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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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:

 

 

 

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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