That Faded, Old Film Print Look

Waikiki Beach, by Reed A. George

 

I have no idea why I occasionally find it fun to take a decent digital photo and do my best to make it look like it was taken with a toy camera with cheap plastic lens. But, I do.

 

I wonder how long this type of manipulation will remain in demand? It seems like as soon as no one (or very few people) know the true look of old faded film images, this will go away.

 

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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 Little Fun with the FPP Debonair

Sometimes I just want to have a little photographic fun. I want to drop all pretense and concern about the technical aspects of photography, and shoot. I suppose I still (kind of) think about composition, but that's about all I control when I shoot my "Debonair" 6x4.5 medium format toy camera from the Film Photography Project (FPP).

 

(Click Here) to check out the awesome Debonair, a <$20 real film real toy camera on the FPP website.

 

Here are some shots I took on an outing to a local farm to pick strawberries with my family last year (it took a while to finish the roll and send it off to The Darkroom).

 

All of these were shot on expired Konica Centurian film, which judging by the name should be good for 100 years, right? I love the vignetting you get with the cheap plastic lens. It's actually kind of sharp in the center, but that falls away very quickly. Theses are pretty much out-of-camera scans, with only cropping in Lightroom.

 

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Low Tech Wonder - the Debonair from the Film Photography Project

 

The Plastic Filmtastic Debonair from the Film Photography Project

Image Source: http://filmphotographyproject.com/store/fpp-plastic-filmtastic-120-debonair-camera

 

I've gotten hooked on a podcast from the Film Photography Project (FPP). It's a regular audio podcast put together by a group of friends in Findlay, Ohio. Part comedy, part film photography infocast, these guys keep it light and interesting.

 

(Click Here) for information on the podcast.

 

They also have an online store, with great pricing and availability on film. In fact, their Kodak film prices match the big New York warehouses. I like to support FPP.

 

(Click Here) to go to the FPP store.

 

While you're looking through the store, you may notice the "Plastic Filmtastic Debonair." An all-plastic medium format (120 film) camera, the Debonair is reminiscent of a Holga. With its fixed "Super lens," which is a 60mm f8 (no f-stop adjustment available), the Debonair shoots vertical (portrait) orientation 6x4.5 cm images. You get 16 images per roll of 120. Shot spacing is accomplished through a red window in the camera back, so you'll need to put some black tape over that if you use high speed film. The shutter speed is fixed somewhere around 1/100 sec on the sunny setting. There's also a cloudy setting that seems to be close to the same, maybe 1/60 sec. The lens has three focus settings - close, medium, far.

 

This camera allows you (forces you) to put your mind on seeing images, rather than technical settings. Composition becomes king. Sharpness is out the window, of course.

 

Most importantly, the Debonair costs $19.99. It's worth at least $19.99, maybe even $20.00.

 

Here are some images from my first roll of film through the Debonair, shot on Konica Centuria 100 print film, which expired in 2006.

 

 

 

Plastic Filmtastic Debonair Images, by Reed A. George

 

Obviously, I didn't spend any time post-processing these. I did increase the exposure a little after scanning them, but that's it. I think iso 200 film would be better for daylight pictures.

 

As usual, I used my favorite processing house for these, The Darkroom.

 

(Click Here) to check out The Darkroom. They process 35mm and 120 film for $10 per roll, including putting scans online for you. I'm a dedicated customer. You can print out a prepaid mailing label, or they'll send you a prepaid envelope if you contact them. I have sent them a lot of film, and always been happy with the results.

 

So, spend $20 with the good people at FPP and get yourself a Debonair. See what forgetting about f-stops, shutter speeds, and focusing points can do for your creative side!

 

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Low Tech Wonders - Kodak Brownie Bullet Comes Back To Life!

I can already hear the questions: "Why, Reed, why? Why would you mess with a junk store camera that shoots film you can't even buy any more?" Well, maybe I'll be able to convince you that it's because it lies right at this interface of technology and art that I love to be in. Even if the tech is low...

Kodak Brownie Bullet Camera

 

Okay. I bought this little Bakelite Kodak camera at an antique store. I paid too much (anything over $2 is too much). But, I'm still happy I did. Read to the end to see the special (hopeful) feature that really convinced me to buy it.

 

The Brownie Bullet was made from 1957-1964. It's final year of production was my birth year. It was designated as a "premium" model, which meant that you had to save up Campbell's soup labels to get one (no joke). It features a plastic Dakon lens, fixed aperture, fixed shutter speed.

 

(Click Here) to read a little more about the Bullet.

 

The Bullet is designed to shoot 127 roll film, which is essentially no longer available. Efke was making it until recently, but they've shut down. You can still buy Efke (iso 100) at Freestyle (Click Here), but it's just running down their stock. There is another company that still advertises 127 film, but they're out of stock.

 

Well, I just couldn't stand to let the Bullet sit without shooting something in it. After an hour or two of turning it different ways and thinking, I found a way to load 35mm film into it. The 35mm film cassette won't fit in the back. I had to unroll the film in the dark, roll it back up more tightly, and insert it into a modified film canister, cut down to fit inside. It worked!

 

But, there was one problem. The Bullet is designed with a curved film plane, which means that the 127 film doesn't lay flat in the camera; it's curved to match the curvature of the image produced by the Dakon lens. So, while I got images from the first roll (which pulled the film flat), they were unfocused in the center. A bonus, though, is that because the 127 film is wider than 35mm, the images were panoramic, and the sprocket holes were exposed. Cool.

 

So, a little more modification was in order. I got some thin plastic material, and through trial and error cut it to the perfect size to fit inside the camera back, under where the film plane should be. It was important that it support the film from under the film plane, to put the film in the right place. Then, I cut a window into the plastic to serve as the image space. Finally, I covered the plastic in black electrical tape, both to reduce light bounce, and to smooth out the rough cut plastic surface.

 

Here's what the mod looks like:

35mm Mask for the Bullet, by Reed A. George

 

This time, I loaded up some iso 800 print film (I noticed that 400 was underexposed, even in daylight outdoors), and tried again.

 

Success! Here are the results. All are shot with the Bullet, all the same (only) aperture and shutter speed.

 

 

Here are some vertical orientation shots:

 

As you can see, I wasn't completely successful in eliminating scratches on the film. But, I'm pretty impressed by what this cheap old camera can do.

 

The hardest part? After finishing a roll, I have to once again open it in the dark, remove the 127 spool that it's now wrapped around, tape it to a leader sticking out of the original 35mm film cassette and wind it back in. Then I just take it to Walgreens, and remember to ask them to not cut the negatives.

 

So, I got my money's worth out of this experience. But, I still don't have an answer for a friend of mine who says "Hey, Reed, if you paid $20 more, could you get a camera that already works?" Yeah, yeah, I could.

 

I don't really understand the exposure. How can it take iso 800 to shoot in the daylight with this camera? 800 speed film sure wasn't there when this camera was made. It has no way to trigger a flash. And I doubt the shutter is faster now than when it was new.

 

I did order some iso 100 film in 127 size from Freestyle, but I honestly don't know how I'll use it. It will be too slow, even in broad daylight.

So, here's a true piece of history that still works.

 

Brownie Bullet

 

Oh, yeah. That hopeful secret? There was still a roll of 127 film in the camera when I opened it up. It was near the end. So, I'm hoping to get a glimpse into the last pictures this camera took before it got stuffed away into a closet or attic. Who knows how long ago that was? Fingers crossed - I'll be sending that roll off to The Darkroom for processing soon.

 

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The Kodak Instamatic Turned 50 in March

Image Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/03/29/instamatic-camera-50-years/2034585/

 

I read this morning that the Kodak Instamatic camera was first introduced in March, 1963. That's about seventeen months before I was introduced to the market (being born in December, 1964). My first camera ever was a Kodak Instamatic, which hardly distinguishes me - Kodak sold 50 million of them!

 

There's an interesting post about the Instamatic, a camera designed to be easy to use at the cost of image size, lens quality, and just about everything else, on The Online Photographer blog. But, easy to use it was! The 126 cartridge film and flash cube were truly foolproof. You had to intentionally bust open a cartridge (or remove it mid-roll) to accidentally expose your film.

 

(Click Here) to read about the Instamatic and chief designer, Hubert Nerwin (a post-war transplant from Carl Zeiss in Germany) on The Online Photographer. In this article, the author Mike makes the case that the Instamatic gave Kodak the misplaced confidence to bring out other compromised products, including the Disc Camera and APS systems.

 

As I remember it, the APS was really kind of cool. Most APS cameras could rewind your film mid-roll, and remember where they were, automatically getting you back to the correct frame when reinserted in the camera. That was pretty advanced for the time. I would like that feature on my 35mm cameras.

 

I also think Mike left out the most compromising development in cheap cameras, the 110 film cartridge. Truly a miniscule negative, you were beat before you ever started if you wanted to take a quality image with 110. Yes, I know the Pentax Auto 110 was a cool little camera outfit. It was like if Panasonic produced a system camera based on a 640x640 pixel tiny sensor, rather than Micro 4/3.

 

And, amazingly, 110 film is back! At least it's in the right hands now, those of people who understand and even enjoy its limitations. Yes, I mean the Holga / Diana crowd, where medium format cameras with light leaks are welcomed, for example. I really like this crowd - as I often say, constraints (or limitations) can sometimes drive creativity, and I think the toy camera user groups are often creative.

 

Want to know more about 110 film, where to get it, and how to get it processed?

 

(Click Here) to read about it at the Film Photography Project (FPP). This article should get you started. They sell 110 film in the FPP store. Or, see my link below to buy it at Amazon.

 

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Exploring A Subject Thoroughly With the Lumix DMC-LX7 - "Forever Marilyn" -

I have been starting to explore my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7. I've been playing with some of the

built-in scene modes, including the "toy camera" mode. It adds a vignette effect, and some pretty interesting color effects as well.

 

On a recent trip to Palm Springs, California, I noticed something new in town. There's an enormous statue of Marilyn Monroe, 26 feet tall. I decided to give the LX7 a shot at capturing Marilyn.

 

Here's my first, quite pedestrian shot:

 

Marilyn #1, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f3.2, 1/1600 sec.

 

I liked how the Palm Springs sign painted on the wall behind makes it clear where this is. I didn't like much else about it. Then I decided to change position to get this:

Marilyn #2, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f2.8, 1/2000 sec.

 

Then, I thought, how about closer?

 

 

Marilyn #3, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f3.2, 1/1600 sec.

 

I liked having the sign oriented to be between her legs.

 

Then, I wondered how important it was to have Marilyn's face in the picture. So, I got even closer.

 

Marilyn #4, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f2.8, 1/1600 sec.

 

I used a wider aspect ratio on the shot above, because I wanted to include her skirt. I suppose if you know the famous shot of Marilyn's skirt being blown up, you may be able to recognize that this is her.

 

Then, I moved in real close. At this point, in the shot below, I doubt if many people would make the connection to Marilyn Monroe.

 

Marilyn #5, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f2.8, 1/1600 sec.

 

 

Then, I went for the money shot. I think most people would at least wonder, for a brief moment (pardon the pun) what Marilyn was wearing under her skirt. I know I was curious. Well, here's the answer:

 

Marilyn #6, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f2.8, 1/1600 sec.

 

The shot above no longer includes the Palm Springs sign. But, I think it is my favorite. It answers one question, yet leaves others unanswered. This picture on its own would certainly lead to some questions.

 

Finally, on my way down the street after shooting these, I saw this in a shop window:

 

Reflections of Marilyn, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Camera Scene Mode

iso 125, f2.5, 1/100 sec.

 

You can see the statue of Marilyn reflected in the shop window, at the left. This was a hard shot to compose, and was only partially successful in my opinion. I had to align the poster in the window with the dark reflection of the palm tree trunk, so that you can see Marilyn's face in the poster. Of course, I wanted the statue reflected in a nice way as well.

 

So, as you can see, my composition and approach changed as I thought more about it, and tried new things. I feel like I explored the subject pretty well, and enjoyed the process.

 

By the way, the statue, "Forever Marilyn" was made by Seward Johnson. It weighs 34,300 pounds, and is constructed of steel and aluminum.

 

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