Kodak Retina Reflex IV
The Kodak Retina Reflex IV was the last of Kodak AG's line of Retina SLR cameras. The whole series borrowed heavily from Kodak's earlier Retina rangefinder cameras and attempted to evolve that system into a professional-level 35mm SLR camera. The results were mixed.
Introduced in 1964, the Retina Reflex IV was only in production for three years, until 1967. The camera continued the pattern of modest improvements over earlier Retina Reflex cameras. The Reflex IV added a small window above the lens that allowed the user to read aperture and shutter speed selections in the viewfinder. The frame counter also reset to 36 when the back door was opened; a small tweak that helped a lot, given the tedious process of resetting the film counters on these cameras. The Reflex IV also added a hot shoe for flash synchronization.
The Retina Reflex cameras put high quality, Schneider optics onto robustly engineered bodies and gave the photographer the benefits of SLR viewing. However, unlike most SLR cameras, the Retina Reflex cameras only changed out part of the lens. The rear elements of the lens were permanently installed, behind the leaf shutter, and only the front optics were changed by the user. This aspect of the design was likely due to Kodak wanting to stick with a leaf shutter, while keeping that shutter in the body of the camera.
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