Polaroid 150... can it become a medium format folder?

Ok so ive recently become the offical "camera guy" of the family...

which means that anything resembling a camera becomes mine. So today

my dads gives me I his old Polaroid Land Camera... i think it was his

grandfathers originally. Its a model 150 and its Type 42 film was

discontinued in the 80s. The case is rotten and in terrible

condition. There were 3 filters in a case... but there was a dead

spider in one so i took the whole case and put it on the carport...

the last thing i need is a spider infestation. <Br>

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The camera appears to be in fine condition, the bellows dont look

worn, the lens is fungus free, and dad claims that the few rolls he

shot with it came out beautiful. It seems a shame for such a pretty

camera to go to waste.... so... I have been pondering.... should i try

to buy old film on ebay? or should i try something more...

interesting? I figure that since the case is pretty much trash and

the film is discontinued, the most milage this camera will see in the

near future is a home ontop of a dusty mantle... and if i do some

modifications, it could still end up on the mantle and no one would be

the wiser. ;)<br>

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I dont know anything about how this camera originially worked... ive

never seen film loaded into it and since i cant buy the film anyway, i

cant try it out. On the right side of the body is a spool and holder

that looks like it could be in any old camera. on the LEFT side is a

very large open area with round sides which i assume was used to force

the film to do a 180 up into the top rollers. The spool is 3 11/16"

tall on the inside... for the 42 film. The opening at the back of the

bellows measures basically 3"x4"(with those cool 50's Polaroid rounded

corners!) the two different rails on the back measure 3 1/8" apart and

4 1/6" apart. So im pretty sure i can remove most of the polaroid

stuff no problem and come up with a crazy film advance system...

(maybe buy a junker camera from a thrift store and steal its

advance)... but what kind of film could i use in my Frankenoid? Im

totally ignorant when it comes to large format photography... It would

be really awesome if there was some kind of roll film being made

thats exactly 3 11/16" tall... that would save ALOT of trouble... but

since im fairly sure theirs not... does 4x5 film come in rolls?<br>

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Heres some pics of the shabby case and huge Polaroid 150... <br>

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<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaroidcase.jpg"

alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

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<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaroid150andcase.jpg"

alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

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<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaroidbellowsopen.jpg"

alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

<br>

<img

src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaroidwideopen.jpg"

alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

<br>

P.S. I heard about an old camera bug going around... I think I may

have caught it.

By medium format folder; I of course mean medium/large...ish.

I can't tell from the pics but I belive (if you're willing) I think this camera could take 120 film after a dremel tool/ Imagine 6x9 negs..ohhh Dig up an old 120 spool and see how much you have in there. And wow is that a rangefinder? cool

Somewhere out there in the internet world I found a website with Polaroid tips for 120 conversions. If I find it I'll post it for ya'

Damn I'm good (inflated ego)

 

http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/how2-packconv.htm

That link is for the 150 model dude you know have a cool project!

If you're going to go to the trouble of converting a Polaroid roll fill camera, you might as well convert a 110A or 110B, which were originally professional cameras. Some people convert them to 4X5, or you can put a modern Polaroid pack-film back on them. It looks as if you have to be moderately handy to do it yourself.

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Check out this <a href="http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~razzle/"> website,<a/> which has some handsome conversions. Another company, <a href="http://www.fourdesigns.com/"> Four Designs<a/> does the work for you, but they can be pricey.

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good luck

True but he already owns this one? Why spend more money?? plus he can practice on this "lower end" model and maybe work on something pricy in the future. I mean damn I'll take a FREE 6x9 holga anyday

Nevermind that link is not for 120 film conversion its just for using new Polaroid film packs..blah

Patrick

I did convert a Polaroid 120 to 120 rollfilm and still improve it

Here what I did

On the right chamber : Drill a holl 1/4 of an inch, make an advance knob to advance the film

On the left chamber : Cut two pieces of round wood ,shim both ends of the rollfilm to keep it from bouncing.

On the back and the film pressure plate : Drill a hole 3/8 of an inch so you can look through the hole to see the film frame number.

So that I go and the picture you can see in the thread I post in the weekend. Good luck Minh

Judging from the photo posted in the earlier thread by minh nguyen, the early Polaroids had some nice lenses. One never quite knows how such projects will turn out, but it seems like a noble undertaking to put an old machine back into service.

Patrick:

 

If you drop me a line, I can give you the instructions on how to convert this one to 4x5 format. This entails hacksawing the back of the camera and removing all the Polaroid junk inside it, this is done by drilling the rivets very slowly.

 

You need to be somewhat handy with tools, fine saws and drill to achieve this modification. I mean by this, to not be scared to do surgery on the camera. Anyhow, drop me a line if you so desire. This camera, by virtue of its size, is easier to convert to the larger format. Just make sure that the "electic eye" is working properly, otherwise the whole exercise will be moot.

 

The lens for this one is quite nice but it covers the 4x5 format just about, I repeat, just about, and has a pleasant drop off at the edges. Nice camera, though.

 

Best of luck to you.

Hey pat if if do go the 4x5 route I have atleast one 4x5 film holder and

4x5 color slide and Plus-x BW. 4x5 would be cool but you would need special developing holders etc.. But man 4x5 with that sweet light drop off. Imagine a Super Holga

Dammnn now I want one to play with..watch out ebay

Wesley:

 

Just make a 4x5 adapter with a 5x7 wooden picture frame. Use lots of goop to hold everything together. Accuracy is not needed since the goop will be used also as a filler. I used rubber bands to keep the film holders snug, crude, but works more than fine.

 

For developing 4x5's just get a Unicolor 8x10 paper developing drum. They are available quite often in your favorite auction site. Make a spacer for the negatives for when they are inside, and roll it in your working table, do not even need a motor to spin it. Forget the "time tested" method of developing sheet film in a tray, will ruin your negatives, guaranteed.

 

This took me one long afternoon to come up with. You should be able to do it also. I do not see why not. If you can use a small hand drill, cut moderately straight with a saw and read the instructions for mixing the goop...

4x5 sounds like it would be sorta fun.... ive got a old brownie that i wanna use to play around with 120 anyway... and yes... i love to modify things and have a drill press and lots of fun tools at my disposure right now. (nice to have a mom who is a machinist!) BUT i dont have access to a darkroom to process anthing right now... i was going to be lazy and have any 120 i shot developed locally untill i move out and can get my whole rig set up. Wesley, maybe if send me the parts ill do the mods and you can play with the camera untill i get setup? Ooo i really cant decide! they are both too temping! Maybe ill just build a snap-in 120 mod kit and save the 4x5 conversion for later... because 6x10 seems like it would be a unique format to play with!<bR><bR>

 

As far as the camera... the 150 appears to be one of the simpliest of this line of Polaroids. The lens IS glass because its coated, but its a tiny one. Apertures are just holes cut in a metal plate which is marked with EV numbers. Its got two speed settings... I and B... (Instant and Bulb?) Theirs nothing on the whole camera which i would describe as an "electric eye"... i think the most complex thing on this camera is the parallax compensated veiwfinder (and my older Minotla A2 has a more compact one that is incorporated into the Veiwfinder!)<bR><bR>

 

Descriptions I found online:<bR>

Land Camera Model 150: 1957-1960<bR>

Flash: M-sync Polaroid hot shoe <bR>

Lens: 130mm element glass f/8.8 3-elements<bR>

Aperature: f/8.8, f/12.5, f/17.5, f/25, f/35 <bR>

Shutter: 4 speeds: 1/12, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100<bR>

(im not sure where these speeds come from... im guessing the aperature EV dial also gears into the shutter to make faster speeds?... i did notice that the EV dial has numbers 10-13 which are all wide open, i guess below 13 the shutter gears in faster?)<bR>

Veiw: Double-window viewfinder/rangefinder on top of camera, with automatic parallax compensation.<bR>

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A great site with details of the whole Polaroid line...<bR>

<a href="http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landdcam-roll.htm">Land List</a><BR>

The camera has virtually no value, so anything you do to it won't be a loss. You can, however, use 4X5 film in it without modifying anything. Bad news is that you can only load one sheet. So, it would require reloading after every shot. In the dark, of course. Just open up the back, lay the camera on it's face, place a sheet of film on the rails and make sure, by feel, that it's properly positioned, then close the back before moving the camera. The pressure plate will hold the film in place. You will only get a 3X4 image on your 4X5 film, but it works. I've dunnit.

4x5 is a little harder than roll film, but it doesn't seem like you would need a darkroom if you use some kind of drum or tube for processing. A black changing bag is a good investment.

how do i contact you Diwan? im not proficient with the ins and outs of this site yet...

This is my contraption. Crude, but it works, the rubber bands work fine and the photos are great. A truly classic, pre '70, completely revived. The surgery was successful. The camera got a new life that promises to be busier than it's previous one.<div></div>

The rubber bands and the film holder. Sorry for the digital quality, but I only have a webcam.

The rubber band trick...

Diwan, these are perhaps the best images i have ever seen come off a webcam. :P Im in process of building up a 120 adaptor which will be removable. Ive stripped all the Pola-rollers and stuff out and plan on using the originial pressure plate back... but modify it so that it can be removed. Ill try the 4x5 conversion at a later date, but i figure ill use the heck out of this simple process. All ive had to buy so far was a small sheet of 26W sheet metal for a couple bucks.... which anyone with a decent shop would have already had. ;)

 

My adaptor will but be 4 blocks of wood with screws and a couple of strips of sheet metal to hold it together. Im thinking of cutting a peice of metal with a 6x9 hole in it... horizonally it would give me 6x9s... vertically it would give me 6x6s. The only complex thing in this job is gonna be that darned film advance and i think im going to take off the whole top assembly to make sure i dont drill through part of the parallax. Ill post pics tomorrow night... should only take a day to get it all done im thinking.

Patrick:

 

I also investigated the possibility of converting this camera to 120 format.

 

The main problem here is film alignment since the film window is much bigger than 6x6. I thought that doing the 4x5 modification first is easier. Then you go to your favorite auction place and get one of these roll film adapters for large format cameras. They come in different formats, 6x6, 6x9, ...etc and they are fairly inexpensive.

 

These large format roll film adapters fit into the "cage" for the sheet film holder, have the correct film registration, and more useful than that: they have the film counter and film winding lever.

 

This way, the modification allows for all kinds of formats having correct registration, with appropriate borders for the film format and eliminates advanced surgery as to making a film gate of proper dimensions. Also, the hole in the back for the film counter is another story... One has to be quite precise in the measurements to locate this in the proper place.

 

This camera, will all the instant film junk removed is very lightweight since it is made out of cast aluminum.

 

Please drop me a line with photos of your adventure, I am really interested in the transformation to your equipment.

Ok, well the manufactureing aspect of my conversion is done, I just gotta fix light leaks from old rivet holes etc. Basically i stripped all the polariod stuff out and made a removable 120 adaptor. I build 4 new components... a roll holder made from wood, sheet metal and bolts, a 6x6 mask of sheet metal, a door extension from sheet metal, and a winder from a bolt and a little peice of metal. These things were not terribly difficult to make but unless you have some kind of experience with wood working and sheetmetal... it might be a real headache. I used a drill press to do my drilling and various flat pliers and a vise to do my sheet metal bending.<br>

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First, the roll holder:<br>

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaadaptor2.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> <br>

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This is just 4 wooden blocks cut to fit into the cavities for the old 42 rolls.... with 4 strips of sheet metal holding them together. The bottom 2 blocks have bolts going through them to hold the 120 rolls. For the top left block i built a spring mechanism with bolt though it.

The top right block just has a 3/8 hole drilled in it to allow for the film advancer, as well as a spring to hold the roll in...<BR>

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Film Advance:<br>

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaadaptor1.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><bR>

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Which is just a long bolt with a slot cut in the bottom with a Dremel cutting disk (it took about 4 of them, so if you intend on doing this, buy extra and wear good eye protection!) I drilled a hole through the top of the camera and tried to aim exactly where the old 42 spool holder was at.<BR>

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On the 6x6 mask I curved the two ends to fit around the existing Polaroid picture plane. I also curved the insides of the square so the film wont snag. I probably need to make a new one because my hole isnt very square... ill shoot a roll and see what it looks like.<BR>

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Heres the unpainted assembly in the camera:<BR>

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polaadaptor3.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

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And a shot of the painted assembly:<br>

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polariggedup.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

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And lastly the most difficult part to make:<br>

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/patrickjdempsey/Polaroid%20Land%20Camera%20Model%20150/polanewdoor.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"><br>

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An extension for the door with the pressure plate. The back of this camera has so many holes and hinges and doors in it and weird places for light to come in, i just decided to close off the compartment all together. This peice slides onto the end of the door and fits snugly around the 120 adaptor. It was pretty tricky to make, and doesnt fit perfectly, so it needs some more adjustments.<br>

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Well thats about it. Im gonna find a knob for my film advance, fill in all the rivet holes, and bolt on my door extender and ill be done! As Wes suggested im just going to figure out how many turns it takes to advance my film.... which is fine because i plan on shooting both 6x10 and 6x6 formats so numbers would just get confusing anyway! Guess Ill make a fake roll out of paper with markings on it and wind it back and forth!<br>

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Im having too much fun doing this... and i still plan on rigging up the door for 4x5!!!!<BR>

NOTE: On drilling through the top of the camera. I got lazy and didnt take the plastic top off to inspect the insides.... If you aim exactly for the roll holder on the inside you will drill into a cavity which the flash synch cord runs through. I never use a flash, so i just kept going and ate up the wires. If you plan on drilling a hole in the top, and do intend on using a flash, you might wanna dismantle the top and pull those wires out of the way!