A fellow collector and camera aficionado, John Kwinn, kindly sent me this immaculate Cine-Kodak Special II 16mm camera (ca. 1948) with its original case, a 200’ magazine, and an amazing collection of original lenses and accessories. John asked if I could find a filmmaker or collector who would adopt this camera package and take as good care of it as he did. I went through and serviced the camera and all of its lenses, and found them all to be in truly excellent condition. The case itself required a little tlc, but for the most part, it’s in very nice condition for its age. To complete this camera package, I have added an original Cine-Kodak tripod with pan tilt head that I acquired a couple of years back with a giant crate of other tripods. This is an amazing, museum quality collection of equipment that deserves a really good home. Hopefully one of my followers has a place in your heart and home for this wonderful piece of cinema history.
The original Cine-Kodak Special was introduced in 1933 to target the expanding 16mm educational, industrial, commercial, and scientific markets. It used swappable magazines that held 100’ or 200’ of film, and featured a two-position turret with interchangeable lenses. Building on the success of the original Cine-Kodak Special, the Cine-Kodak Special II was introduced in 1948. It featured an improved divergent 2-lens turret that kept the lenses from interfering with each other as they could in the earlier model. The camera used Kodak’s new Type-S lens mount, intended to be a universal lens mount for all of Kodak’s cine cameras. The Cine-Kodak Special II was one of the most versatile 16mm motion picture cameras of its time. You could shoot standard live action, under cranked or over cranked, and single frame animation, all with one extremely well-made, spring wound camera. This is an excellent camera for beginning filmmakers and veterans alike, as it is feature-packed, durable, and easy to use.