Hey I found one of those in a second hand shop and was trying to figure out how change the film and thanks to your video I figured out how to change the film in open it up mine is a little more clear on the viewfinder but it is amazing to see especially that those are made were made in Rochester New York and I'm in Buffalo New York and that's where I found it thank you for making this for you it's great to learn about these cameras
T= Bulb and B= Brief as written in the Brownie handbook. And 120 film is sold from B&H Photography online for $6-$15 a roll that will get you 8-12 shots/roll
What I find interesting is that nobody talks about the autograph feature of this camera. Once you do write notes after each exposure you keep the door open and expose it to the sky and not the sun for 6 to 10 seconds, alternatively a light source. For jotting note of exposure and any other pertinent information.
Thanks for posting I was able to quickly find what I needed, how to open the back. One minor correction: The focal length of the lens is the distance between the lens and the film when the subject is in focus, not the distance from the lens to the in-focus subject; so that is not what the scale indicates.
Even though I’m seven years late, I want to still point something out. The viewfinder is supposed to be cloudy; it has ground glass that the small image focuses on. Other models of cameras had brilliant finders, where it looks clear, but this model is not one of them.
So glad you posted this. My grandparents bought the camera new back in the day, and they have long since passed but I've had this in my hands for a while not knowing anything about it. This video was very helpful. Another random thing I found out was the view finder can turn on its side as well to take sideways shots. Side note, any idea on a safe way to clean this guy up?
This is the type of camera that most of the iconic Bonnie and Clyde pictures were taken on, do you have any pictures posted where we can see what she shoots like, good stuff, thanks for upload.
Thanks for the comment. I'm still wrestling with a light leak, so haven't shot with it yet, unfortunately. I'll be sure to let you know when I have some shots up, though.
***** There's a product called "liquid electrical tape", available from home depot, Lowes and Amazon that is great for repairing light leaks in bellows if you find that's where the light leak is coming from. To clean the front element of the viewfinder at the top, use a Q-Tip with windex on it. That will let you reach in from the back and the front to clean the grime off the lens and the mirror below. For the top ground glass part of the viewfinder, if it's not cleanable then you can pop that out and go to a dollar store and get one of those page magnifiers they sell for senior citizens and cut a piece that matches that ground glass and pop it in. Works like a charm.
That helped me! Couldn't figure out how to open mine. (It was my patented 1910-1913 and was my dad's, who was born in 1915.) My viewfinder is cloudy, too, so it was probably the material they used back then. Did you ever shoot with it?
T is for time and B is for bulb and the camera was made from 1915-1926 and this model actually takes the a-116 film and the reason it says fixed on your focus indicator is because you can use this camera as a fixed focus lens if you have any more questions find the handbook for this camera I actually have one and know more about them than your average bear
Great video! I have a Kodak vest pocket camera NO 1 model B. It takes 127 (46mm) film. I read that 120 film can be used but I'm not sure how because the 127 film was a little smaller than 120. Would you happen to know anything about this? Thank you so much!
have you shot with this camera yet? I have received the same camera as a gift and I'm looking forward to using it. Any practical tips? Have you used the autograph function of the camera? Any info appreciated...
Hello! I need your advice. I have the same model but I can't have the tray to come out. It seems to be stock. I can only pull it out of 1/4 inches. do you know what could block it? Thanks.
I brought the exact same camera yesterday exept the view finder worked and the lens part came out differently ! I'm not sure if it worked but it is a older model (made in 1908)please could you reply to tell me some more info.(etc the proper name,model,)
I just found my fathers camera, which is the same exact one as this. Although it seems to be in good condition the leather or folding part, whatever it is, leaks light..... how would I fix that, is there some sort of paste?
Great video demo, thanks for the upload. You can actually still buy 120 type medium format film, various film companies still make 120 and it is pretty much THE standard for medium format film for photographers in this digital age. I have shot a new roll of Shanghai GP3 100 ISO 120 film recently up in Sydney www.flickr.com/photos/51853869@N08/sets/72157638605196414/. Anyways I have a foldout camera similar to yours a Kodak Hawk-Eye 2A Model B which according to sources was made between 1926 and 1933, it takes 116 type film which is of course no longer made.
I found this same camera in my grandparents’ belongings over 20 years ago and I opened it up and set it out for decor 5+ years ago. It looks to be fully intact and even has film in it. I probably ruined it all by opening the door in a semi dark room. Maybe something on the roll survived, but the crackling sound the film made when I was peeking makes me think that it’s too brittle to develop. Anyone educated enough to advise me on that?
Hello, You may well have figured it out in the intervening [almost] 7 years, but the 'A' in 'A-120' is the 'Autographic' part - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autographic_film. I'm not sure whether you got muddled by the 'A' with the rather wider 116 film format - because this went into the slightly bigger No2A versions of these No2 cameras - or Kodak's sneaky 620 film 1931-1995 which was simply 120 film wound on spindlier spools, now necessitating trimming 120 spools to fit most 30s-60s period Kodak cameras? Yes, A-116 and 616 both once existed too, but never A-620 or A-616! Have you had chance to use this camera yet? I see elsewhere in these comments you had persistent issues with a light leak - any success? Reviving my Great Uncle's No2A version with spacers for 120 film, etc., is on the to-do list, but in the meanwhile I enjoy occasionally using a No2 Portrait Box Brownie.
"T" means "Time Exposure." It's just like "Bulb" except it's "push-push" instead of "push-release," as your demonstration showed. Functionally, "T" and "B" are identical.
You need to check the bellows for pinholes with a flashlight in a dark room or else the holes will cause the film to have strange white streaks. If the label is correct, you just use 120 film.
Ha ha, yes. So as you can see, it was indeed a Kodak as well. And coincidentally, on a road trip a few weeks ago up to Rochester, I passed the Eastman house.
Beautiful camera, but it's definitely not late '30s. More like mid teens. Kodak's kaptur font logo was gone within a few years of the autographics coming out.
I just got this same camera, it was passed down from my grandma. I'm no camera expert, I know literally NOTHING about photography lol, but I noticed you had trouble getting the camera part out. Like extending it. Mine won't even extend it sounds like it's stuck on something. I had opened it earlier fine with no problem and now it's stuck. I was just wondering if you knew how to fix that? Again. I'm sorry if this makes zero sense, but I literally know nothing about cameras. I'll take any advice I can get! Please. Thanks! Haha :)
i know its rather late to reply...But as you look to the camera when the Front protect panel is Open,look to the bottom Right hand side.You will see a locking device.Push this Towards the direction off the taking lens....or to Right, this can be seen to lift the locking device,Then you can push out the lens track, by the way pushing out the track,Only allows 2settings of Focussing Distances..Marked out on Click position.This is a Must.As their is No indication as to what the Focusing distance is,if Any.. .All the best.. .
+mike jones From wikipedia: "Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film. The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light, but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use. Instead, a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change, proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph. "
Your viewfinder is not "cloudy"...that's called a "ground glass". If it weren't etched like that, the image would not collect on the finder and would not be visible. DON'T try to polish it off !!
Kris you're right there's no ground glass in a brilliant finder. This however is not a brilliant finder and does in fact have ground glass. It's supposed to look like that.
Actually the "T" is for when they were using the powder flash. you would open the shutter on the "t"setting and light the powder to flash then press the shutter release button to close the shutter after the flash burned.
Hey I found one of those in a second hand shop and was trying to figure out how change the film and thanks to your video I figured out how to change the film in open it up mine is a little more clear on the viewfinder but it is amazing to see especially that those are made were made in Rochester New York and I'm in Buffalo New York and that's where I found it thank you for making this for you it's great to learn about these cameras
T= Bulb and B= Brief as written in the Brownie handbook. And 120 film is sold from B&H Photography online for $6-$15 a roll that will get you 8-12 shots/roll
Oh! I thought T stood for time! Thanks!
What I find interesting is that nobody talks about the autograph feature of this camera. Once you do write notes after each exposure you keep the door open and expose it to the sky and not the sun for 6 to 10 seconds, alternatively a light source. For jotting note of exposure and any other pertinent information.
Thanks for posting I was able to quickly find what I needed, how to open the back.
One minor correction: The focal length of the lens is the distance between the lens and the film when the subject is in focus, not the distance from the lens to the in-focus subject; so that is not what the scale indicates.
Even though I’m seven years late, I want to still point something out. The viewfinder is supposed to be cloudy; it has ground glass that the small image focuses on. Other models of cameras had brilliant finders, where it looks clear, but this model is not one of them.
So glad you posted this. My grandparents bought the camera new back in the day, and they have long since passed but I've had this in my hands for a while not knowing anything about it. This video was very helpful. Another random thing I found out was the view finder can turn on its side as well to take sideways shots.
Side note, any idea on a safe way to clean this guy up?
Beautiful!!!!!! So this is the sweet camera you were gifted...good deal. 8-)
This is the type of camera that most of the iconic Bonnie and Clyde pictures were taken on, do you have any pictures posted where we can see what she shoots like, good stuff, thanks for upload.
Thanks for the comment. I'm still wrestling with a light leak, so haven't shot with it yet, unfortunately. I'll be sure to let you know when I have some shots up, though.
***** There's a product called "liquid electrical tape", available from home depot, Lowes and Amazon that is great for repairing light leaks in bellows if you find that's where the light leak is coming from. To clean the front element of the viewfinder at the top, use a Q-Tip with windex on it. That will let you reach in from the back and the front to clean the grime off the lens and the mirror below. For the top ground glass part of the viewfinder, if it's not cleanable then you can pop that out and go to a dollar store and get one of those page magnifiers they sell for senior citizens and cut a piece that matches that ground glass and pop it in. Works like a charm.
Lots of great tips here, thanks. It looks like I'll have to go shopping.
beautful camera. i have one very similar. don't think it works. i got it as a piece for the studio to just look at. great quality on your video!
Beautiful camera.
This is such a cool camera! I hope I can get my hands on one soon.
I just seen on Facebook marketplace 2 of them for R900
The most you maybe would pay us shipping I don't know , but seems like a steal especially since on Etsy they pricey
Beautiful camera
That helped me! Couldn't figure out how to open mine. (It was my patented 1910-1913 and was my dad's, who was born in 1915.) My viewfinder is cloudy, too, so it was probably the material they used back then. Did you ever shoot with it?
T is for time and B is for bulb and the camera was made from 1915-1926 and this model actually takes the a-116 film and the reason it says fixed on your focus indicator is because you can use this camera as a fixed focus lens if you have any more questions find the handbook for this camera I actually have one and know more about them than your average bear
Great video! I have a Kodak vest pocket camera NO 1 model B. It takes 127 (46mm) film. I read that 120 film can be used but I'm not sure how because the 127 film was a little smaller than 120. Would you happen to know anything about this? Thank you so much!
T is for long exposures which were common in the old days of Photogaphy .
TY FOR THIS! What did you use to oil the pieces that were hard to move? TY
have you shot with this camera yet? I have received the same camera as a gift and I'm looking forward to using it. Any practical tips? Have you used the autograph function of the camera? Any info appreciated...
Hello! I need your advice. I have the same model but I can't have the tray to come out. It seems to be stock. I can only pull it out of 1/4 inches. do you know what could block it?
Thanks.
I brought the exact same camera yesterday exept the view finder worked and the lens part came out differently ! I'm not sure if it worked but it is a older model (made in 1908)please could you reply to tell me some more info.(etc the proper name,model,)
I just found my fathers camera, which is the same exact one as this. Although it seems to be in good condition the leather or folding part, whatever it is, leaks light..... how would I fix that, is there some sort of paste?
Great video demo, thanks for the upload. You can actually still buy 120 type medium format film, various film companies still make 120 and it is pretty much THE standard for medium format film for photographers in this digital age. I have shot a new roll of Shanghai GP3 100 ISO 120 film recently up in Sydney www.flickr.com/photos/51853869@N08/sets/72157638605196414/. Anyways I have a foldout camera similar to yours a Kodak Hawk-Eye 2A Model B which according to sources was made between 1926 and 1933, it takes 116 type film which is of course no longer made.
Those were great shots on Flickr, thanks. It's inspiring me to pick up some film and get shooting!
I found this same camera in my grandparents’ belongings over 20 years ago and I opened it up and set it out for decor 5+ years ago. It looks to be fully intact and even has film in it. I probably ruined it all by opening the door in a semi dark room. Maybe something on the roll survived, but the crackling sound the film made when I was peeking makes me think that it’s too brittle to develop. Anyone educated enough to advise me on that?
they make 120 film every where, especially on B &H photo website. I'm just not sure if there is any difference between A-120 film and 120 film
Hello,
You may well have figured it out in the intervening [almost] 7 years, but the 'A' in 'A-120' is the 'Autographic' part - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autographic_film.
I'm not sure whether you got muddled by the 'A' with the rather wider 116 film format - because this went into the slightly bigger No2A versions of these No2 cameras - or Kodak's sneaky 620 film 1931-1995 which was simply 120 film wound on spindlier spools, now necessitating trimming 120 spools to fit most 30s-60s period Kodak cameras? Yes, A-116 and 616 both once existed too, but never A-620 or A-616!
Have you had chance to use this camera yet? I see elsewhere in these comments you had persistent issues with a light leak - any success? Reviving my Great Uncle's No2A version with spacers for 120 film, etc., is on the to-do list, but in the meanwhile I enjoy occasionally using a No2 Portrait Box Brownie.
"T" means "Time Exposure." It's just like "Bulb" except it's "push-push" instead of "push-release," as your demonstration showed. Functionally, "T" and "B" are identical.
You need to check the bellows for pinholes with a flashlight in a dark room or else the holes will cause the film to have strange white streaks. If the label is correct, you just use 120 film.
Ha ha, yes. So as you can see, it was indeed a Kodak as well. And coincidentally, on a road trip a few weeks ago up to Rochester, I passed the Eastman house.
Afraid not. Still need to find film and learn how to load it! But your comment is a good kick in the pants to get that going.
Beautiful camera, but it's definitely not late '30s. More like mid teens. Kodak's kaptur font logo was gone within a few years of the autographics coming out.
Hi, mine simply won’t extend!! Does anybody have any advice or a possible solution? Thanks
I just got this same camera, it was passed down from my grandma. I'm no camera expert, I know literally NOTHING about photography lol, but I noticed you had trouble getting the camera part out. Like extending it. Mine won't even extend it sounds like it's stuck on something. I had opened it earlier fine with no problem and now it's stuck. I was just wondering if you knew how to fix that? Again. I'm sorry if this makes zero sense, but I literally know nothing about cameras. I'll take any advice I can get! Please. Thanks! Haha :)
i know its rather late to reply...But as you look to the camera when the Front protect panel is Open,look to the bottom Right hand side.You will see a locking device.Push this Towards the direction off the taking lens....or to Right, this can be seen to lift the locking device,Then you can push out the lens track, by the way pushing out the track,Only allows 2settings of Focussing Distances..Marked out on Click position.This is a Must.As their is No indication as to what the Focusing distance is,if Any.. .All the best.. .
T means time, great vid!
Or tripod
He said they don't produce A-120 film anymore, which is true. They stopped making autographic film in the 40s, I believe.
and i believe the t on the shutter speed dial stands for 'time'
They make 120 film still
it's used for portrait photography
I actually did get a roll since I made this, but need to somehow lightproof a hole in the camera body. = (
Cool, thanks for the tip.
Viewfinder needs a new mirror
Is it electric, if not how does it take pics?
+mike jones From wikipedia: "Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film.
The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light, but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use. Instead, a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change, proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph. "
I have a No 1 1913 bit sorry for wear on the case but looks ok on the inside, also an ilford and a box brownie, anybody wants em their welcome.
Is this still an open offer?
Your viewfinder is not "cloudy"...that's called a "ground glass". If it weren't etched like that, the image would not collect on the finder and would not be visible. DON'T try to polish it off !!
No ground glass in brilliant finders. I would still try to open it up and clean it from the inside.
Kris you're right there's no ground glass in a brilliant finder. This however is not a brilliant finder and does in fact have ground glass. It's supposed to look like that.
i have older one that your camera its start patent in 1910
the "t"is a timer for self pitures..... kinda like the beeping on modern cameras to gibve you time to get in the shot
Actually the "T" is for when they were using the powder flash. you would open the shutter on the "t"setting and light the powder to flash then press the shutter release button to close the shutter after the flash burned.
I was wondering if someone was going to correct me....Thank you for clearing that up
no problem.
wow.
the T is for tripod. nice vid.