. However, this did not likely contribute to the decision to discontinue this fine camera. It was more likely an economic decision based upon production costs. Certainly the public never tired of this camera and it went on to sell for more than its original pre-WWII price well into the next millennium.

After 1940, Kodak changed to the Supermatic shutter and no longer used the German Compur-Rapid. This transition was unexpectedly accelerated when in late 1939 a British submarine sank a freighter bound for New York carrying German Compur Rapid shutters destined for Kodak cameras. There were some design differences introduced by Kodak in the Supermatic shutter. However, it was found to be substantially less reliable than the Compur and only about 5000 cameras were built between 1940 and 1948 making this last variant a bit more desirable on the collector market commanding a premium of 20-40% usually.

Note the two cameras on the left: the example on the right was built in 1936, whereas the one on the left was built in 1940. The forward wind knobs were originally made with a short section of vertical machined grooves and a back release that was topped by a solid stepped disc. By 1940 the film advance knob had been changed to a more broad grip area of 8 cross machined lines and the back release had a hole cut through its center. No other differences are evident on the exterior.

Above: Production c1936 showing original design of forward wind knob and back release tab.

Above: Production c1940 with knob similar to the Retina and modified release tab.

Above: Camera no. 4088, c1936.

As Lipinski points out, the optics essentially form two small telescopes that provide a 3X magnification of the field. This made the rangefinder exceptionally easy to use and accurate as well.

Kodak Bantam Special 1936-48 The Tomei Collection

Kodak Bantam Special 1936-48

The Tomei Collection