You are here:

Cameras/Antique camera

Advertisement

Expert: - 3/3/2011


Question
Life Time 120 - I can't seem to find out anything about this camera. I obtained it in a lot with some other cameras for my collection. I have a photo here: http://mycameras.wikispaces.com/Life+Time+120 . It seems to be a knockoff of a Kodak Brownie model, but searching turned up nothing. What can you find out?

Answer
Hello Paul,

The Life Time 120 Synchro Flash camera is simply a re-badged Vagabond 120 Eveready Flash camera made by the United States Camera Corporation of Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1950's.  It's a very simple all-metal box camera, only vaguely similar to a couple of 1940's Brownie models from Kodak (perhaps the Six-20 and Six-16 Brownie Special models), for 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inch exposures on #120 roll film.  The Life Time Manufacturing Company was actually a front for the United States Camera Corporation to distribute some of their cheaper cameras as premiums with other products, where cameras were given away as "gifts" when you bought something else.  You know, mail in so many box tops from your favorite cereal with 99 cents for postage, and they'll send you a free camera.  The Life Time camera was a pretty typical premium "gift".  Not much more to say.  It's a thoroughly pedestrian little snapshot camera, and is more common than you think.  A truly excellent example would only be worth around $15-$20 in today's collectible camera market.

Best wishes,

David F. Silver - President
International Photographic Historical Organization

silver@photographyhistory.com  

Cameras

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

David Silver

Expertise

I'm an expert on all types of antique, classic, and contemporary cameras, as well as the general history of photography. Everything from ancient box cameras to modern single-lens-reflex; from simple Kodaks to sophisticated Leica and Nikon; from glass plates and roll film to movie and 35mm. I can identify and appraise them, explain how they work, and offer insights on their restoration and care. I can also provide historical background on vintage cameras and equipment, and guidelines on their purchase and sale.

Experience

I've been a professional photographer and a student of the history of photography for nearly 30 years. During that time my collection of vintage cameras and photographic paraphernalia has grown beyond 2000 significant pieces. I've published nearly 70 articles in the field, including 16 in the popular "Buying Classic Cameras" series for PHOTO SHOPPER MAGAZINE from 1995 to 1997, I'm currently a contributing editor for CAMERA SHOPPER MAGAZINE and McKEOWN'S PRICE GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC CAMERAS, and I've written numerous entries for WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA. Portions of my collection have been displayed in museums and special exhibits in the past two decades, and many of the items were photographed as illustrations for books. In 1985 I founded the International Photographic Historical Organization (InPHO), which eventually evolved into its intended purpose as the best first resource for information on the history of photography. I'm also a founding member of several e-mail forums dedicated to specialized areas of photography, and I'm the moderator of the Internet Directory of Camera Collectors (IDCC), which remains the largest and most successful such group in the world. For more information about the International Photographic Historical Organization and its many services, please visit its web pages at:

http://www.photographyhistory.com


©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.