How to load a typical box camera: 3:09 1. Pull out knob 2. Release latch to access inside of the camera 3. Remove film carrier 4. Swap the empty spool to the take-up side 5. Pull film over the projected end of the film carrier and thread the tab into the take-up spool. 6. Get the take-up roll started a few turns 7. Reinsert the loaded film carrier and close the door 8. Push and line up the winding knob, and shave to the first frame. ( Depending on what camera and film combination you're using some numbers line up with the red viewing window in on the back while others might not). Link to a step-by-step guide for loading film in the Ansco Sure Shot: th-cam.com/video/9JKYnF7XYr8/w-d-xo.html
@@filmismorefun Hi.. Thank you for your channel...Yes.. Just a black box.. good condition. I think there are many on eBay both sides of Atlantic... for now.
This guy is really easy to View.... I actually had fun viewing this video because of him. The camera was my main entrance... But you gotta have somebody on the other side that makes you interested. And this guy does that very good..
@@filmismorefun No problem... I just picked up a six sixty.... The one it took you a while to open... Like brand new in the box... But I just found out you can't use the film no more cause they don't make... So you have to use One twenty Film...
First thing to do is make sure it takes 120 roll film and not 620. There is more choice in 120. I use a Kodak Brownie number 2 takes 120 film and made in England from aluminium alloy. I also have an Ensign 'all distance' box camera, also taking 120 film and Made in England. I put a black and white film through the old Kodak box Brownie and deloped it myself. Good results.
Your sample photographs are great! Looks like a lot of (uncomplicated) fun. I've tried all sorts of cameras - point & shoot, slr, tlr, rangefinder, any number of lomo cameras (although I do now regret selling my sprocket rocket - c'est la vie). They're all 'meh', really (probably says more about my skills than anything). If I want a 'good' photo, with fancy lenses, I have a digital Nikon. But this has really caught my interest. Thanks very much!
Monster box camera. Put in 120 at iso 25 to 100, learn sunny 16 or sunny 11, and it'll put a smile on your face as to how good box photos can be (from a technical perspective... Artistic perspective is from how you good are at working within its limitations while wanting the best your can get)
My first camera in 1960, even before I went into kindergarten, was a little beige Tower/Sears box camera using 620 film. I actually still have photos from a vacation we took then! Decades of Leicas, Nikons and Rolleis didn't give any more pleasure than that magic little box gave me so long ago...
The the Box cameras are and like a early day equivalent of a modern reloadable plastic lens cameras. I only own 2 box cameras both of which are from the Kodak Brownie line. A number 2 Brownie I picked up recently, and an Art Deco Brownie that takes 620 film and actually has a close-up setting. I've only used the 620 with respooled 120 film from the Film Photography Project. I will definitely be trying out the number 2 in the near future. The number 2 had one of the really old spools in it that was made out of both wood and metal.
Yeah I've always been a fan of a 'not so sharp' look. In some of the images I shoot with the Ansco, I think it almost gets a selective focus kind of look to them because the edges can blur so much.
I dont very often get my box cameras out but they are very much fun to shoot with. I wonder, given the time when these were built and ASA was measured in single digits, would the slowest ASA speed work better in them today? I havent done enough experimenting to know but it seems logical that with the slow shutters that a slow film speed would yield better results. Thanks for the video!
Hey! I believe the box camera shutters that are operating at just a single speed run somewhere between 1/40-1/60 of a second. These cameras were intended for use on bright sunny days at a lower iso as you mentioned, but because of that back then people were kinda at the mercy of a very bright day where as nowadays we can raise the iso of the film a bit to shoot these boxes in conditions with a bit less light.
I think in most cases 100 ISO film it's probably fine. The box cameras I own do have more than one aperture. The first time I shot in a box camera I used ilford Pan F 50 and pushed it one stop.
I just found an old BILORA box camera from a relative and now am trying to learn more about it. Hope I would be able to revive and use it. This video was really helpful.
The bilora was a civilian camera. The Balilla box was a Zeiss made box camera for the Italian fascist youth movement in the 1930s. It's German counterpart was initially called the baldur, after the head of the Hitler youth movement, and that camera (the baldur) was later sold as the erabox in areas where such a politically affiliated name may not be in Zeiss best interests. (ie: the USA). It's a camera with a very dark history. They're not at all common relative to the regular box tengor. They're also less feature packed, lacking some of the manual controls the normal tengor had. But they're still fairly solidly built. Sorry to go into a dark part of camera history, but I hope this gives you some insight to the bilora and the Balilla. The bilora is nice, the Balilla has the dark history. I had to clarify. Jason
I need to clarify my previous statement. I got the bilora and the Balilla mixed up. The bilora does not have a dark history. The Balilla has a dark history. My apologies to the individual who asked about the bilora.
I have an ansco shur-flash, and also a Sears Tower 120 which is all metal. I have an old brownie Hawkeye (and some 620 spools), but it's a bit chipped and leaks light really bad. Does the Holga count as a box camera? Because I kinda think it should. I also have an Ansco Viking Readyset, which pretty much works like a folding box camera
Sounds like you have quite a collection going! Idk about lumping a Holga in with box cameras, it's functionally similar, but I kinda see it as it's own beast haha.
No I haven't. Can't bring myself to buy more cameras at the moment haha. I try to sell off a few before picking new ones up. If I saw a killer deal, maybe, but haven't been actively searching.
@@filmismorefun bad news: the tengors now get $40 to $100 as boxes... They seem to have acquired Zeiss price syndrome. If you want, I can loan you mine to try out. What's the most work you can do to her a box camera to take a picture? 😂
The Zeiss Box Tengor almost doesn't qualify as a box camera. Too much quality, too many adjustments -- but it is box shaped. My favorite box camera is the Brownie Hawkeye Flash -- the box is bakelite, but it's box camera all the way. Instant or bulb, fixed focus, and it doesn't even need a second viewfinder because its a square frame. Some of them will accept 120, or a clipped 120 supply; others need to be modified slightly to do so; they all need a 620 spool for takeup (but they generally come with one). I've got two Brownie Hawkeye Flash cameras, plus an Ansco Shur-Shot Jr. (no B shutter). One thing to remember -- box cameras were intended for contact prints of those huge negatives. In a contact print, the photos generally look great, as long as it's midday, sunny, and the sun is over your shoulder. ;)
I'm kinda with you on the Zeiss- I can't speak to the quality havening not used it yet, but with all those adjustments it does kinda blur the line of what a 'box camera' is all about. Also, I have yet to try a hawkeye, but I hear so many people talk fondly about them. I should probably pick one up, because I love the square formats when I shooting my TLR's.
What is the most fun a photographer could have with a cardboard box? Umm... Put the photographer in a big box like that and let the inner child loose seems about right 😁. Box camera choose second😁
How to load a typical box camera: 3:09
1. Pull out knob
2. Release latch to access inside of the camera
3. Remove film carrier
4. Swap the empty spool to the take-up side
5. Pull film over the projected end of the film carrier and thread the tab into the take-up spool.
6. Get the take-up roll started a few turns
7. Reinsert the loaded film carrier and close the door
8. Push and line up the winding knob, and shave to the first frame.
( Depending on what camera and film combination you're using some numbers line up with the red viewing window in on the back while others might not).
Link to a step-by-step guide for loading film in the Ansco Sure Shot:
th-cam.com/video/9JKYnF7XYr8/w-d-xo.html
I love box cameras - they really help you just focus on composition. That tree image at 2:12 is a stunner!
Thanks Dave!
Excellent... A few years ago added a 1920s/30s Kodak Hawk eye box camera to collection... knowing one day I will be running some rolls through..
Sweet! Is it in good shape?
Definitely shoot with it once!
@@filmismorefun Hi.. Thank you for your channel...Yes.. Just a black box.. good condition. I think there are many on eBay both sides of Atlantic... for now.
I have several. Good pix with these old things.
I agree. Even with their limitations. 🙂
@@filmismorefun I just wish getting film was less of a bite. 620, 616, 127. I'd be using some of my old cameras alot more.
@@Sennmut You and me both.
This guy is really easy to View.... I actually had fun viewing this video because of him. The camera was my main entrance... But you gotta have somebody on the other side that makes you interested. And this guy does that very good..
Hey man I appreciate that.
@@filmismorefun No problem... I just picked up a six sixty.... The one it took you a while to open... Like brand new in the box... But I just found out you can't use the film no more cause they don't make... So you have to use One twenty Film...
First thing to do is make sure it takes 120 roll film and not 620.
There is more choice in 120.
I use a Kodak Brownie number 2 takes 120 film and made in England from aluminium alloy. I also have an Ensign 'all distance' box camera, also taking 120 film and Made in England. I put a black and white film through the old Kodak box Brownie and deloped it myself. Good results.
Your sample photographs are great! Looks like a lot of (uncomplicated) fun. I've tried all sorts of cameras - point & shoot, slr, tlr, rangefinder, any number of lomo cameras (although I do now regret selling my sprocket rocket - c'est la vie). They're all 'meh', really (probably says more about my skills than anything). If I want a 'good' photo, with fancy lenses, I have a digital Nikon. But this has really caught my interest. Thanks very much!
Thanks! Glad to hear you liked the photos. Yeah, box cameras are just simple and fun.
This was handy, I just inherited a pile of vintage cameras, one of which was a Box Tengor 56/2. :)
Oh that's awesome! Have fun 🙂
Monster box camera. Put in 120 at iso 25 to 100, learn sunny 16 or sunny 11, and it'll put a smile on your face as to how good box photos can be (from a technical perspective... Artistic perspective is from how you good are at working within its limitations while wanting the best your can get)
You know I might start making box cameras their so simple might also rig one to shoot video that would be wild
That sounds like a fun project! You're right, there's not much to them.
My first camera in 1960, even before I went into kindergarten, was a little beige Tower/Sears box camera using 620 film. I actually still have photos from a vacation we took then! Decades of Leicas, Nikons and Rolleis didn't give any more pleasure than that magic little box gave me so long ago...
That's so cool. Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for simplicity! 🙂
I have two or three Kodaks in varied sizes, plus a Ansco Shur Shot that was just delivered via eBay. They are definitely cheap and fun!
Yeah they are a blast. Simple technology for the win haha.
Just getting ready to embark on a project with the old DuaFlex which is essentially a glorified 620 box camera. Should be a good creative exercise.
Box cameras can definitely deliver some creative photos. Good luck with your project.
The the Box cameras are and like a early day equivalent of a modern reloadable plastic lens cameras. I only own 2 box cameras both of which are from the Kodak Brownie line. A number 2 Brownie I picked up recently, and an Art Deco Brownie that takes 620 film and actually has a close-up setting. I've only used the 620 with respooled 120 film from the Film Photography Project. I will definitely be trying out the number 2 in the near future. The number 2 had one of the really old spools in it that was made out of both wood and metal.
There are some great deals out there, especially on the 620 models.
I've got an old Agfa I'm planning g on getting up and running
I have a Zeiss Ikon Goerz Frontar Box-Tengor camera.I like it.
I was actually gifted one by @ganzonomi and I love it. The ikon really is the Cadillac of box cameras
Pretty cool. Not really up my alley, but I can appreciate how you like the look.
Yeah I've always been a fan of a 'not so sharp' look. In some of the images I shoot with the Ansco, I think it almost gets a selective focus kind of look to them because the edges can blur so much.
I have a agfa box camera! With some aperture and focal distance options. It's a shame I shot only one roll troug it
That's cool that it has a few aperture and distance options. The Zeiss Ikon Ive been checking out does as well.
I dont very often get my box cameras out but they are very much fun to shoot with. I wonder, given the time when these were built and ASA was measured in single digits, would the slowest ASA speed work better in them today? I havent done enough experimenting to know but it seems logical that with the slow shutters that a slow film speed would yield better results. Thanks for the video!
Hey! I believe the box camera shutters that are operating at just a single speed run somewhere between 1/40-1/60 of a second. These cameras were intended for use on bright sunny days at a lower iso as you mentioned, but because of that back then people were kinda at the mercy of a very bright day where as nowadays we can raise the iso of the film a bit to shoot these boxes in conditions with a bit less light.
I think in most cases 100 ISO film it's probably fine. The box cameras I own do have more than one aperture. The first time I shot in a box camera I used ilford Pan F 50 and pushed it one stop.
I just found an old BILORA box camera from a relative and now am trying to learn more about it. Hope I would be able to revive and use it. This video was really helpful.
I'm glad to hear it was helpful! 🙂
The bilora was a civilian camera. The Balilla box was a Zeiss made box camera for the Italian fascist youth movement in the 1930s. It's German counterpart was initially called the baldur, after the head of the Hitler youth movement, and that camera (the baldur) was later sold as the erabox in areas where such a politically affiliated name may not be in Zeiss best interests. (ie: the USA). It's a camera with a very dark history.
They're not at all common relative to the regular box tengor. They're also less feature packed, lacking some of the manual controls the normal tengor had. But they're still fairly solidly built.
Sorry to go into a dark part of camera history, but I hope this gives you some insight to the bilora and the Balilla. The bilora is nice, the Balilla has the dark history.
I had to clarify.
Jason
I need to clarify my previous statement. I got the bilora and the Balilla mixed up. The bilora does not have a dark history. The Balilla has a dark history. My apologies to the individual who asked about the bilora.
I have an ansco shur-flash, and also a Sears Tower 120 which is all metal. I have an old brownie Hawkeye (and some 620 spools), but it's a bit chipped and leaks light really bad.
Does the Holga count as a box camera? Because I kinda think it should. I also have an Ansco Viking Readyset, which pretty much works like a folding box camera
Sounds like you have quite a collection going! Idk about lumping a Holga in with box cameras, it's functionally similar, but I kinda see it as it's own beast haha.
is this missing a glass lens in front aperture where it lets the light in? mine also does not have it. Not sure if missing or by design?
No it's not missing
where was that video taken? for some reason it reminds me of Harrisburg or Pittsburg or other river towns in Pennsylvania.
Yep you got it. The video was shot in Harrisburg.
Have you ever gotten to the Zeiss box?
I have a 56/2 now. It kinda stretches the limit of box camera. It's due some ektar 100.
No I haven't. Can't bring myself to buy more cameras at the moment haha. I try to sell off a few before picking new ones up. If I saw a killer deal, maybe, but haven't been actively searching.
@@filmismorefun bad news: the tengors now get $40 to $100 as boxes... They seem to have acquired Zeiss price syndrome.
If you want, I can loan you mine to try out. What's the most work you can do to her a box camera to take a picture? 😂
The Zeiss Box Tengor almost doesn't qualify as a box camera. Too much quality, too many adjustments -- but it is box shaped. My favorite box camera is the Brownie Hawkeye Flash -- the box is bakelite, but it's box camera all the way. Instant or bulb, fixed focus, and it doesn't even need a second viewfinder because its a square frame. Some of them will accept 120, or a clipped 120 supply; others need to be modified slightly to do so; they all need a 620 spool for takeup (but they generally come with one).
I've got two Brownie Hawkeye Flash cameras, plus an Ansco Shur-Shot Jr. (no B shutter).
One thing to remember -- box cameras were intended for contact prints of those huge negatives. In a contact print, the photos generally look great, as long as it's midday, sunny, and the sun is over your shoulder. ;)
I'm kinda with you on the Zeiss- I can't speak to the quality havening not used it yet, but with all those adjustments it does kinda blur the line of what a 'box camera' is all about.
Also, I have yet to try a hawkeye, but I hear so many people talk fondly about them. I should probably pick one up, because I love the square formats when I shooting my TLR's.
@@filmismorefun To quote an old commercial: "Try it, you'll like it."
@@SilntObsvr off to eBay I go.. 😂
@@filmismorefun I'm looking at a box tengor as well. It's a box... But a German box. Anything German camera is going to be complicated 😁.
ia this camera good for a newbie?
Sure. It's very simple to operate and can be found for cheap.
What is the most fun a photographer could have with a cardboard box?
Umm... Put the photographer in a big box like that and let the inner child loose seems about right 😁.
Box camera choose second😁
Ha! 🙂 That would be pretty fun.
Next time talk a bit about what film stocks and speeds you use
Thanks for the suggestion. I was shooting with Ektar in these images.