Contemporaries to the Kodak Pony II?

[jay moussy]

I have a Pony II found at the local swap shop at the dump, and only ran an old film as test, while being a bit confused with the EV system.

It got me thinking, what was comparable and in same price range at the time? I am just reading about the Agfa Sillettes, for example.
Then what was the then "Dad's camera", i.e., the next model(s) up?

 

[albada]

In the 1950's, this was Kodak's line-up of cameras, starting with their top-of-the-line:

1. Retina.
2. Signet.
3. Pony.
4. Fixed-focus / single-speed models.

Argus tried to compete against the Pony with their A-four. The Agfa/Ansco Silette competed against Pony, Signet, and Retina, depending on model. I suppose the cheapest Silette competed against the Pony 135/B/C, but my testing revealed that the three-element Apotar f/3.5 lens in the cheap Silette is exceptionally sharp. I think Agfa put a good optical engineer on that one.
Mark Overton

 

[Paul Howell]

You can add the Kodak 35, with and without the geared rangefinder, it had a better lens and build quality. I think it was made until 1952 so not much of an overlap with the Pony with also available in 828 roll film.

 

[RLangham]

You can add the Kodak 35, with and without the geared rangefinder, it had a better lens and build quality. I think it was made until 1952 so not much of an overlap with the Pony with also available in 828 roll film.

That's earlier. By the fifties Kodak had already tried and failed to supplant Leica with the absurdly luxurious (and fragile ) Ektra.

Kodak's best American made camera in the fifties would probably be the Chevron, though speaking purely of 35mm the Signet is the top line American camera. Retinas were made by Nagel's factory in Stuttgart. I have one of their thirties plate folders.

 

[albada]

You can add the Kodak 35...

The ugly Kodak 35 RF was replaced by the lovely Signet 35.
The Kodak 35 had a plastic body and a metal baseplate.
The Signet 35 had a metal body and a plastic baseplate.
Both had good 4-element lenses.