The Kodak Brownie Starmatic was a high-end part of Kodak's Brownie Star series, made between April 1959 & August 1963.
The Brownie Starmatic was the first automatic Brownie camera. Featuring the standard, fixed-focus
Kodar lens and "Instant" shutter setting, this little gem also sports Automatic Exposure control. Its built-in
exposure meter allows the camera to adjust between Kodak's EV (exposure value scale) numbers 12 to 16.
See chart below. A dial on top of the camera can be turned to Auto or manually set to EV numbers 12 through
16. As you cycle through the EV numbers you will see the aperture change with each setting. Another dial
allows the ASA (ISO) film speed value to be selected. Here's where the camera shows its age, ASA numbers
range from only 32 to 125. A meter needle in the viewfinder moves up and down depending on the exposure
reading to notify the photographer that a change of exposure or flash is necessary. The molded body is exactly
the same as its cousins the Starmite, Starmeter, Starluxe, etc. An Open/Lock switch on the bottom of the
camera allows the film assembly to be removed for easy film loading. Another knob on the bottom is used for
film advance. The shutter is cocked when the film is advanced for double exposure prevention. The standard
red window for frame number viewing is present on the back of the camera, and the viewfinder is fairly large
and bright. The shutter release is a red switch on the front of the camera near the lens. Like the other
'Star' Brownies the Starmatic takes the nearly obsolete 127 roll film yielding twelve 4x4cm negatives. |} |} In August 1961 there was a facelift; the Starmatic II had a two-tone grey body (in place of the black) and a two-speed shutter.
Source[]
- Coe, Brian, Kodak Cameras, the First Hundred Years, Hove Foto Books, 1987
Links[]
- Starmatic on Brownie-Camera.com
- Starmatic on OneTwoSeven.org.uk
- Kodak Brownie Starmatic on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
Brownie Starmatic with box, by Mpclemens. (Image rights) |