Kodak Autographic Brownie
A recent comment on a Tokyo Tower photo I took a while back prompted me to write this post.
I shot the photo with a early 1900′s Kodak Autographic Brownie no.2 using a Fuji Polaroid back. The camera originally took a different kind of film that is no longer made. After checking the camera I thought I might be able to get away with using 120 film but could not work out a way to modify the original camera back without destroying it. And given the camera is actually not mine and kind of on permanent loan I figured that would not be a good idea.
So I though perhaps I could connect a Polaroid back to it.
After checking the size of my Hasselblad back with the camera it looked like the idea was going to work. But I needed to find a back that did not have a little window (like the Hasselblad or Mamiya) but had the film area fully exposed when the dark slide was out. A trip to the local camera store immediately paid off. I found myself a Fuji back in the junk bin for ¥525 which was quite lucky because I didn’t want this little test to cost me and end in failure.
I figured the easiest way to connect the back to the body would be with electrical tape and that once I had proved it would work I’d figure out a more permanent solution.
After reading on line and discovering that the aperture would be around f/9 at it”s widest I took a shot and hoped for the best. The image you see above is the result I got. I was quite surprised at how the image turned out.
You will see from the other images below how I modified the camera and the controls it offers. F/9, f/19, f/22. T, B, 25th, and 50th of a second shutter. And a viewfinder that is very cool and at the same time very hard to use.
Feel free to share your old camera mod stories in the comments area below.
June 5th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
One of the cameras i'm going to bring over from the uk is a kodak that takes 160 film. Apparently you can rewind 120 film on to a different spool… doesn't that sound like fun!
June 11th, 2010 at 9:07 am
Great to see you finally got this going and quite a result. You are becoming the go to guy for any and all creative fixes. Your fame is big around the underground Copenhagen photography, thanks to you know who. That bellows shot is excellent.
June 11th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Great to see you finally got this going and quite a result. You are becoming the go to guy for any and all creative fixes. Your fame is big around the underground Copenhagen photography, thanks to you know who. That bellows shot is excellent.
June 17th, 2010 at 7:47 am
[...] shot with this camera at THE BAR on Friday within the last year or [...]
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Hmm. I wonder if we can do an instand film job on it like this one
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Manny! Thanks for commenting. Fame you say? Damn, I'll have to go over so I can soak up a bit of it. In need of a bit of ego stroking.
Looking forward to more stories from you now you are back in the land of communication
July 7th, 2010 at 11:10 am
I have the same No.2 that I'm able to use 120. By the way, what happened to your lens? Here are a couple of links – one from Mike Connealy who took some great shots with his: http://mconnealy.com/vintagecameras/brownie/ind...
And if you're feeling like messing with the lens: http://pheugo.com/cameras/index.php?page=kodakb...
July 7th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Also, what type of Polaroid does it take, and which Fuji back? Thanks.
July 7th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Darrell, Wow. Thanks for these links. They are really interesting.
I see your point about my lens. The links you provided made me take another look. I was surprise to see it appeared the lens was missing. But it turns out that when you press the shutter the lens appears and then disappears when the shutter is released. I didn't realize you could take the whole front part off.
In regards to the Fuji Polaroid back.
This is the one:
http://www.changecamera.co.kr/web/product/big/c...
The only image I could find.
Cheers.