Kodak Jr. Six-16 Series III

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Week 43 - Kodak Jr. Six-16 Series III folding 616 film camera. I'm not quite sure where I acquired this camera, it's been on my shelf for years looking rather grand with it's folding bellows and lens. Speaking of the lens, I mistakenly thought this was a Kodak Kodex No. 1 camera as labeled on the lens, but on further inspection found the tiny nameplate under the lens (had to get my magnifying glass for these aging eyes!) The f8.8 Lens focuses from 4 ft to infinity with shutter speeds of Time, Bulb, 25, 50, and 100. There doesn't appear to be a cable release thread or tripod socket so I'm not sure about using it in bulb mode.

The camera uses 616 film which I didn't have, so I respooled 120 film onto the 616 spool with two zip ties at one end to fill in the empty space on the spool. I've attached a photo showing the size difference between the 616 and 120 spools, and where I placed the zip ties. This places the numbers for 16 frames in the frame counting window and I used 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 for 5 perfectly spaced photos on the roll. The resulting negatives are quite large, very sharp, but there appeared to be a white glare in a small area of the some of the photos. 

I took the Kodak Jr. Six-16 on a drive around town to some of the areas that I haven't been to in a while. The focusing was pretty accurate with the focusing ring on the lens. Framing was a little off due to the smaller size of the film, I should have aimed a little higher to get more of the sky in the photos.

Developing was done in caffenol for 9 minutes and scanned on Epson V500 Photo.

Argus Minca 28 - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 20 - Argus Minca 28, purchased at the Black Rose Antique Mall in Hanover, PA for $8.00. The Argus Minca 28 uses 828 film which is essentially roll film the same size as 35 mm film but with fewer frames on the roll and without sprockets. The roll I purchased online was pricey - $18, and was respooled Tri-X 400 with previously used backing paper and spool. I decided to purchase the roll with the intention of reusing the backing paper and spool in future experiments with 828 film. The Argus Minca 28 was produced 1947-48ish and was made under several other badges - the Delco 828 and Camro 28.

I brought the camera along on our vacation to Rehoboth Beach, DE and also took it on a trip to Berlin, MD. I missed the first photo on the roll, sometimes those number 1's are hard to distinguish from the arrow markings at the beginning of a roll of film. The film was very difficult to wind through the camera, I'm not sure if it was the design of the camera or something with the roll of film itself. I thought I might break the film but I finally got through the roll and finished taking it off the spool in a changing bag.

I developed the film in Caffenol, but perhaps I should mix up a new batch of D-76 for future black and white developing. Negatives were scanned with Epson V500 Photo.

Kodak Brownie Fiesta

A friend of mine found this very nice Kodak Brownie Fiesta 127 film camera in her Goodwill store and picked it up for me for $2.99. I already had one of these in my collection, but this one is in new condition and included the original box, sales receipt, flash, a couple of bulbs, and a "new" expired July 1970 roll of Kodacolor X 127 film. I was surprised to find an exposed roll of film in the camera - Kodacolor X C-22 process film, that I'll develop in black and white. The original handwritten receipt is from Merrill Photo Supply Co. Photographic Goods For Amateurs Professionals and The Graphic Arts, dated 6/2/1965. The purchase price for the Fiesta Outfit was $9.95, with four rolls of film, and two packs of AG-1 flash bulbs bringing the total to $17.30 with tax. I'm always looking for old cameras with an exposed roll of film that can be developed to get a glimpse of the past. I'll post some images from this one if they turn out.