In this section of the site, you’ll find a (very) modest but growing collection of scanned documents of interest to film photographers and film photography camera geeks, including owner’s manuals, user guides, leaflets, brochures and the like. We have a rather long queue of things to get scanned and posted here, but it’s a rather tedious and time-consuming process to do it and do it well, so this will be slow to grow.
PLEASE: If you intend to provide a link to these resources, be a decent internet citizen, and link to this page, and NOT to the individual documents listed here.
The Purpose of This Library
It’s not our intent to make this a sweeping, comprehensive collection by any means; there are many others doing a great job of that already. But for all of the historically-relevant film photography materials that we have in our collection, or acquire along the way, we wanted to share them — and the practical and historical value they embody — with the film photography community, and:
- Produce the best quality scans that we can;
- Scan every page the same way — with full color, and full resolution;
- Scan every page, including fold-outs, and both front and back covers; and,
- Offer them to everyone free of watermarking and other encumbrances, for archival, educational and research purposes.
NOTICE: While no copyright in the original materials is claimed, we’ve invested considerable time, effort and in many cases money buying the original materials in order to create this content and make it available to you. We would appreciate it if you would not re-post the PDF files on other web sites, or offer them for sale. Nothing will stop you or anyone from doing that, of course. But karma, as they say, can be a real bitch. 🙂
Special Thanks
We want to thank Cameraworks, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for providing some of the materials you’ll find here. We’ve bought many cameras from them, and had them do numerous repairs as well. Great people, and we appreciate their sharing these things with us.
Inspiration for this section comes from Pacific Rim Camera, Salem, Oregon, who graciously also provides a wide range of scanned materials free of charge and watermarking, in addition to an eclectic range of vintage cameras and accessories. (None of their materials are duplicated here.)
Table of Contents
Currently, we have the following categories of materials:
Owner’s Manuals / User Guides
Manuals are grouped by type, then sorted alphabetically first by manufacturer name, secondarily by product name.
Cameras
Graflex Graphic 35 Instruction and Reference Manual
From the mid/late 1950s.
Graflex Pacemaker Graphic Instruction Manual
The manual provided with the cameras, and relatively limited in scope. From the early 1950s.
Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic and Speed Graphic Instruction and Reference Manual
This is the more in-depth manual that you would have been provided if you wrote to Graflex and requested it. From the early 1950s.
Ihagee Exa (24x36mm) Owners Manual
Manual for the original Ihagee Exa model, circa mid-1950s.
Ihagee Exakta VX Instruction Booklet
Booklet for using the Ihagee Exakta VX (a/k/a Varex) camera, circa 1952. This booklet was written on in pencil, front and back, and sent as a letter to the person who would eventually be the owner of this camera. I thought it was interesting, and I made no attempt to remove or edit it out.
Kodak 35 Rangefinder Manual
Circa February 1946.
Kodak Retina Ib (Type 018) Manual
Circa October 1955. International version.
Kodak Retina IB (Type 021 Ausf. II) Manual
This is for Ausführung II (Version 2) of this specific model, with some design changes from Ausf. I. Circa January 1960. International version.
Kodak Retina II (Type 014) Manual
Circa April 1950.
Kodak Retina IIa (Type 016) Manual
Circa December 1952. USA version.
Kodak Retina IIa (Type 016) Manual
Circa November 1951. International version.
Kodak Retina IIc (Type 020) Manual
Circa 1956. USA version.
Kodak Retina IIc (Type 020) Manual
Circa 1954. International version.
Kodak Retina IIC (Type 029) Manual
Circa April 1958. International version. (The IIC was reportedly not sold in the USA.)
Kodak Retina IIIC (Type 028) Manual
Circa May 1959. International version.
Kodak Retina IIIS (Type 027) Manual
Circa May 1959. International version.
Kodak Retina Reflex III (Type 041) Manual
Circa September 1963. USA version.
Mamiya C33 Professional Owner’s Manual
Circa unknown, but the camera was around from 1965 to 1969.
Minolta SR-T 102 Owner’s Manual
Instructions on using the SR-T 102, one of the SR-T family of SLRs from Minolta. Circa 1973.
Rolleiflex Automat MX
Also known as Rolleiflex Automat Type 4, Rolleiflex 3,5 A, and Rolleiflex K4A. Circa May 1953.
Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super (New) • Type 10.1262
See note below; this is not for the Contaflex Super Type 10.1271. Circa 1962.
NOTE ABOUT THE CONTAFLEX MANUAL: This manual proved to be an elusive little thing; no common sources had a copy of it. The manual for the earlier Contaflex Super, launched in 1959 (Type 10.1271), is easy to find. (That model has a small film speed dial on the front of the camera.) But the Contaflex Super that is believed to have been launched in 1962, generally called the “Super New” or “Super New Version” (Type 10.1262), was nowhere to be found. I managed to locate a copy for sale at a somewhat inflated price, and am pleased to offer a scanned copy here. If you are looking for the manual for the 10.1271, you can find that on Richard Urmonas’ web site; the manual listings are here.
Camera Accessories
Ednalite Close-up Portrait Lens Package Insert
From 1954, instructions for the Ednalite close-up auxiliary lenses, with distance tables.
Hasselblad Extension Tube Manual
Short manual for the older 10 mm, 21 mm and 55 mm extension tubes. Circa unknown.
Horseman Roll Film Holder Owner Manual
Manual for Horseman roll film holders. Circa unknown; modern, it was supplied with my 6×9 back.
Kodak Pictorial Filter Box Insert
See note below. From 1954, the instruction sheet for Kodak’s basic red, yellow and green “Pictorial” filters.
NOTE ABOUT KODAK PICTORIAL FILTER BOX INSERT: The so-called “Pictorial Filters” were a simple trio of basic black-and-white contrast filters targeted to the amateur photographer. These filters were produced for Kodak’s “Combination Lens Attachments” — what I called the “Series” attachments. For more professional users, Kodak produced the so-called “Wratten Filters” which were available in a wide range of colors and color densities.
Kodak Portra Lens 1+ Box Insert
Circa 1950. Instruction sheet for Kodak’s Portra 1+ supplementary lens with distance tables.
Kodak Retina Close-up Rangefinder Kit
Short instruction booklet bundled with the Close-up Rangefinder Kit.
Kodak Retina Interchangeable Lenses Instruction Booklet
Circa 1957. Describes how to use the interchangeable 35mm wide and 80mm tele auxiliary / supplementary “C” lenses on the newer, round-front folding Kodak Retina cameras.
Kodak Retina Interchangeable Lenses Instruction Booklet
Circa 1961. Covers interchangeable “S” (DKL mount) lenses for the Retina IIIS, Reflex S and Reflex III cameras.
Kodak Wratten Filter Box Insert
Circa 1947. Instruction sheet for certain Kodak Wratten filters, using the older letter-based identifiers (e.g., K1, G, etc.).
Rolleicord Va Exposure Kits Instruction Sheet
Small insert packaged with both the 16- and 24-exposure kits.
Tokina TM500
Instruction manual for the Tokina TM500 500mm f/8 catadioptric SLR lens.
Yashica Aux. Telephoto Lens and Wideangle Lens Instruction Manual
Small and not particularly useful manual for Yashica’s TLR aux. lenses. Circa unknown.
Darkroom
Beseler 23C Series II Enlarger Manual
Made between the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, when it was replaced with the confusingly similarly named 23CII enlarger.
Ephemera
Brochures and related items. Generally sorted alphabetically by title.
Macrophotography and Photomicrography with Exakta VX IIa
Primarily describes all the close-up shooting accessories for the Exakta, but also has focusing tables for the extension tubes.
Mamiya C33 Brochure
Short booklet about the camera and its available accessories. Circa unknown, but the camera was around from 1965 to 1969.
Mamiya C33 Professional Compartment Case
Single page flyer / description of the C33 Professional Compartment Case. Circa unknown, but the camera was around from 1965 to 1969.
Minolta 110 Zoom SLR Brochure
Multipage brochure for this classic Minolta 110 camera, circa 1976.