Kodak Vest Pocket Camera - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 14 - Kodak Vest Pocket Camera, also known as the "soldier's camera", carried in the pockets of World War I soldiers because of its small size. According to my internet search, this version of the Vest Pocket camera was made in Rochester, New York in 1912. The camera makes 8 photos on a roll of 127 size film and has a meniscus lens. It has a ball bearing shutter with speeds of 25, 50, Bulb, and Time. Aperture settings are Near View Portrait, Average View, Distant View, and Clouds Marine. The body is painted black with leather bellows, it looks like a mini version of a Kodak Junior 116 Camera in my collection.

I thought I would shoot street photography in Downtown Baltimore on my lunch break, and I managed to shoot more than half the roll on a walk to the Inner Harbor. As you can see, the photos are quite blurry, I think I didn't have the bellows fully expanded, or perhaps the lens is not in as good a condition as the camera looks. The camera looks really neat though, and will look nice in my collection, even if it doesn't work that well.

Film used was from my dwindling stash of Rera Pan 100 film - for future camera testings, I may try cutting down some rolls of 120 film using a method I saw on YouTube utilizing a cigar cutter. I developed this roll for 8 minutes in my usual Caffenol recipe, and scanned the negatives on Epson V500 Photo.

Kodak Six-20 Brownie Junior - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 13 - The Kodak Six-20 Brownie Junior with respooled, expired Ilford FP4. I picked up this camera for $4.00 at the Maryland Steam Show flea market back in September. The skin was peeling off of the back a little, but the shutter appeared to be functional, plus the faceplate of the camera had a nice Art Deco Design. 

it's a simple box camera that was made in the late 1930's to early 1940's. It has two aperture settings, f22 and f11 and two shutter speeds - instant and bulb. I found the f22 setting in bright sun to be quite sharp besides the massive light leaks on either side of the frame. I had taken the camera out on a lunch time walk in Baltimore on a cool sunny day. I was able to take a few candid street shots with it as it's not as conspicuous when shooting this camera while looking down into the viewfinder. I did have one woman ask if I was shooting with "that old camera" and could I still get film developed. I told her that yes, I was shooting photos with it and that I develop my own film, though film developing is still available from online labs. I was disappointed that I could only get 5 photos out of the 8, the winder jammed partially through the roll. I took the camera home and to my changing bag to retrieve the jammed film. It took some prying, but I managed to get the film out of the camera and successfully developed this morning. 

The roll was developed in Caffenol and scanned on Epson V500 Photo.

Kodak Instamatic 500 - 52 Cameres, 52 Weeks

Week 12 - Kodak Instamatic 500, the rolls royce of Instamatic cameras. A metal, solid camera made in Germany, with a button triggered pop out Schneider-Kreuznach f:2.8/38mm lens. A rangefinder camera with bulb to 500 shutter speeds with a built in light meter, though it was  suggested to use a light meter for correct exposure. Most Instamatic cameras feature only fixed focus and shutter speeds.

The Instamatic 500 uses 126 cartridge film with is no longer available, but if you have an empty 126 cartridge, you can refill it with the film of your choice. I watched a youtube video on how to refill the cartridge as well as looking at several websites with instructions. I chose to refill my cartridge with Kodak BW400CN, one of my favorite C-41 films, producing great black and white photographs that can be processed wherever C-41 is still done. In this case, in my kitchen with a Unicolor C-41 kit from Film Photography Project. I gathered my supplies for refilling the cartridge, sat down with my film changing bag and patiently followed the steps to get the film into the camera.

The instructions for shooting with the Instamatic 500 were to take a shot then advance two strokes of the film advance lever and a partial one to get the correct spacing of the frames. After developing the film, I think maybe I should have done just two strokes as there were large gaps between the frames. I think that you could get away with just taking a photo with each stroke as I accidentally shot two frames that way and they came out fine. One cool feature of the cartridge on the negatives is that there are sprockets on the top edge of the negatives. One video I saw, showed the bottom plastic removed from the film frame to produce sprockets on the bottom as well. 

Even though a light meter was suggested, I shot sunny 16 and most of the photos came out properly exposed. For the most part, the photos turned out the way I had framed them in the viewfinder. Focusing is measured in feet on the front of the lens with zone focusing on the bottom of the lens as well. I was on vacation this week, so I was able to take a walk around Hanover on a sunny, warm Wednesday to complete the roll of film. The negatives were scanned on Epson V500 Photo and levels adjusted in Photoshop.

Kodak Brownie Bullet Camera - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

For week 11 of my 2016 - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks project, I dusted off the Kodak Brownie Bullet 127 film camera that's been in my collection for a while. I don't recall where I got this camera, but I believe it was acquired during the time that I was going to focus my collection on Kodak Brownie cameras (not likely now as I've gone in too many directions with my collection). The Brownie Bullet is almost identical to the Brownie Holiday Flash, made between 1953-1962, and was used as premium giveaway during the late 1950's to mid 1960's. It is a bakelite camera designed by Arthur H. Crapsey that produces 8 photographs on a roll of 127 film.

I loaded the camera with the only currently available film, Rera Pan 100 that I purchased from Freestyle Photographic Supply. The weather this week has been warm and sunny, so it was a perfect opportunity to get out at lunch break and take a walk around Baltimore with the Brownie Bullet in my camera bag. In my experience, Rera Pan 100 works best in bright sunny conditions. I usually process it with Kodak D-76, but not having any mixed up, I tried it with my usual Caffenol concoction.  I don't fuss too much with the developing temp, only using water that I've stored at room temperature, and using the same steps that I found on the Photojojo website a couple of years ago. I mix up the super washing soda, instant coffee and vitamin C in the same combination every time, develop for 8 minutes, use water for stop, fix for 5 minutes and rinse, with a final wash of generic Photoflo. I haven't experimented too much as I've been pretty happy with how the Caffenol has been working so far. I scanned the negatives using a 3D printed 127 film adapter that I bought from ebay on my Epson V500 Photo flatbed scanner.

Nikon EM - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 10 camera is my newly acquired Nikon EM. I bought this recently from KEH Camera as I wanted to have a small Nikon Film SLR to carry in my bag for upcoming Spring outings to festivals, nature walks, and day hiking. I have a nice Nikon E Series 50mm 1.8 prime lens to use with it, and aside from manual focusing, I should be able to concentrate on framing up my photos instead of fiddling with the settings. The Nikon EM is a battery powered compact film SLR that features aperture priority semi-automatic exposure control. It was designed for beginners wanting to purchase an inexpensive interchangeable lens camera. Though not highly successful in it's time, the Nikon EM and Series E lenses are a good price/performance value in the used market. I purchased this bargain rated camera for $14 from KEH Camera and had previously purchased the Nikon Series E 50mm 1.8 pancake lens for $49 from Ebay. The lens of course, can be used on other Nikon cameras, of which I have two others.

When I pick out a camera for the week, I like to carry it with me and just get random photos of whatever Brenda and I might doing that week. This week was hard, my father passed away and we were having his visitation and memorial services over the weekend. But I needed to try to be doing the things that I enjoy to ease the emotional, exhausting time that our family was going through. Some of these photos will be a reminder of this time when I look at them in the future, as is the case with almost every photo that I take. Most of the photos on this roll were taken on a nature walk at La-Ho trail at Lake Marburg, in Hanover, PA the day after my father's memorial service. It was a beautifully sunny day which was comforting and gave me something to look forward to - the coming warm and sunny weather of Spring and Summer. 

I cross-processed the film in a Unicolor C-41 kit from Film Photography Project and scanned the negatives with an Epson V500 Photo flatbed scanner. I like the amber cast that came through on some of the nature shots and also the coloring on the photos of the abandoned buildings, giving them a sepia antique photo quality. Only minor adjustments were made to the negative scans, using the levels adjustment in Photoshop to pick out the lightest and darkest parts of each scan. I would like to try this camera and lens with the expired Portra 160 NC film that I have and also with black and white film.

Nikon Pronea S - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 9 camera is the Nikon Pronea S that I recently acquired from Ebay. It's an advanced photo system (APS) camera that uses APS film in cartridges that typically come in 25 exposures and sometimes 40 exposures. I used a cartridge of Kodak Advantix black and white 400 from a box of film that I've used previously and find to have a nice grain and contrast. I've tried this film in several different APS cameras and it's come out great in each of them. 

The Nikon Pronea S uses two 3 volt lithium ion batteries and automatically advances the film after each frame. It rewinds the film when reaching the end of the roll. The camera has an autofocus 30-60mm f1:4-5.6 lens and can use other nikon lenses.

It was a slightly rainy Sunday afternoon when I took the Nikon Pronea S out to shoot photos. I thought the 400 speed film would work on interior shots at the Civil War Museum in Gettysburg, but the shutter was too slow for hand-held shots in the low light of the museum. After visiting the museum, I drove over to the Evergreen Cemetery close by with the intention of getting photos of the monuments there. The Evergreen Cemetery is notable for being the burial place for Jennie Wade, the only civilian killed in the Battle of Gettysburg. I took a quick walk around the cemetery road as it was starting to drizzle, it was lightly raining by the time I got back to my car. I finished the roll with photos around the house using the flash of our pets and my son, Isaac.

Overall, the camera worked well, which was great as the Ebay listing said that it was untested. The Kodak Avantix film was developed and scanned by The Darkroom.

Minolta 110 Zoom SLR - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

I have not ever used a 110 film camera so for this week's installment of 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks I loaded up the Minolta 110 Zoom SLR camera in my collection to take it for a spin. I acquired this camera in an ebay auction at the too good to pass up price of $6.35 with shipping.

I put the required batteries in and the light meter inside the viewfinder lit up and appeared to be functional with the adjustment of the unusually placed aperture settings. The camera is quite odd looking, being a flat slab typical of 110 cameras with the addition of a manual focus f4.5, 25-50mm zoom lens and the single-lens-reflex prism hump on top.  The camera shoots in aperture priority with the light meter on the right of the lens with the aperture adjustment dial built in. In the viewfinder with a slight press upon the shutter button, left or right triangles light up indicating the direction to turn the aperture ring for correct exposure, which is achieved when no triangles light up. There is an exposure compensation slider of +/-1  on top of the camera above the aperture ring. The camera has a hot shoe to enable use of an external flash, though I didn't test the camera with one.

I used a roll of expired Kodak Gold film and not being equipped to develop the roll myself (I don't have a Paterson 110 film developing reel), I needed to shoot the entire roll over the weekend and get it in the mail first thing Monday morning to The Darkroom.  I have seen instructions on how to make a 110 developing reel out of a regular Paterson reel, and plan to make one, but that's another project.

I started off with some shots on Friday's lunch hour at work in the Mount Vernon area then down to Westminster, Maryland on Saturday. I finished the roll on Sunday morning. The scans are back from The Darkroom, and I like the way these photos look. I would like to try this camera with Lomography Black and White Orca and the Lomography Lobster Redscale 110. 

Polaroid Spirit 600 - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 7 - Polaroid Spirit 600 Camera with expired Impossible Project Color Block Film. Another Polaroid camera that I've had in my collection but never used, I believe my wife's sister found it in her closet and gave it to me when she saw how much I liked collecting cameras. I wasn't sure that it worked, but I tested it with an empty Impossible Project film cartridge and the camera whirred into action. I had bought the expired Color Block film from ebay sometime in the past year, so I wasn't sure that was going to work at all either.

The Polaroid Spirit 600 camera has a built in flash, which was one of the reasons I chose it for this week, as I was planning to shoot indoors. It has a plastic fixed focus lens with a minimum focusing distance of about 4 feet. There is also an exposure compensation slider on the front. There were many variations on this same basic camera made in the 1980's and 1990's like the Polaroid Sun, Polaroid SuperColor, Polaroid Camel, etc.

It was really cold outside over the weekend and I wasn't about to go out around town and try to get photos with an instant film camera. I shot a few photos around the house of ordinary things, though the unicycle is a bit unique. My son has built and rebuilt that unicycle over the years, he doesn't ride it as much as he used to but it still commands a space in our dining room for when he feels like trying a few tricks in the alley beside our house. We went grocery shopping in the beginning of the week when it warmed up a little and I stashed the camera in my bag with the intention of grabbing a few shots around the grocery store. The cashier asked why I was taking a photo of the flower display near the register and I explained that I was working on a photography project. She asked what class I was taking and I explained further that I collected cameras and I was posting my photos to my website on a weekly basis. I guess it's not everyday a customer comes in the store with a Polaroid camera shooting photos of the canned food display.

Bonus Camera for 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks - Holga WPC 120

A bonus camera for my 52 Cameras project this week - with my birthday cash, I ordered a Holga WPC 120 Camera that I had been wanting to get for a couple of years. I thought I should get one soon as I wasn't sure how long they would still be available at a reasonable price. I bought one from Lomography's online store seeing they still had them in stock at a much lower price than other places where it was still available. I thought I would try another roll of the 2002 expired Kodak Portra 160NC in it and brought it along this past Sunday when we went to Codorus State Park and Glen Rock, PA. The camera is capable of shooting 6x9 or 6x12 photos with two interchangeable masks and has an f/135 pinhole, requiring the use of a tripod and a shutter release cable. I have been very impressed with the ultra wide photos that can be achieved with this camera, with some great examples being found on Flickr. After finally shooting with it myself, I can see that I need to try to come up with more interesting angles and subject matter and get in closer. Next time I will use my old standby, Shanghai GP3 100 Pan film developed in caffenol. 

Film developed in Unicolor C-41 Kit purchased from Film Photography Project store and scanned with Epson V500 Photo.

Imperial Mark XII Flash - 52 Cameras

For week six of 52 Cameras - 52 Weeks, I have a camera that's been on my shelf for a very long time, the Imperial Mark XII 620 film camera. It is a plastic camera made in the 1950's by the Herbert-George Co. in Chicago and was made in various colors. It makes 6x6 photographs using a fixed-focus, single shutter speed, single aperture lens. I respooled Lomography Redscale 100 film as, according to a blog post I read on the Film Photography Project website, February is Redscale Film month. I found that shooting with redscale film with this camera requires lots of light, best to shoot with plentiful sunshine to get the best photos. I shot a few of the photos of favorite subjects on my daily commute home from my job in Baltimore, MD. The Prettyboy Dam is not too far off my journey home, I've made a quick side trip there on many occasions to snap photos with other cameras. The daylight was running out on the day I was there, and the photos I shot didn't turn out as well as they could have. I also have a favorite cemetery angel that is along the roadway at a country church that I pass each day, she has been the subject of many camera and film tests over the years.

For the remainder of the photos, Brenda and I packed a backpack picnic and headed out to Codorus State Park on Sunday with the intention of hiking the La Ho Trail around Lake Marburg, but upon arriving we thought the better of it with the muddy conditions from the recent snow melt. We ate our backpack picnic  by the lake and then drove out to Glen Rock, PA to grab some photos of the town. There is also a place called Ruins Hall with lots of graffiti that I saw previously when we rode through Glen Rock on the Steam Into History train from New Freedom, PA. 

The film was processed using a Unicolor C-41 kit from the Film Photography Project store and scanned with Epson V500 Photo.