No. 3 Kodet and No. 4 Kodet

The No. 3 Kodet takes pictures of 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch (8 x 11 cm) on glass plates or film. The camera was produced in the US, but  made for the UK market only. It was introduced in 1894 and discontinued in 1896. It cost £ 3 3 0 with the achromatic lens and £ 4 4 0 with Rapid Rectilinear lens. 405 were manufactured and it is a very rare camera today.
The No. 4 Kodet takes 4 x 5 inch (10 x 12,5 cm) pictures on glass plates or a darkroom loaded spool of film for 48 exposures. It was made from 1894 until 1897, during which time 1413 were produced. It cost $ 15 or £ 3 10 0 with a simple Achromatic lens and $ 20 or £ 4 10 0 with a better Rapid Rectilinear.

The No. 3 and No. 4 Kodet belongs to the class of cheap snapshooter cameras, intended for the not so wealthy casual photographer. The settings are simple, so there is not much chance to make a mistake.

• For ordinary snapshot work there is only one shutter speed (Instantaneous setting) that can be altered slightly with a lever below the lens.
• There is a wheel with waterhouse stops (missing in my No. 3)
• On one side is a distance scale.
• On the same side is a lever with which the shutter is cocked.
• There are two little reflex finders to help aim the camera.

In the back of the box 3 double plate holders and a ground glass are stored. These can be replaced with a special Kodet roll holder for a darkroom loaded 48 exposure spool of film. The plate holders or roll holder can be reached through a door in the side. A door in the back allows the photographer to focus and compose the image on the ground glass.