Brownie Hawkeye - blurry/soft focus print/soft focus effect

Hi folks,

As I reported in an earlier post, I have developed a roll of TMAX-100 120 size film from my 1950's Brownie Hawkeye. I have made a contact print of the negative and much to my dismay the photos are not as sharp as some of I have seen on the net. Is this due to camera shake or is this typical of old Hawkeyes. I know that the shutter works at about 1/50 of a second so I tried to keep my camera as steady as possible but the results are not satisfactory. Is there an easy solution to this problem or do I just live with the blurry soft focus effect?

All help is appreciated.

Thanx

TC

It's very unlikely a camera of this vintage would normally give a "soft-focus" effect on a normal-size print if in good order. Most likely, given the precautions you've taken against camera shake, you've got a dirty lens or some other obstruction in the light path. Carefull examination of the negs/prints should give some clues. Camera shake will usually be defined by the blurring occurring mostly in one plane, ie left to right, up and down, or diagonally. One set of edges will be blurred, the oppposite (ie at 90 degrees to the blurring) will often be somewhat sharper. If the softness is overall, with blown-out highlights and no real shadows, light flare from dirt or obstruction is the likely answer.