Kodak Brownie No. 2A1907

History

Eastman Kodak launched the original Brownie camera in 1900, priced at one dollar, with the explicit aim of putting photography in the hands of children and working families. The No. 2 Brownie followed in 1901, introducing 120 film and 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inch negatives. The No. 2A was introduced in 1907 to meet demand for a wider, more panoramic frame -- 116 film had been introduced in 1899 and was already familiar to consumers.

The No. 2A was produced in several distinct model runs, identified today primarily by their covering material and art-deco or Edwardian-era decorative detailing. Early models wore a simple plain or marbled leatherette; later versions from the 1920s onward received more refined aluminum top plates and revised viewfinder positions. The camera was discontinued around 1933, by which point the 116 format was already in decline relative to the smaller and lighter 120 and 620 formats.

The 116 film format itself became commercially extinct in the 1980s when Kodak ceased production, making the No. 2A a camera that requires either home-respooled 120 film (with spacers to fill the wider 116 spool) or newly manufactured substitute film from specialty suppliers to shoot today.

Why It Matters

The Brownie line, of which the No. 2A was one of the most widely sold variants, fundamentally democratized photography. Before the Brownie, amateur photography required either expensive equipment or a trip to a professional studio. Kodak's mass-market approach -- cheap camera, proprietary film, mail-in processing -- created the snapshot culture that persisted through the twentieth century.

The No. 2A's panoramic 116 format produced images wider than the standard 120-film frame, making it a favorite for family groups, beaches, and garden scenes -- subjects where the extra width was genuinely useful. These wide negatives, when printed or scanned today, have a distinctive elongated aspect ratio that differs from most other film formats and gives period images a particular visual character.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Used widely by Edwardian-era amateur photographers across the English-speaking world for family, travel, and outdoor snapshot photography.
• Kodak's own advertising campaigns of 1907-1915 depicted the No. 2A as the camera of outdoor leisure -- beach holidays, country gardens, school outings.
• A significant portion of surviving pre-World War I amateur photographic archives in North American and British public collections were shot on 116-format box cameras of this type.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Kodak Brownie No. 2A -- technical details and model variants

Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.