Super Kodak Six-20

The price of an antique camera is entirely dependent upon the moods of the buyer and seller at the time of the transaction. - McKeown's law.

Corollary. If you pass up a camera you really want, one will never show up again.

CODA. If you do buy that camera you really want, someone will promptly find you another one at a much lower cost.

For 25 years, Bill searched for the rare Super Kodak Six-20 camera. The first camera to offer a coupled electric eye for automatic exposure control, it was offered by Kodak from 1938 to 1944. Unreliable and unpopular, the camera had an estimated production range of only 714 to 725 units, making it a rare collectible.

Recently, Bill spotted a Six-20 on EBay. He was determined to have it in spite of a bidding war with a handful of other keen collectors. And, at the end of the bidding, Bill's dream of 25 years was fulfilled! He had a Super Kodak Six-20.

Having obeyed McKeown's Law and its corollary, Bill soon experienced the CODA: His son John has an antique store. Shortly after the bidding success, John visited his dad to show off something one of the store's bird-dog's found at a garage sale across the border in New York state. Yes. A second Super Kodak Six-20 in equally good condition and at garage sale prices!

This was topped a week later when Bill came across a third Super Kodak Six-20 in even better condition complete with two copies of the original instruction book.

So now Bill has cornered about 4% of the production of this rare milestone camera model. (See McKeown's Price Guide 11^th edition, page 375 for current valuation -- not all Kodaks are cheap).

ABOUT THE IMAGES. Click on any image and in a few seconds you will see an enlarged view in a separate window. The images were taken with a Nikon 990 digital camera and modified as required in Photoshop. All images are © 2001 by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada and may be used if the source is mentioned.

Bob Carter

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