Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Kodak Ektar H35

Kodak · Fixed lens · 18×24 mm on 35mm film · 2022

Also known as: Kodak H35 · Reto Kodak H35 · Kodak Ektar H35N · Kodak H35N

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Ektar H35 (2022) Half-frame 2022 — In production; no figure published
Ektar H35N Half-frame 2023 — In production; no figure published
  1. Kodak did not make this camera. Reto Production Ltd designs, makes and sells it under licence to the Kodak trademark, which Kodak's own product page states. It is a Kodak in the way a licensed T-shirt is.
  2. The lens is acrylic and the H35N's improvement is a single glass element. The optical description is Reto's own marketing; no independent bench test was found.
  3. Reviewers agree on the one real fault: the shutter shakes the light body, and Decaf Journal lost about half its daylight frames to it.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A 100 g plastic body in muted colours with a metal-look faceplate; the Kodak name is licensed, the maker is Reto Production of Hong Kong
  • Nothing to set: one speed, one aperture, one focus, flash on or off

Ektar H35 (2022):

  • 22mm f/9.5, two elements in optical-grade acrylic, fixed focus
  • One shutter speed, 1/100; built-in flash on a single AAA cell
  • 110 × 62 × 39 mm, 100 g; black, brown, sage and sand, in a faux-leather finish
  • Under $50

Ektar H35N:

  • A coated glass element in the lens for 'sharper photos with more details' (Kodak/Reto)
  • Bulb setting with a tripod socket, and a built-in star filter for four-point flares

Specifications

Format
18×24 mm on 35mm film · 72 exposures
Finder
Direct-vision plastic finder · no rangefinder image
Shutter
Single-speed mechanical · 1/100; the H35N adds B
Film advance
Thumbwheel
Meter
None; exposure varies only by film speed and the flash
Weight
100 g
Dimensions
110 × 62 × 39 mm
Country
China

What reviewers say

History

In May 2022 a fifty-dollar camera revived a format. The Kodak Ektar H35 is made by Reto Production of Hong Kong under licence to the Kodak name — Kodak’s own page says so — and it is as simple as a camera can be: a two-element 22mm f/9.5 in optical acrylic, fixed focus, one shutter speed of 1/100, a flash on a single AAA cell, 100 grams in black, brown, sage or sand. It gives seventy-two frames from a roll of thirty-six at the moment film had doubled in price, and it sold in numbers Reto has not published. The H35N of the following year put one glass element into the lens, added a bulb setting with a tripod socket and a star filter, and asked a little more money.

Reviewers like it more than they trust it. Decaf Journal calls it a candidate for everyday carry and then reports that the shutter’s kick in so light a body blurred nearly half the daylight frames. Its importance is elsewhere: it proved there were buyers for a new half-frame camera, and two years later Pentax built a serious one.

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This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Kodak Ektar H35
Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming — shot on a Kodak Ektar H35 (Tony Webster) — Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Kodak Ektar H35? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $63 across 40 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $46–$65). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 9 days: down 9% from $70.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$63$46–$6540
2026-10-18$63$46–$6538
2026-10-17$63$46–$6538
2026-10-16$64$46–$6640
2026-10-15$64$47–$6838
2026-09-21$65$50–$6838
2026-09-18$64$35–$6643
2026-09-11$69$56–$110110
2026-09-06$70$56–$110109

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 104 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Konica Recorder · Pentax 17 · Ricoh Auto Half

Sources (3)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.