Kodak Recomar1927

History

Eastman Kodak established a German subsidiary -- eventually known as Kodak AG -- to serve the European market, which had strong indigenous camera and film industries and distinct product preferences from the American market. By the 1920s, Kodak AG had become a significant manufacturer in its own right, operating facilities in Stuttgart that produced cameras specifically for European tastes: primarily plate-format folders of the type that dominated serious amateur and professional photography on the Continent.

The Recomar appeared in 1927, a period of intense activity in the German camera industry. Zeiss Ikon had been formed the year before (1926) from the merger of ICA, Contessa-Nettel, Ernemann, and Goerz, creating a dominant competitor. Voigtlander continued to produce premium folders. Leica had shown its first camera in 1925 and begun commercial sales, introducing 35mm to the serious photography market for the first time.

In this competitive environment, Kodak AG positioned the Recomar as a quality instrument at a price competitive with the German majors. The Stuttgart operation had technical credibility independent of the American parent brand, and the Recomar was respected as a German camera that happened to carry the Kodak name rather than as an imported product.

After Kodak AG acquired the assets of Dr. August Nagel's firm (Nagel-Werk) in 1931 -- the same acquisition that produced the Kodak Retina -- the Stuttgart operation's camera-making capability expanded further. The Recomar continued alongside the new roll-film products. The rise of 35mm and 120 roll-film cameras through the 1930s gradually made the plate-folder format obsolete for the amateur market, and the Recomar line wound down by the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Why It Matters

The Recomar is a useful case study in how American companies competed in the European precision-camera market of the 1920s and 1930s: not by exporting American products, but by operating German manufacturing with German engineering talent. The cameras produced by Kodak AG were genuinely German instruments -- the Recomar is not distinguishable from Voigtlander or Zeiss Ikon products by construction quality, only by label and optical specification.

The camera also represents the last generation of plate-folder designs that would be commercially viable. Within a decade of the Recomar's introduction, the combination of the Leica establishing 35mm for portable photography and the Rolleiflex establishing 120 roll film for medium-format quality work had effectively ended the plate folder's relevance for new buyers. The Recomar is therefore a camera at the twilight of its format.

For photographers working with 9x12cm sheet film today (the modern equivalent of the glass plate format), the Recomar offers a compact, lightweight option compared to conventional large-format field cameras, though sourcing sheet-film holders of the correct size is a meaningful practical obstacle.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Kodak Recomar -- primary reference for variant identification and production history
• Camera-Wiki: Kodak AG -- corporate history of the German Kodak subsidiary