Born again Kodak 1A series III

<p>I have recently adopted a Kodak 1A Series III camera that was thought to be for parts only. Sure, it was dirty and needed few hours with goo' ole' Q-tips, but it had good bellows and a stylus pen. This Kodak was made in 1924 - that, at least is the latest patent date stamped on the body. It is equipped with Diomatic No. 1 shutter and Kodak lens - 3 element, I presume? The aperture goes down to f/5.6 After closer examination and some TLC it was time to try to shoot this camera. Wait, It uses 116 film and that was discontinued in 1986- Darn it!!! off to trash bin with it? NO - it can be easily adapted to shoot 120 film and create some neat panoramic shots. So I proceeded to make a new spool that will take 120 film and fit into the body. The spool was created by cutting up one 120 spool and super gluing it to another one. After that was done I got me a new take up spool.</p><div></div>

<p>for the feeder roll I used two wall anchors cut and inserted into the film spool to space it properly inside the body. To create a mask for my panoramic shots, I used 120 lbs black card stock trimmed and taped to the back rails.</p><div></div>

<p>Ok that's done. Let's shoot. I took it out to my favorite test grounds- The Grove in Glenview, IL.</p>

<p>The panoramic shot of the house.</p><div></div>

<p>Now another shot of an old cabin hidden behind some trees and weeds.</p><div></div>

<p>Shot of a pond where I got almost eaten to death by big fat flying - man - eating mosquitos.</p><div></div>

<p>This is a gate of one of the small gardens. The distance was measured with steps and it was about 12 feet from the lens. Shot at f/5.6</p><div></div>

<p>and the last shot is of the same house but from a different spot.</p><div></div>

<p>These shots were composed in the "brilliant finder" I tried to place my scene smack down in the center of the horizontal frame and it all worked out. The red window had to be taped shot to prevent any light leaks and since the film was narrower than 116, the window was useless anyway. All shots were from a tripod to get as little movement as possible. All were shot at 1/100 and the aperture was selected based on light conditions- I'm liking the results a lot. It can fit 6 shots on a roll of 120 the shots are about 2 x 4.25 inches, I set the start mark at far right, closed the back and did 8 full turns, so that got me to perfect start at 1st frame. I then did 3 turns for every frame, but the spacing was rather big and resulted only in 5 frames. Should I do 2.5 turns per frame, I would get smaller spaces and 6 frames in a roll- next time. So now to the porn part. Here are some shots of the beautiful Kodak.</p><div></div>

<p>Head shot</p><div></div>

<p>Front view</p><div></div>

<p>My fellow classic cameras' lovers, I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed rescuing and shooting with this beautiful classic. Notice in the "mask" shot that the film chamber has a yellow sticker. It says that the camera was serviced in 1951 by Kodak, so nearly 30 years after its birth- just WOW. Now after another 60 years- I'm using it again. I also enjoyed the look on people's faces as I walked by with this camera mounted onto my tripod. One lady even stopped and watched me setup the shot.</p>

good job with the modifications and nice pictures.

Alan

<p>Its so rewarding to get a lovely old piece of kit like this up and running again, and producing such super panoramas. I did something similar with a big old 3A Kodak a few years ago, but using 35mm film instead of 120. the cassette wedged nicely where the film spool should be, and I did similar masking as you with the film rails and finder. I worked out the winding sequence with a scrap film. I must hunt out the film and post the results sometime although I no longer have the camera.</p>

<p>Kris, finding your camera will take a little effort but this site (site in French, catalogs in English) http://mgroleau.com/catalogues_kodak/ has EKCo catalogs that include it. I'd start with the 1924 catalog, then try '25, ... There are many variations.</p>

Great restoration and adaption. And nice shots to show off your work. Thanks for sharing.

<p>You can find VP116 and even VP122 on eBay often enough. There is some VP116 now, though more than I would pay for it.<br>

I had a roll last year for my son's college graduation in a 1A autographic Jr.<br>

That camera was given to me in 1968 by my grandfather, not so long before he died, and I inherited much of the rest of his photography supplies. I had a roll of VP116 then, and I found another roll in 1976 in the half price bin at a nearby store. <br>

It was only a few years ago that I got it back again, and tried using it. I now have a tank that holds 116. It is unusual for plastic reels in that it has a hook such that you can spool it from the inside out. A little easier sometimes for film with lots of curl.<br>

I also have a No. 1 Jr, but the shutter doesn't work right. That uses 120 film.</p>

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<p>Fantastic effort Chris. Thanks for sharing with the rest of the classic camera crowd. Mike Connealy (mconnealy.com) has similar instructions for using 120 film in one of these. He says 8.5 turns to bring the first frame to the gate, then 2.5 turns per frame, 6 frames total. I have one of the 116 Kodak folders but with a 130mm f7.7 lens but have not tried it yet.</p>

8.5 turns would work a bit better I must try it next time.

<p>Nice adaptation, <strong>Kris</strong>, and well worthwhile; those images are charming. Fine old camera; I have a similar No.1A Pocket that Iv'e been meaning to convert from 116 film for a couple of years, and have never got round to it. Your post spurs me on...</p>

Excellent Post. I'm surpised the results are as good as they are. But you did your homework and it panned

out. I Think she cleaned up real nice! I too have a 1A. I did once shoot some 116 back in the 1980s .

Recently tried to adapt spools for 120, but I did a sloppy job and it was a wash ! There was a Vietnamese

fellow here a few years back that adapted these to permanently take 120,machined the mask too. He often

commented that it wasn't worth the effort for the more consumer lenses it was only good when the better

Anastigmatic lenses were used. Please post again soon with the turn philosophy worked out!

<p>There is bulk 70mm film available that could be respooled to 116. I believe both Portra 160 and Tri-X are (or recently were) available.<br>

I have two rolls of VP616 that supposedly were frozen most of their life. But I usually get fine results with room temperature stored VP.</p>

 

<p>I have a Kodak Special No.1, made in 1914. It's 120 format. It has a Taylor, Taylor, Hobson lens and an Optimo shutter. Quite the combo 100 years ago. Some the 3a cameras have premium lenses also. I took a Velostigmat in Volute shutter from a similar camera. I really like you adapation and just might buy a camera to try it. The first rangefinders were used on the 1A, I think, an earlier model from the late teens.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Big 'ol neg on that. Nice resurrection of a real oldie.</p>

<p>Wow Kris, that's great! The pics are very nice. At one time, Kodak had the best looking/performing cameras on the market, as your model camera attests to that! They were hands down better than everything else.</p>