New Construction, Old Camera - Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro

The Washington DC Metro has finally come to Northern Virginia. Not yet all the way to where I live, but it is now in Reston. Below, you'll see a few pictures of the construction going on around the new Wiehle Avenue Station on the Metro's Silver Line.

As in my previous two posts, these were made with the Kodak Brownie Reflex camera. (Click Here) to read a little about that camera. I picked mine up for $10 in dirty, but good working order.

 

Wiehle Station Construction, by Reed A. George

Kodak Brownie Reflex Synchro Camera, Efke 100 Film (127 size)

 

 

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More From the Brownie Reflex - The Corn Crib

A while back, I posted a slideshow of images of an old corn crib on the property where I work. (Click Here) to see those, shot with Nikon SLRs (both a 50 year old Nikon F and a brand new Nikon Df).

Here are two more shots of the same building, photographed with my $10 Kodak Brownie Reflex, on 127 Efke 100 film.

 

 

Rather dark and moody. I like them.

 

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Brownie Reflex 127 - Some Results

Remember when I posted the question pondering why cheap old cameras are so much fun? (Click Here) if you don't remember, or want to see what the Brownie Reflex looks like.

 

Here are a couple of results from my first roll of Efke 127 (I bought it a couple of years back), developed by Dwayne's. The first is just an odd perspective of the new Metro station in Reston, Virginia. I actually like the way the film exposure numbers show up at the top (who knows why?).

 

Metro, by Reed A. George, Kodak Brownie Reflex Camera

And here's a scene you may have seen before, as I shot it with both the Brownie and my new Nikon Df. (Click Here) to see the Df version.

End of the Season, by Reed A. George, Kodak Brownie Reflex Camera

 

I like the randomness of shooting with very basic old cameras. They're cheap, and I think at least as much fun as shooting with a Holga. Once you've loaded film, the only variable in your control is composition. Exposure and focus are fixed.

This Brownie Reflex was $10, and cleaned up very nicely. However, getting 127 film is not easy, and it's expensive ($11-$12 per roll, twelve exposures). The only place I know to get it reliably is The Frugal Photographer (frugalphotographer.com). I bought a few rolls last time, including some black and white and some color.

 

You can still get 127 developed with no problem. This time, I used Dwayne's. But, I'm not as happy with their work as I am with The Darkroom (thedarkroom.com). Just my opinion. It's good to have them both as options.

I've got a few more images to share from this first roll, so stay tuned!

 

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Why Are These Old Cameras So Much Fun?

I recently picked up a Brownie Reflex Synchro model camera in an antique shop. I paid $10, which is about $6 more than it originally cost.

 

It is a TLR design, but with fixed focusing only. So that really only means that it has a waist level finder. Anything >5 feet away will be in focus.

 

The camera was extremely dirty, but was easy to disassemble and clean; now it looks great. Another challenge: it shoots 127 film. Nearly extinct, 127 film can still be purchased at Frugal Photographer. (Click Here) to go to their website. It's pretty expensive, but at least it's available. You can get 127 film processed at The Darkroom.

 

I am guessing the fixed shutter speed to be about 1/50-1/100 second, and the aperture to be about f8. That means that iso 100 film should work in daylight situations. I have shot 10/12 frames of my first roll of Efke black and white 100 film. I look forward to seeing and sharing the results.

 

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Low Tech Wonders - A Triptych From The Brownie Bullet

I was looking over some of the first images I made on the Brownie Bullet last night. You may remember that I figured out a way to rig it to shoot panoramic images on 35mm film.

 

(Click Here) to read about how I did that.

 

Anyway, three of the images seemed to go together. Following up on some recent advice I got in my Leica Akademie workshop, which was to "live with your images," I printed out a big 13x19 triptych of them. Here's what it looks like:

 

Brownie Bullet Triptych, by Reed A. George

Brownie Bullet Camera, Converted To Shoot 35mm Panos

 

Personally, I like it. Imperfections and all.

 

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Found Film! - The Brownie Bullet Yields Six Frames

A while back, I wrote about the Brownie Bullet that I found at an antique store. I converted it to shoot 35mm film, which is kind of cool.

 

(Click Here) to see the camera and some of my recent 35mm results.

 

The Bullet was a little challenging to convert for two reasons: 1) a roll of 35mm film doesn't fit inside the body; it has to be removed from the cassette, and 2) it shoots onto a curved film surface, so I had to build my own insert to get the correct film curvature.

 

But, the real reason I bought the camera was because it had a roll of 127 film still in it. I wanted to see if there were any images that had survived since the Bullet had been put on the shelf at some point in the past.

 

Well, The Darkroom (thedarkroom.com) has finished processing my 127 film, and guess what? Six frames came out!

 

Seems one of its last trips was to the beach.

 

 

 

As far as I can surmise, this little girl is probably about my age (48) or a little older now, assuming all is well and she's still around.

 

There were also a couple of shots of a house:

I haven't post-processed these scans from The Darkroom, other than to increase contrast a bit. If I zoom way in on the closer shot, I am pretty sure I see a Ford Mustang. That means it was at least 1964 when these images were taken.

 

I am always surprised at how well a roll of film can survive sitting for forty years or more in a camera. Getting six of the original eight frames was more than I could have wished for.

 

I have no idea where these were taken. If anyone recognizes the beach or the house, let me know!

 

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Here's a link to a book on Amazon about converting a larger 127 Brownie to 35mm film. I think this one's probably easier than the Bullet: