Gnome Pre-View

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Starting off with the new year of cameras, this post will be looking at another unknown, but interesting camera. This is the 620 film Gnome Pre-View pseudo-TLR camera.

As with all new cameras, I will be going over the camera company’s history. There is not much information on the company itself, owing to it being a private company, but I did find some basic information.

It was founded by Heinrich Loebstein in Stuttgard, Germany (Art Deco Cameras 2020). Loebstein founded the company in 1935 (CollectiBlend 2025), mostly focusing on manufacturing enlargers, slide projectors and other photographic equipment (Camera-wiki).

Gnome catalogue. Image Source:
https://museum.wales/media-dams/eba09393-6c91-38cb-aa57-a61167a8b307/mid/

But being of Jewish decent, Loebstein had to flee Germany owing to the Nazis being in government and moved to Treforest, Wales (CollectiBlend 2025) in 1938 and “…set up a factory in Britain's first industrial estate at Treforest. The Treforest complex was meant to encourage new types of industries to south Wales which was still suffering the harsh economic blight of Depression…” (Art Deco Cameras 2020). 

Still focusing on projectors and enlargers up until 1940, when WWII broke out, Gnome’s factories and buildings were commandeered by UKs Ministry of Aircraft Production, forcing Gnome to move its occupancy to Cardiff (Art Deco Cameras 2020).

There Gnome took part in the war effort, by making “…enlargers for the Admiralty for use in aerial reconnaissance…” and afterwards permanently stayed in Cardiff (Art Deco Cameras 2020). Going back to making enlargers, projectors and other dark room equipment, Gnome also ventured in making cameras (CollectiBlend 2025). 

Gnome Slide Projector. Image Source:
https://i0.wp.com/drewfamily.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/96-06.png?w=820&ssl=1

This also included rebadged cameras from Adox, according to Grace (2014). The most common camera I can find that seems to be a rebadged Adox camera sold by Gnome is the Polo camera. 

Adox Polo camera. Image Source:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8062894635_8cc7702d51.jpg

Gnome Polo camera. Image Source:
https://historiccamera.com/images2/tom/datasheet_3522_datasheet_image1.gif

But they did make their own cameras, such as their first camera the Gnome Pixie in 1949 (Art Deco Cameras 2020).

Gnome Pixie. Image Source:
http://www.artdecocameras.com/images/gnome/pixie/pixie.jpg

And like the Ising (see my Pucky I post) and Rondo (see my Rondo Colormatic post), Gnome only made a handful of cameras (CollectiBlend 2025). Such as the Pixie II, Baby Pixie (Camera-wiki), the Pixie-flex and then finally the camera that this post is about, the Pre-View (CollectiBlend 2025).

Pixie II. Image Source:
http://www.artdecocameras.com/images/gnome/pixieii/pixieii.jpg

Baby Pixie. Image Source:
https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Gnome-Baby-Pixie.jpg

Pixie Flex. Image Source:
http://www.artdecocameras.com/images/gnome/pixie-flex/pixie-flex.jpg

Gnome only made a small amount of cameras, because as Camera-Wiki points out: “Gnome had little expertise in camera design…” and similar to Rondo moved away from cameras to focus on Enlargers, which 80% of enlargers in the UK was made by Gnome.

There isn’t much else, but I did find some significant dates important to Gnome’s growth:

“1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Manufacturers of Precision, Photographic Equipment including 7 in. (17.8 cm) by 5 in. (12.7 cm). Industrial Enlarger, 2¼ in. (5.7 cm) sq. and 35mm Portable Enlargers, Lighting Outfits, Developing Tanks, Printing Boxes, Masking Frames, in fact all Equipment for the Amateur or Professional Photographer. (Olympia, Ground Floor, Stand No. A.1016)”

“1954 Patent - Improvements in or relating to optical projection apparatus, particularly photographic enlarging apparatus.”

“1971 Patent - Photographic Slide Projectors.” (Grace 2014)

And from Camera-wiki, we know that in 1960 the company went public selling 400000 shares, as well as buying back their original factory in Stuttgard, which was used as storage for the equipment they shipped to Germany!

But like most things the company was dissolved in 1988 (according to CompanyCheck 2026), but this appears to be incorrect because as Camera-wiki and CollectiBlend (2025) both agree that it actually closed in 1994.

Now it is not known why the company closed due to Gnome being a private company. But there are two possibilities. The most likely explanation could be that similar to Polaroid (see my Polaroid SX-70 post), Gnome couldn’t compete with the rise of the digital cameras in the 1990’s and 2000’s, which made their darkroom equipment, enlargers, cameras and slide projectors obsolete.

The other explanation could be that going public and selling shares didn’t go as planned and the company went under…

But those are only my theories.

Anyway… back to the camera at hand. Let us now focus on the first camera of 2026, The Gnome Pre-View! This camera was released in 1952 “…after the main Art Deco period…” (Art Deco Cameras 2020). The camera is made mostly of metal, is “100 x 115 x 94 mm” in size and weighs 375g (Art Deco Cameras 2020). And the best part is that this camera still has the original box and instruction manual!

But now let’s have a closer look. Starting as always with the front.

The lenses.

This camera, like the Ricohflex IIII and the Pucky I, this camera is a TLR and has two lenses: a viewing lens, top, and a taking lens, bottom (Burrows 2021). 

Now this camera can be classified as a pseudo-TLR camera, due to the fact that the two lenses aren’t connected and similar to the Pucky I the top lens, “will not reflect the set focus distance (of the taking lens) …” (Eckman 2020).

But the key difference between the Pre-View and the Pucky I, is that the Pre-View has a fixed taking lens with a focus of 75mm (Art Deco Cameras 2020). Meaning that both the bottom and top lenses cannot move, furthermore the manual states that the viewing lens: “…shows exactly what will appear on the film…”

So, with this statement and the fixed lenses, it is more fair to say that the Pre-View isn’t actually a pseudo-TLR camera but technically fits the definition of a real TLR camera!

Now to look at each lens individually.

The viewing lens-

Both lenses are “…of the best quality meniscus…” according to the manual. (Also please see my Instamatic 10 post to learn about the meniscus lens.) The viewing lens is a brilliant type (see my Brownie 1 and my Agfa 54 posts for more information), and is very large, which makes viewing a breeze. 

Now for the taking lens.

This is also a fixed 75mm meniscus lens, as mentioned. It also has a focus range of 6 feet to infinity and the lens is “…set on the Hyper-focal distance in order to give the maximum extent of sharp focus…” (manual).

Then in the right bottom corner is the synchro flash socket, which seems to be a flash PC connector, like the Pucky I, and sets off the flash at the same time when the shutter is pressed.

Speaking of which, let’s have a look at the top-

Starting with the shutter release, which again like the Pucky I is on top. Except the Pre-View has a thin metal L-shaped piece (similar to the Instamatic 104 and 50, but inverted).

The shutter is described, by the manual, as a “…self-capping, all metal type…” which is just another name for a rotary shutter, just like the Brownie Model 1, No.2, Beau Brownie, the Halina Roy, Ensign All-20, Agfa 54 and the Holiday flash.

Now the shutter has two settings, which can be found opposite side of the shutter release, in the form of a lever.

The two settings are I, which sets the shutter to 1/25 second and B, which leaves the shutter open for as long as the shutter release is held down.

Then there is the brilliant finder, that shows what the viewing lens sees on a 45-degree mirror.

Then behind that is the latch that holds the film compartment cover in place.

Now for the sides.

Left-

Near the bottom, a bit off centre, is the film advance knob or the winding key, which advances the film to the next frame.

Then on the right-

Is the f/stop settings. Similar to the Brownie Nr.2 and the Beau Brownie, it uses a lever that is pulled out to set the aperture, which also, like the two cameras mentioned, as well as the Fancy DX-3, Sinpo PQ-3, Brownie No.2, Beau Brownie, the Agfa 54 and the Brownie 8mm Movie Camera II f/2.3/ 2.7, this camera uses a piece of metal or plastic with different sized holes punched in it, known as a multi-hole aperture, instead of aperture petals.

There are two settings, Brilliant (F22), when the lever is pushed in, to let less light in, when the subject is well lit. And when pulled out it is set to Cloudy (F11), to let more light in, in darker environments.

 

Also on both sides, one can see studs where the strap is connected, which is important, because the manual states then when using the viewfinder:

“The camera should be used suspended at the full extent of the camera strap…” to help with the focus.

Now for the back-

Here is the film compartment cover.

And on this film compartment, is the red film counter window, with the cover.

Then we have the film compartment-

This compartment is opened by lifting the latch to open the film cover. The Pre-View film compartment is a combination of the Ricohflex IIII and the Pucky I. By this I mean that the film compartment opens downward like the Pucky I and has a film carrier that can be removed like the Ricohflex IIII.

But unlike the other two TLR cameras, the Pre-View has something that I have never seen and that is that the film cover is lined with a velvet-like material.

Anyhow… The film compartment, like the Brownie Model 1, No.2, Agfa 54 and the Ricohflex IIII, has a film carrier that detaches from the main body. To do this one must pull out the winding key/film advance knob, which holds the carrier in place.

Then from there the film is loaded so:

This camera uses the now discontinued 620 film (please see my Brownie Model 1 post for information on this post) and takes 12 pictures with a negative size of 2 x 2 inches (Art Deco Cameras 2020). But this doesn’t mean the camera isn’t still useable, because with some modifications, this camera can be made to take 120film.

And to learn how film works, please see my 200 Color Plus post.

And that is that. A simple camera, with a beautiful art deco style. The one thing I found remarkably interesting about this camera is that the company name has a similar style and font as the Ising and Ensign company names. But unlike the other two, the Gnome company is distinct enough that I did not get it confused with the other two as I almost did with the Ising and Ensign names.

What do you think? Would you like to have a Gnome in your collection? Which do you think did the art deco look better, the Pre-View or the Beau Brownie? And do you agree that this camera should be classified as a TLR or do you think it is a pseudo? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.

If you want to help this site out, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/OnlineCurator

Please see the Please help this site post on this blog, for more information.

Or if you want to help in another way, please visit my Displate Store. Thank you for the support.

List of sources:      

Art Deco Cameras. 2020. Gnome Cameras. http://www.artdecocameras.com/cameras/gnome/

Art Deco Cameras. 2020. Gnome Pre-View. http://www.artdecocameras.com/cameras/gnome/pre-view/

Burrows, P. 2021. The rise and fall of the TLR: why the twin-lens reflex camera is a real classic. https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/features/the-rise-and-fall-of-tlr-cameras-why-the-twin-lens-reflex-is-a-real-classic

Camera-wiki. Gnome. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Gnome#:~:text=Gnome%20was%20a%20photographic%20equipment%20manufacturer%20with,Germany%2C%20established%20by%20Heinrich%20Loebstein%20(b.1894%20d.1977).

CollectiBlend. 2025. Gnome Photographic Products Ltd. https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Gnome/

CompanyCheck. GNOME PHOTOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS LIMITED. https://companycheck.co.uk/company/02283220/GNOME-PHOTOGRAPHIC-PRODUCTS-LIMITED/companies-house-data

Eckman, M. 2020. Bolsey-Flex (1954). https://mikeeckman.com/2020/04/bolsey-flex-1954/

Grace. 2014. Gnome Photographic Products. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Gnome_Photographic_Products 

Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash

Good news! My Displate store is online with 10 posters and more on the way.

So for a metal print of my drawings on Displate: https://displate.com/artist/BFennSW?art=66e809bf952d9

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Thank you for the support. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming:

With Christmas around the corner and everyone going on holiday, I thought I would close this year’s blog entry with a camera that is aptly named for this occasion. This post will be looking at the Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash.

I already went through the history of Kodak in my 200 Color plus and Instamatic Pocket 10 posts. And for the history of the Brownie series please see my Brownie Model 1 post.

So with that I will jump into the camera at hand. The Holiday Flash seems to be based off of the Brownie Holiday camera, which was designed by Arthur Crapsey (Camera-wiki). Crapsey was “…an influential camera designer working for Eastman Kodak, who had a hand in a great many designs. After graduating in Ceramic Design, he served in the US Air Force during World War II. Invalided out after losing his legs, he became one of Kodak's first industrial designers in 1945. Between 1948 and 1958 Crapsey was credited with patents for a large number of cameras…” (Camera-wiki). 

Kodak Brownie Holiday. Image Source:
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3670649518_ec06edd276.jpg

But according to Camera-wiki and Mudd (2024) the cameras were both released in 1953. And both only lasted until 1962 (The Photo Nerd 2025). And according to BCG Film and Photography the Holiday cameras started using Kodet lenses from 1953-1955 and then Dakon in 1955-1963. And on this camera we can see that it says Kodet, meaning this camera came out somewhere in between 1952-1955.

But the Brownie Holiday camera’s design wasn’t just used for the Flash version, but it was used for the Brownie Bullet (1957), a “…promotional, or ‘premium’, exact copy of the Brownie Holiday camera…” (BCG Film and Photography), which is similar to the repurposed design of the Brownie Model 1 and the No.2 Brownie Model D.

Kodak Brownie Bullet. Image Source:
https://www.brownie-camera.com/13.jpg

Although the Bullet camera was labelled as Premium, it was actually a promotional item with the “…purposes often by third-party companies to encourage customers to take advantage of their goods or services. This illustrates marketing genius on Kodak's part. A third-party company benefits by selling their own product, the customer gets a free camera, and Kodak gains a new customer that will buy their film and process it!” (BCG Film and Photography).

The body of the Brownie Holiday was also sold under the name Brownie Chiquita (Camera-wiki), the Camera Brownie Chiquita and the Camera Brownie Chiquita Flash for the Brazilian market in 1957 (BCG Film and Photography).

Kodak Brownie Chiquita cameras. Image Source:
https://www.brownie-camera.com/15-2.jpg

Basically what I am getting at is that the Brownie Holiday Flash is the same as the Brownie Holiday, but with a flash attachment.

There isn’t much else. Unlike the Beau Brownie, the designer isn’t that well known and also Arthur Crapsey designed many cameras between 1948-1958, so this camera kind of blends into the sea of Brownie cameras. Similarly like the Instamatic 33.

But as Mudd (2024), points out this camera was quite popular back in its day. And honestly I can see why, because it is so easy to use, it is basically a 127 film point and shoot camera with four steps (wwwiebe 2019): “1. Point. 2. Shoot. 3. Forward. 4. Repeat.”

It also appears that this camera and all its counter parts and variations came in the same colour. And as for the name of the camera, I think it was named the Holiday because of its simplistic point and shoot design. As well as its size and weight, which is “7.6 cm H x 8.9 cm W x 6.4 cm D” (Science History Institute 2025) and 295g (Kamera Store 2025), making it ideal to take on vacation without taking up space or cumbersome to lug around.

This Holiday Flash came with the original box, although battered, is still pretty cool and eye catching with its iconic Kodak yellow (just like the Kodamatic 980L).

 

But this box is just the camera, flash sold separately. If you wanted the flash included one had to buy the bundle set known as the Holiday Flash Outfit (Chris & Carol 2020).

Holiday Flash Outfit box. Image Source:
https://yashicasailorboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/dscf7619.jpg

Holiday Flash Outfit box contents. Image Source:
https://yashicasailorboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/dscf7618.jpg

And as mentioned (in the Model 1 post), the name Brownie came from the Cox’s comics of the same name and featured characters from the comics on the advertising and boxes of some of the Brownie cameras. And for the Brownie Holiday Flash, one can find that a character, who I am guessing is the Uncle Sam character (Kovel, K & Kovel, T 2021) by the clothes that the character it is wearing, on the manual.

Holiday Flash Manual front cover. Image Source:
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5accb37996e76f10e151b0f9/f96ccaf4-0eac-4fdf-b07f-9ab1fa6b270b/Holiday+Flash.jpg?format=2500w

Anyway let’s have a closer look at the camera itself. As mentioned it was released in 1953-1955 and we already know the weight and size. The body of this camera is “…brown Bakelite combined with silver with red accents just screamed 1950’s…” (Mudd 2024) as well as a metal faceplate (The Photo Nerd 2025).

Now let’s start with the front.

 The lens-

It has a Kodet 75mm lens with a fixed f/16 aperture. There isn’t much information on the Kodet lens, but what I could find is that it is a lens that is mostly used for beginner entry cameras, is most likely a “single meniscus type lens” (Camera-wiki) and is a single element coated lens with a fixed focus (Dennis 2019) and “Glass lenses don't get much cheaper than this - designed for those who didn't care to learn how to use a camera. These single element, fixed focus lenses lacked any sort of diaphragm control and were an alternative to multiple element adjustable lenses on the Tourist, Duaflex and numerous other Kodak cameras…” (Camera-wiki). 

Kodak Tourist. Image Source:
https://cdn.assets.lomography.com/5d/15674824469f5b14306fc938c68bb90748c988/251x375x2.jpg?auth=3399cdfbec6504a1a3fab0e4efbbf1f349d4a99a

Kodak Dualflex. Image Source:
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3630/3356274181_b3434358bc_m.jpg

The fixed f/16 f/stop also suggests that when using the camera on a sunny day, the user should use the Sunny 16 rule (see my Argus A2B post).

Now for the Holiday cameras with the Dakon lens, there also isn’t a lot of information about this lens either, but all I found was that it according to Google’s AI Overview and Kodak’s track record, the Dakon is probably also just another single coated meniscus lens made in the 1950’s that was made from acrylic plastic (Camera-wiki).

Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash with a Dakon lens. Image Source:
https://kamerastore.com/products/kodak-brownie-holiday-flash#:~:text=Lens:%20Kodak%20~75cm%20~f16,Weight:%20295g

Then above the lens-

Is the “Simple eye-level” viewfinder (The Photo Nerd 2025), which much like the Instamatic 50, 104, the Kodak 35 RF and the Agfa Issolette I, is small and annoying. Which makes the feature listed on the box: “Large eye-level optical viewfinder” false!

On top-

Is the film advance knob.

And next to that is the shutter button/release.

This camera, like the other Brownie cameras (Brownie Model 1, No.2 and Beau Brownie, except for the Brownie 8mm 2.3 and 2.7) as well as the Halina Roy, Ensign All-20 and the Agfa 54, this camera has a Rotary shutter. This camera also has a single shutter speed anywhere between 1/30 and 1/40 second (Kamera Store 2025).

On the sides-

This is where one can find the slide locks, which hold the film compartment cover in place. And are released by just sliding it down until the cover is free.

These slide locks are also where the neck strap is attached to.

But on the right side in front of one of the locks is the “synchronized flash unit” (The Photo Nerd 2025) and socket.

And according to the manual, these cameras used the “Kodalite Midget; uses two 1 1/2-volt penlite batteries and M-2 lamps; socket adapter can be removed or use with No. 5 or 25 lamps.”

Kodalite Midget Flash. Image Source:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7OMAAOSwt0phYIb4/s-l400.jpg

On the back-

Is the film compartment cover.

And on this cover is the red film counter window.

And above that is the small viewfinder.

The film compartment cover completely detaches from the main body, just like the box cameras, the Rondo Colormatic, the Agfa Clack and the Halina Roy.

 

Then finally the film compartment-

This compartment is similar to the Pucky I and Beau Brownie, in that the film carrier is attached to the main body and can’t be removed. The only difference is that the Holiday Flash’s film carrier moves the film horizontal (and moves right to left instead of left to right), instead of vertical.

The Holiday flash takes 127 film, making it a mini-cam (please see my Falcon F post). This camera has a negative size of 4 x 6.5 cm and can take up to 8 photos with the 127 film.

 

And to load the film is quite easy:

Pages 4-7 from the manual.

To learn about how film works, please see my 200 Color plus post.

And that is that. Another perfect example of Kodak’s brilliance and promise to make photography as easy as possible. If 127 film was still easily accessible, I would recommend that those wanting to venture into film, use this camera.

But just like the Instamatic cameras, getting the right film is going to be hard. So I will stick to saying that the best starting point for new film photographers are the point-and-shoot cameras, like the Sinpo PQ-3, the Praktica Sport AF or the Sounex YN9000.

But other than that, I really do love this camera. Its unique look and simple premise makes me wish that 127 film was still as widely available as 35mm. But if there was one thing I would change on the Holiday Flash, is that annoyingly small “Large eye-level optical” viewfinder!

But what are your thoughts? Do you think I am overreacting to the viewfinder? Do you want 127 film to make a comeback or is 35mm good enough? Or should we just let go of film already and embrace the digital age? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.

If you want to help this site out, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/OnlineCurator

Please see the Please help this site post on this blog, for more information.

Or if you want to help in another way, please visit my Displate Store. Thank you for the support.

List of sources:

BCG Film & Photography. Brownie Bullet. https://www.brownie-camera.com/13.shtml

BCG Film & Photography. Brownie Chiquita Camera Camara Brownie Chiquita Camara Brownie Chiquita Flash. https://www.brownie-camera.com/15-2.shtml

BCG Film & Photography. Brownie Holiday Brownie Holiday Flash. https://www.brownie-camera.com/28.shtml

Camera-wiki. Arthur H Crapsey. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Arthur_H_Crapsey

Camera-Wiki. Kodak Brownie Holiday. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_Brownie_Holiday#:~:text=From%20Camera%2Dwiki.org,by%20Sylvain%20Halgand%20(in%20French)

Camera-wiki. Kodak Lenses. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_lenses

Chris & Carol. Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash Outfit – 1956. https://yashicasailorboy.com/2020/01/25/kodak-brownie-holiday-flash-outfit-1956/

Dennis. 2019. … just a couple of Tourists. https://oldcam.wordpress.com/2019/11/30/just-a-couple-of-tourists/

Kamera Store. 2025. Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash – Camera. https://kamerastore.com/products/kodak-brownie-holiday-flash#:~:text=Lens:%20Kodak%20~75cm%20~f16,Weight:%20295g

Kovel, K & Kovel T. 2021. Brownies cartoon characters featured on trade cards, rubber stamps. https://www.farmforum.net/story/news/2021/09/13/brownies-cartoon-characters-featured-trade-cards-rubber-stamps/8255040002/

Monroe County GenWeb. Brownie Holiday Flash Manual. https://mcnygenealogy.com/book/kodak/brownie-holiday-flash-manual.pdf

Mudd, J. 2024. Another 1950's Bakelite Wonder – the Kodak Brownie “Holiday” Flash. https://www.jeremymuddphoto.com/blog/2023/7/26/another-1950s-bakelite-wonder-the-kodak-brownie-holiday-flash

Science History Institute. 2025. Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash Camera 1954 – 1962. https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/mk61rg95s

The Photo Nerd. 2025. Kodak Holiday Flash. https://thephotonerd.ca/kodak-holiday-flash/

Wwwiebe. 2025. Brownie Holiday. https://actifit.io/wwwiebe/brownie-holiday