James Rhodes

Thanks for the information, Joerg. I’ll look into those suppliers. It may be impossible to find a perfect match, but maybe there is one out there that is close.

This should give an idea of the leatherette grain texture (upper left of photo).

Does anyone know of a good source of replacement black leatherette for Cine-Kodak Special cameras? I have seen leatherette with a suitable texture for Bolex cameras but a good match for the CKS cameras would be finer grained. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

 I agree with you, Michael, that is would be wise to consider the lens date circumstantial evidence. I wouldn't say with certainty it dates from 1940, but it is probably very close to that date (circa 1940). It will probably be impossible to state with certainty the exact year of manufacture, since Kodak didn't appear to keep detailed records of their early models like Paillard-Bolex.  One of the reasons I bought it, besides its collector's value, is that I can do basic lubrication on it myself and it's still a viable camera for the single-frame work I intend to do with it. Eastman Kodak very thoughtfully provided lubrication ports throughout the camera. Plus I have read on this forum that it's not terribly difficult to disassemble for a thorough cleaning and greasing. I will wait on that until I get a copy of the military service manual. I have the parts list but that's all it is: a parts list. Right now it runs nice and smooth for an 80+ year-old camera, and I'm good with that. Thanks, Michael.

I think I may have the likely answer. I checked the serial number of the 25mm Anastigmat lens that likely was sold with the camera, as they generally came with this standard lens. The serial number is EY00458. Refer to the excerpt below from bnphoto.org/bnphoto/LFN/KodakID_htm:

The EY prefix of the lens serial number dates the camera/lens combination to 1940. Michael nailed it! Thanks for your input, Philip, Simon, and Michael.

Thanks for the information, Simon and Michael. 9000 cameras produced in a fifteen year period works out to about 600 per year. It doesn’t seem like that many, but the first half of its production run was during the Great Depression, and these cameras were very expensive for the average person. So I can tentatively date the camera around 1940/41, give or take a couple of years. The brass plate under the turret where owners would have their names engraved is blank, so no clues there. Thanks again!

The flaw with my previous comment is it only allows for one camera to be produced per month-highly unlikely! So it was probably manufactured in 1936 or 1937, if the first number represents the production year.

It just occurred to me that if the camera was in the fourth year of production, might it not have been manufactured in 1936?

Year 1=1933, year 2=1934, year 3=1935, year 4=1936.

The serial number 4736 ends in 36, which might also be significant. If the 7 indicates month, perhaps it was made in July of 1936, in the fourth year of production? Just a thought. 

Thanks, Simon and Philip for your input.

Thanks, Simon. That's good to know. I'm very impressed with it, and after oiling it I looking forward to using it, mainly for time-lapse and other single-frame work. It's a very heavy, seemingly well made camera with many of the features of the Bolex H16 cameras for a much lower price. By the way, reading your previous positive comments on these cameras is one of the reasons I purchased it. I have been considering getting one for a long time.

Here are some photos that may be helpful. The turret plate is different from others I've seen, which are usually either missing or have exposure tables printed on them. This one is solid black. The 15mm lens finder glass is cracked, otherwise the camera is in excellent condition, with only minor wear. I'm surprised Kodak hasn't provided a reference for this.

No, just the numbers 4736. I think it was made before the CAMEROSITY code was used. The literature that came with the camera is dated from the late 30s to the early 40s, which may be a clue. It has the original mask set, the care instructions have the date code 6-38. The 100 foot magazine that came with it is stamped 100-6161. I can't be sure it was the original one that came with the camera, though. I know the same magazines were used with the Cine-Special II.

I recently purchased a very nice Cine-Kodak Special 16mm camera on eBay (the original model with the flat, non-divergent turret). The serial number is 4736. Does anyone have an idea when it was manufactured? I'm thinking late 30's or early 40's. Thanks.