Vokar I 35 Rangefinder

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Going from Kodak to something a bit more unknown. This post will be looking at the Vokar I 35 Rangefinder.

As always, with every new camera name I will be first going through the camera company’s history. Similar to the history of the Argus company history (see my Argus C2 post) and located less than a mile away from the Argus factory, the Vokar corporation was also based in Michigan, USA and “…was one of many American companies that produced cameras in the 1930s and 1940s who would release innovative designs meant to fill a disruption in supply from Germany after World War II…” (Eckman 2019).

According to Eckman (2019) Vokar was founded by ex-employees of Argus, but it is unclear who the founder actually is. Some say that it was one of the founders of the Argus company, Verschoor, because he left to from his own company, Verschoor Corporation. But this is unlikely to be true because the first Vokar camera, the Vokar A, was already made by the Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp., before Verschoor even left Argus.

Vokar A. Image Source:
https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5547911598_3b8b96b415.jpg

But the company’s founder as pointed out by Eckman (2019), is most likely Argus ex-employee Robert Wuerfel, who is listed “…on the Articles in Incorporation in the state of Michigan for the Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp.” 

But the Articles in Incorporation in the state of Michigan, also show two other names that could be contenders for the title of founder or co-founder(s): Rebecca Wuerfel and Edward Colin. But it is clear that Robert Wuerfel signed the papers to register the Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp. in 1939 (Camera-wiki). But funnily enough, the Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp. even though not started by Verschoor, it was later acquired by his company, the Verschoor Corporation (History Camera 2014).

Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp. sold their cameras under the Vokar name (Camera-wiki) which “…refers to a brand of Bakelite bodied folding cameras that shot 6cm x 6cm images on 120 roll film…” (Eckman 2019). These cameras were sold by Sears under the Tower brand and was one of their most successful products (Camera-wiki).

As far as I can find, Vokar only made a small number of cameras. The exact number is unknown, but the most I could find (according to Eckman 2019 & History Camera 2014) was four! Which makes sense seeing that their camera production was very short, for they only made cameras from 1939 to 1947 (-48) (History Camera 2014).

In 1943 the Electronics Products Manufacturing Corp. changed its name to the Vokar Corporation (History Camera 2014). 1943 was also the year they relocated and also ceased making folding cameras and like most companies during the WWII era took on military contracts (Camera-wiki). But their folding cameras were still being sold under new brand names Voigt and Wirgin by the New York chain store Montgomery Wards (Eckman 2019). But it is unclear what the relationship or agreement was between Montgomery Wards and the Vokar Corporation (Camera-wiki).

Voigt camera. Image Source:
https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5371192221_97b9f54a78.jpg

 

Wirgin camera. Image Source:
https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/5078965759_67394a5dd5.jpg

After the war Vokar returned to the camera market (Camera-wiki). Vokar released the Vokar B (Eckman 2019) in 1946 (Camera-wiki). Although according to Argus Museum, the Vokar B was manufactured in 1941 as a prototype which was “…similar to the Vokar A except it added chrome plates on the top and bottom for a more substantial appearance...” and then also in 1941 they released the new Vokar B “…Marketed as the All American DeLuxe Foldicam…” and was “…the final product of the Vokar B and features the wind knobs on the top of the camera, instead of the bottom, with the fixed viewfinder.”

Vokar B prototype. Image Source:
https://lirp.cdn-website.com/08bca7ea/dms3rep/multi/opt/IMG_8883-a299b848-1920w.JPG

New Vokar B Deluxe. Image Source:
https://lirp.cdn-website.com/08bca7ea/dms3rep/multi/opt/IMG_9001-321919e5-1920w.JPG

But I think the reason for most believing that it came out in 1946, is because according to Camera-wiki, the camera was advertised as the Vokar I instead of the Vokar B.

Vokar B (1946). Image Source:
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/360/0312/24/vintage-vokar-model-bakelite-folding_360_c2ecfd3860f76f5577926f46ce0d0f1e.jpg

But in addition to the renaming and reselling of the Vokar B, Vokar released the Vokar I in 1946. It was designed by an ex-Argus employee, Richard Bills (Eckman 2019). And according to History Camera (2014), when Verschoor acquired the Vokar brand, while Bills was designing “…a completely new and highly sophisticated 35mm rangefinder camera, and this is the model the Vokar name is best known for today…” (Camera-wiki), it was under the direction of Verschoor.

This camera was also Vokar’s first camera that “Vokar designed and manufactured their own shutter for this camera…”, whereas the first cameras used shutters from Wollensak (Eckman 2019).

The camera’s release was a strange one. It was first announced in January 1946 with the tagline: “Watch for Announcement of the New and Finer Vokar Camera…” only for the company to go quiet (Camera-wiki). It wasn’t until August 1946 that it reappeared in the ads and was only sold later that year in November 1946, when people could start ordering the camera (Eckman 2019).

It is unclear why there were so many delays, but Eckman (2019) points out that in the ads they claimed that this camera “…combined many revolutionary discoveries by the nation’s foremost optical scientists…” and that even though “…the design of the shutter was quite good, but possibly due to the inexperience of the company, they were often plagued with quality control issues...” meaning that for Vokar this was a very ambitious project.  And this could have lead to the “…camera, its shutter, or its lens caused some type of manufacturing problem…” (Eckman 2019). 

It is unknown how many Vokar I cameras were made or how well it sold, but the fact that it stopped at the end of 1947 suggest that there aren’t that many. Also in 1947 it was teased that a Vokar II was going to be released (Eckman 2019), which could suggest that the Vokar I was somewhat successful.

But costumers were presented with the same camera, because even though “…The earliest references to the Vokar I always included the ‘I’ in the name which suggests that a model II was planned all along…” (Eckman 2019), customers in 1947 (History Camera 2014), were disappointed to find that “…upon the release of the Vokar II, it seems nothing changed…” (Eckman 2019). 

The only difference between the Vokar I and II was that “…the name of the camera [the Vokar II] actually appeared on the leatherette face near the lens…” (Argus Museum). Then later Vokar released two more versions of the Vokar II that only had small cosmetic changes, such as screws added to the front plate (Eckman 2019).

Vokar II. Image Source:
https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Vokar-Vokar-II.jpg

Vokar I (right) vs. Vokar II (left). Image Source:
https://mikeeckman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/VokarIandII-512x342.jpg

Three different variations of the Vokar II. Image Source:
https://mikeeckman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Vokars-1-300x200.jpg 

But as Eckman points out that Vokar did at least attempt to make it right by updating the Vokar II cameras because there are “…a few functional improvements under the hood, which confirms the notion that the Vokar was continually updated along the way.”

But the fact that there are different variations of the Vokar II, suggests that there are more Vokar II cameras than the Vokar I.

As mentioned Vokar stopped making cameras. “The ambitious camera had its share of teething troubles, and the undercapitalized firm failed to make much of a dent in the US camera market…” (Camera-wiki). The failure is unclear, but Eckman (2019) gives an interesting insight:

“On paper, the specs of the camera were well within its price range, and assuming the quality control issues were solved, the camera should have been quite successful.  The Vokars I and II had a very good coincident image rangefinder at a time when many cameras, including the Leica still relied on separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows.  The shutter’s top speed of 1/300 certainly wasn’t top of the line, but it was comparable to other very popular models like the Argus C3 [please see my Argus C2 post for information on this camera] and many mid-level German cameras. Perhaps people weren’t ready for an ambitious American made camera, or the initial poor reputation of the camera was too much to overcome, or perhaps it was just poor marketing, but regardless of why, the Vokar can best be described as an ambitious failure.  Although I believe the Vokar II sold in higher quantities than the Vokar I, it seems to have disappeared from catalogues in late 1948 with only a passing mention in ‘used equipment’ sections after that.”

But this wasn’t the end for the Vokar Corporation, because while they sold cameras, they also sold other electronic devices, such as slide projectors, “…one in bakelite and two in ‘streamlined’ metal.” And after the failure of the Vokar II “…the company sank from view (and returned to electronic products). The final dissolution of the company is recorded in 1964, but its participation in the photography market had ended much earlier…” (Camera-wiki).

Vokar Projector. Image Source:
https://mikeeckman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/VokarProjector-512x683.jpg

Now time for the main event, a closer look at the Vokar I. This camera is “…constructed of all non-corrosive metal…” (History Camera 2014), most likely sheet metal (Kowalski 2007) and has an interesting design where “…both the aperture and shutter blade sets are contained in a single drop-in module, while the entire timing and actuating mechanism is in another preassembled module that occupies only half of the available space in the housing…” (Eckman 2019).

The camera, is quite hefty and this is because it weighs close to 1kg (Kowalski 2007), similar to the Argus C2, except I would say this one is a bit more comfortable to hold. And its size is approximately 5.5 x 3 x 2.7 inches.

Now for a closer look. Starting with the front-

First the lens-

This is a fixed “coated anastigmat triplet” (Eckman 2019) that was also “corrected for colour” (History Camera 2014), with a focal length of 50mm and an f/stop of 2.8.

To just break it down: Anastigmat lenses are discussed in my Billy Record and Argus C2 posts. The “coated” part of the lens is discussed in my Polaroid SX-70 post. And the colour correction comes from the element coatings, specifically the 3-element coating (Eckman 2019). Which according to the manual:

Page 3 from the manual.

On the outer ring around the lens is the focus range setting or focus ring, which is connected to the rangefinder coupling. The setting can be set between 4-50 feet and also infinity.

Then around the lens behind the focus ring is the shutter release button/lever, or the Shutter Trip Lever which can be found on the side of the lens.

The shutter is an automatic cocking system that is connected to the film advance wheel. This is a good thing because it prevents any accidental double exposures. The shutter is also a Vokar Leaf shutter (Eckman 2019).

All this means is that it is a normal leaf shutter that was made in house by Vokar themselves because as I mentioned earlier: “Vokar designed and manufactured their own shutter” (Eckman 2019).

The shutter speeds can be found on the opposite side of the lens.

It is set with a Shutter Speed pointer, and ranges from 1 second, “…something most other American cameras couldn’t do…” (Eckman 2019), to 1/2 second and then 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/300 second, which “…certainly wasn’t top of the line, but it was comparable to other very popular models like the Argus C3 and many mid-level German cameras…” (Eckman 2019). Then there is also a B setting.

Underneath the Trip Lever is the remote cable release socket.

Above the shutter release is the f/stop settings. This is set by moving the Diaphragm Pointer to the desired f/stop, that is f/2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 and 22.

And the aperture petals can be found in front of the shutter.

Next to the lens-

Is the film frame counter that is similar to the Argus A, A2B and Kodak 35 RF. And like the three cameras mentioned, it is connected to a single film frame sprocket.

Then above the lens are two windows.

The first one is the viewfinder window.

Then next to that is the rangefinder window.

This is similar to the Argus C2 and Kodak 35 RF, but also very different because this camera has a “Coincident Image Coupled Rangefinder” (Eckman 2019). This means that the rangefinder and the viewfinder are one instead of having two separate windows, one for the normal viewfinder and one for the rangefinder viewfinder. 

This was a new thing for “…at a time when many cameras, including the Leica still relied on separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows…” (Eckman 2019).

What this means is that the mirror in the rangefinder window directly projects (or superimposes) the image into the viewfinder window and shows up as a light square that helps the user focus on the subject by aligning it up with the image seen through the normal viewfinder.

Page 12 from the manual.

To learn how a rangefinder works please see my Argus C2 post.

Underneath the camera-

Is the film compartment unlock/lock slider and the tripod socket.

On top-

Is a cold shoe flash holder also called an accessory shoe (Eckman 2019).

On the back-

Is the viewfinder.

Then on either side of the camera is indicated that on the left side is the rewind knob, used to rewind the fully exposed film.

On the other side is the Winding knob or film advance wheel. This is also where the shutter cocking mechanism is. Once it is turned the shutter cocks and once a picture is taken the user must wind the knob to cock it again, thus eliminating any accidental double exposures.

Under these three functions is the film compartment cover.

This cover, like the Rondo Colormatic, the Agfa Clack, the Halina Roy and the Kodak 35 RF, it is completely removed from the body. This is also where the pressure plate is that holds the film in place.

Then finally there is the film compartment. This camera takes 35mm (135 film), meaning that it has a negative format of 24 x 36. To learn about how film works, please see my 200 Color Plus post.

One will also notice that the film counter sprocket it on the opposite of where the sprocket is in the Argus A, A2B and Kodak 35 RF.

Then the last thing is that this camera came with a beautiful leather carrying case.

And that is it. This camera has a unique look that combines simplicity with a locomotive/steampunk look. What really stands out for my is the film counter on the front which is an unusual placement. This can be seen as a down side due to the fact the user must turn the camera over to see what number frame they are on. Unlike the other cameras that have the counter on top or on the back making it easy for a photographer to quickly glance at it and go back to taking pictures, whereas the Vokar requires you to stop and turn it over…

But other than that I think this is an amazing piece of photography history. It is as heavy as the C2, but is much easier to use. It is also user friendly so if you are interested in starting with 35mm film, why not try this. I still recommend that you actually start with the Praktica Sport and the Sinpo PQ-3 point-and-shoot cameras, but if you want to stand out from the crowd then go for the Vokar I or the Kodak 35 RF.   

What are your thoughts? Which one do you think looks more unique the Vokar I or the Kodak 35 RF? Do you think that this camera is good for beginners or the point-and-shoots? Or do you think that digital is the way to go? Let me know in the comments.

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

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List of sources:

Argus Museum. The Rival Collection. https://www.argusmuseum.org/exhibitions

CameraManuals.org. Vokar I manual. https://www.cameramanuals.org/pdf_files/vokar_i.pdf

Camera-wiki. Articles of Incorporation of Electronic Products Manufacturing Incorporated. https://www.flickr.com/photos/camerawiki/5547167715/in/photostream/lightbox/

Camera-wiki. Vokar. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Vokar

Camera-wiki. Vokar I. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Vokar_I

Eckman, M. 2019. Vokar II (1947). https://mikeeckman.com/2019/07/vokar-ii-1947/

History Camera. 2014. Vokar Coporation. https://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2728

History Camera. 2014. Vokar I camera. https://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2731

History Camera. 2014. Vokar II camera. https://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2732

Kowalski, E. 2007. Vokar with Fall Color. https://pbase.com/edkowalski/vokar