Kodak's folding 127 pocket camera series — 4x6.5cm negatives, 1912-1935, including the wartime Autographic.
Kodak's Vest Pocket cameras were best-selling folding cameras made by Eastman Kodak from 1912 to 1935, and the first cameras to take 127 roll film, on which they produce eight 4x6.5cm exposures. The Autographic version, advertised in the First World War as the Soldier's Camera, sold about 1.75 million units; later variants include the Model B and Series III. eBay sellers usually list the whole family simply as Kodak Vest Pocket, and this record covers the series.
The design is a compact folding body — early examples use lazy-tong struts — that collapses flat enough for a waistcoat pocket. Lenses ranged from a simple meniscus or Rapid Rectilinear to f/6.9 and f/7.7 anastigmats by Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, Zeiss, Ross, Berthiot and Cooke, most commonly the Kodak Anastigmat f/7.7. Autographic backs add a stylus door for writing notes onto the film backing paper. Everything is mechanical, with simple shutter settings and no meter or battery.
These are collector and display staples that can still be shot by patient users comfortable with guess-focusing and slow lenses. Results have the soft, vignetted character of pre-war optics, which is much of the appeal for film experimenters.
127 film is still produced in small batches by specialist suppliers, so shooting is possible. Inspect the bellows or body coverings for pinholes and light leaks, check the struts open square and lock, fire the shutter at all settings for capping or sticking, and identify the exact variant and lens/shutter combination from the body markings, as these strongly affect price.