Brownie Refit

I was in a bit of a pinch for cash and I got that itch for a new camera. So I

dug out my grandfather's Kodak Brownie Reflex 20 and managed to shove a roll of

35mm Kodak Max 800 into the thing. I had to guess about how much winding to

do... so the results are very abstract. So abstract in fact that my local lab

didn't even charge me for processing!

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Since the images are wider than a 35mm frame I had to stitch multiple images

from my scanner together. Here's a couple I made.

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<a href="http://zack.loseby.net/bad/">http://zack.loseby.net/bad/</a>

 

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You can see light from the (even closed)red door got through and fogged the film

a a little. Since scanning these I've patched up the door, figured out exactly

how much to wind, and made a mask so the 135 is curved like the 620 was.

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This was a real fun little project for me and I hope some of you enjoy looking.

Those are actually some of the more interesting accidental double exposures Ive seen!

Thanks! My next project is 35mm in a Polaroid Model 95 Land Camera. Now THAT should be interesting. You can do anything with a little creativity and some tape.

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<img src="http://zack.loseby.net/images/old.jpg">

Aaaand now with flash! That's not lightning, but the wires I used to attach the flash to the brownie.<br>

<img src="http://zack.loseby.net/images/flash.jpg">

Do you have any way of delaying the flash so it will fire at the same time the shutter is open? I believe that on cameras made for bulb flash, there is a delay in the shutter to give the flash time to burn.

 

If you can hold the film flat enough, you should be pleasantly surprised with the results from the Polaroid 95... its a nice sharp lens, but I had issues with film flatness even with 120 film and a mask.

I read about that flash delay issue and I'm really not sure how it's going to work with this brownie. The shutter is very simple and it seems like there's no delay between the shutter beginning its movement and the shorting of the flash contacts. Even if that's so, the 1/10,000 of a second of electronic flash is still quite a bit different than the 1/30th(?) of a bulb.

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Even if I could get the flash to fire exactly when the shutter is fully open, it'd have to be a deadly accurate timing as the one shutter speed seems to just slide across the opening of the aperture. Regardless I'm sure it'll lead to more of the abstract images I've already come to love.

Sorry for the double post, but I forgot to mention. For the 95 I plan on taking it into the darkroom and just taping two cut strips of 35mm next to eachother on the pressure plate. After my one exposure I'd take it back into the darkroom, untape them, then process those strips. After all that I'd probably do something similar to what I did with the brownie negs in photoshop.

Sounds sweet. One thing you CAN do is manually fire the flash with the shutter open on B. Its tricky, but it works... expect very bizarre photos.

B... maybe with the Polaroid, but that brownie is 1/40th only, no bulbs about it.

Really? I always thought these little guys had a switch saying something like "I-B" or "I-T"... "I" for "Instantaneous" "T" for "Time" Even if it doesnt... it technically might be possible to install your own "B"... all you need is something to go into the shutter and keep it from closing. People do a B mod to Holgas all the time.

Just looked into the flash a little further. I put my flash inside the brownie and my eye right over the taking lens. All I see is a faint light when the shutter/flash fires. Looks like they're not lining up. Also checked into a bulb modification. Seems possible, but not sure if it's worth it.

 

It'd probably be easier for me to rig up some kind of delayed relay between the body and the flash. Then there's always some 3200 B&W.

You can always buy flash bulbs online... Ive seen places online where people stockpiled them in europe somewhere. They are a little unpredictable, but thats half the fun. I have an Ansco flash gun / handle that takes size C batteries... it screws onto the tripod mount and can be used with any camera with a PC flash port. I have never tried it although I do have bulbs, simply because Im still trying to understand flash photography.

 

I would look around for something like that. Flash guns are pretty common and sell for virtually nothing.... or are given away. If you are into experimenting its def something to think about.

Interesting idea. The Brownie flash is on hold for the moment though(however, my local camera shop does carry old flashguns). I'm almost done light-proofing the bathroom, got my chemicals, and tomorrow I'm loading the 95 with some fomapan 100.

Good times... I went through the trouble of converting a 95 to take 120 film. It was alot of work but 6x11s are pretty sweet. Alot of people call this "panoramic" but its not really, its just a cropped "normal" view.... which makes it more telephoto than panorama... but hey Im a stickler. ;)

 

Back in the 1950s Polaroid had a flash for their cameras called a "Wink Light" you cant get the batteries anymore and they only mount to Polaroid flash shoes... but I believe they were designed to work with bulb-synch by simply staying lit instead of being a fast flash. Basically it was just a big flashlight mounted to the top of the camera. Why wouldnt you just use a bright bulb like a krypton in a basic flashlight mounted to the camera?

Got my negs from the 95 all developed and scanned now. I ran a roll through the brownie again too. It's all <a href="http://zack.loseby.net/bad/">here</a>. <br><br>

You were totally right about the 95 having a sharp lens. Look at the top left window on the steeple in this image <a href="http://zack.loseby.net/bad/images/polaroid1.jpg">here</a>. <a href="http://zack.loseby.net/images/polaroidcrop.jpg">Here's</a> a 100% crop of it. You can see that strip had a little trouble in processing. I tried to cheat and slip it on the same spool as my brownie negs. It fell out. I processed these in Microdol-X 1:3 at 70 degrees for 18 minutes.

Hah! I just noticed; check out the tape on the polaroid negative. At least it held it flat. Awesome.

Awesome... what are the black vertical lines? Are you putting in little cut sections of film and taping them to the pressure plate... if so, amazing job keeping them lined up in complete darkness! Or are these all separate exposures you are joining together to make a panorama?

 

I really dig the look of the tape. I had a friend in college who did "negative collages" she actually cut up negatives and then taped them together and then printed from them... very hard work, but amazing images... with the familiar zigzag of the tape cutter blade showing up on some.

 

The rangefinder on the 95 really makes it a great option because most cameras this large dont have a couple rangefinder! Its def a fun to use camera! Tripod is def a must for most purposes though!

These are super cool, Zachary. And splicing up negatives sounds really fun, Patrick.

Rangefinder? On the 95? You sure we're talking about the same camera? Mine just has a little fold-out viewfinder, no fancy mirrors or yellow glass anywhere. I used one of my rangefinder cameras to find how far away things were and transferred that to the polaroid.

 

About the black lines... I only have a 35mm negative scanner, so the vertical bars are where the plastic of the negative carrier overlaps the exposures. After scanning each frame I've been just throwing them next to each other in photoshop. I figure since I wasn't going for perfect images in the first place, it wouldn't hurt to toss in another fun variable. Once the local college opens up their darkroom I'm going to print some of these on their 2 1/4 negative carrier. That way you'll even get to see the image around the sprocket holes.

 

A funny thing happened while taping film to the polaroid's pressure pate. I was in my bathroom/darkroom in complete darkness, and when I started pulling the scotch tape off the spool, the room lit up! I guess there's some kind of static thing going on when you peel tape. It makes a cool green glow.

 

Oh and thank you Suzan; I'm having a blast with this whole thing. Many more old-camera-new-film shots to come! For my next polaroid exposure I'm going to try two strips of 35mm negatives on the same pressure plate. They fit when I can see; the darkroom may be another story...

Oh yeah, I guess I used a 150... my bad! :P Be careful about that static Zach, if you can see it so can the film! One thing you might could try is to tape a negative sleeve to the pressure plate... that would allow you to quickly slide the negs in and out... although it might not be as flat as judicious tape! Id really like to get back into playing with mine, its a fun camera! Ive also got a Model 80, they are overall smaller cameras, so the film-gate isnt as wide, but great shooters. Im still looking for an "easy" method of using roll films in these cameras.

Ah perfect! The negative sleeve idea is great. I had previously thought about doing something similar with construction paper, but the sleeves are even easier. So easy in fact that I've already got them installed on the plate. The results may take a few days this time. It's a lot of work lugging that thing around, taking one exposure, going back and unloading in my darkroom, back out, and on and on and on. I suppose I could process one strip at a time, but I don't really want to waste that much developer.

Another option is cutting down some paper to the correct size and trying that out... at least then you wouldn't have to worry about how you develop them.

I noticed the film was curling at the edges while loading the 95 earlier, so I built a mask. Now all it needs is a new paint job.<br><img src="http://zack.loseby.net/images/masked.jpg">

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I've taken four exposures with the new negative sleeve system so far. The pretty bellows draw quite a crowd when I'm out on the street. I had a nice conversation with an old man named Andrew while making a twelve minute exposure last night. He'd been processing his own B&W since he was 14. It's great to see so many people interested in this kind of thing. The guys at the local photo shop are interested to see the results as well.

Yeah... if you bring that thing anywhere near a college campus you are likely to also have college girls all over you as well! It's def a great conversation piece. that is one hell of a mask you have going on there man. hahaha. I spent the time to make one out of sheet metal that didnt end up any straighter though!