Shooting the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

<p>The web is full of guides on the <strong>Brownie Hawkeye</strong>. How to test the camera. How to clean the camera. How to load the camera. What I found to be missing was anything on how to shoot with the Brownie Hawkeye camera.</p>

<p>In response to some questions from others, I have added input to this subject on my website. If our are interested in the practicalities of actually capturing images with the simple Hawkeye, please take a look. The article can be found here:</p>

<p><a href="http://brucevarner.com/ShootingTheHawkeye.html"> http://brucevarner.com/ShootingTheHawkeye.html</a></p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Bruce</p>

<p>Thanks, Bruce. Good idea to use ND filters to vary the exposure, since the camera gives you no other exposure control. I'm confused though, as to why you recommend a slower film (ISO 50) for indoor and nighttime shooting, and faster film (ISO 400 or 800) for outdoor daylight shooting. Am I missing something?</p>

<p>Hi Rick,<br>

You are correct! Sorry, I did the math backwards when I wrote this. Will have it corrected shortly.<br>

Bruce</p>

<p>Correct now. I shot it correctly, just put my results down backward. Back online now. Hope it makes more sense. Thanks!</p>

<p>A medium to fast ISO film and a set of neutral density filters will add versatility to this camera that the original owner probably never had. Example: back in the early 70's Tri-X was available in 126 cartridges (intended for use in those cameras that could sense the notch in the cartridge). I found some for sale at a local drug store so I bought a couple of rolls even though I had an Instamatic 124 (fixed at f11, 1/90 and 1/40 second shutter). I held different filters (that I borrowed from my dad) in front of the camera and got fairly good daylight exposures. </p>

<p>Thanks Bruce, great article on the Brownie, you have gone to a lot of trouble! Using the various Kodak box cameras can be a hit and miss affair, which makes them more of a challenge to use....I like that!</p>

<p>Thanks, Bruce, for the info. The Brownie has a flash sync that is timed for bulbs, but it can be adjusted so it works with electronic flash, which expands its usefulness in dimly lighted settings. One thing I've done, if the light is dim enough, is to set the Brownie's shutter to Long exposure, trip and hold the shutter, and then manually fire the flash (in my case, a Vivitar 283). With some practice, the operation takes only a second or two.<br>

<br />In a thread a while back (http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00dEgD), Dave G pointed out that some old box cameras had a <em>smaller</em> aperture for indoor shots, which sounds counterintuitive, but it allowed for more manageable exposure times when using the shutter in its time exposure mode. I was reminded of that when Rick commented on the use of slow film for indoor shots - so in some cases, using slower film indoors might make sense!</p>

<p>Instead of ND filters, I've been using a yellow, orange, or red filter. This kicks up contrast as well as giving more exposure options. I also have mounted camera securely on a tripod, and tripped the shutter two or three times to build exposure. That works too.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Incidentally, there is a flickr group dedicated to the Hawkeye, which includes instructions for creating a tripod socket, cable release socket, and flash sync modification. </p>