Use that old 620/616 camera

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In my constant quest for the different, I ran across this item at an auction site. It is an adapter to let you use 35mm film in the old 620 and 616 format cameras and also available for the 120 format. It costs $10USD! Finally, someone who knows how to merchandise! Instead of selling it for $49.99 and not getting any takers, it is priced in the LOMO style – cheap and fun. 

The images show the sprocket wheel holes as the entire width of the film is exposed and the format is panoramic. There are pictures on their Flickr site, the addy is on their website.

See the website below for information. Now I have to CLA the Kodak Duaflex IV that is in the drawer, the shutter is very sticky.

I had a hard time deciding whether to place this post  here or on my other blog where I have information using unmodified equipment, as this is not an invasive modification. Since the idea of sprocket holes appearing as an integral part of an image is more in keeping with this blog- well, here it will be.

Sprocket Information

Update: I received the package from the website. It is simply a pair of wooden dowels modified to be press fit on the 35mm canister and then placed into the camera. I figure it would take me a couple of hours of fiddling around to copy it, so the price is reasonable. Now, if I could only find the package – hope it didn’t drop in the trash can. Further Update – It is March 2009 and the package is still missing – I’ll probably have to re-order.

A Second Yashica A

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This weekend I ran across an online auction for a Yashica A that needed CLA (clean,lubricate,adjust) with just an hour + left to run. The bid was around $10USD. I put in a bid of $13.98 on a whim and won it for just over $11. With S&H it came to ~$18USD. 

So, I will be doing the modification to a second Yashica A as I have covered on my photographyhacks.org website and in the pages to the right under the same name. The website has a couple of pictures that I didn’t carry over.

This modification was the most gratifying so far in that to a casual looker, it appears to be an original camera. The only difference being the lower lens is now a pinhole. That plus the aperture and shutter still work afterwards. The photographs taken so far are  above my other cameras in detail. Do a tag search on Yashica for the original post with photo.

Update March 2009: The camera still sits here. The ‘leather’ is flaking off, so it will be a project for outside to cut down on the mess of complete removal. Maybe I’ll go to Tandy Leather and get something neat to re-cover it.

Dollar Store Pinhole Cameras – An Update

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Last night I spent three+ hours destroying one of these quality cameras trying for a simple way to make the shutter stay open when the release was held down. Nothing doing. Then another two hours trying to add a second push/pull shutter release. Too contrived and not what I was looking for. I covered the parts with a towel and left them there, in the dark, with no food or water, to come to their senses and tell me what to do.

After looking at a Blog on WordPress an hour ago, that I found using the Tag Search with pinhole as the search word, I had my answer. I was being much to mechanically minded on the project. I decided to just take the shutter mechanism out, leave the shutter release to serve the function of a film advance regulator and use …. drumroll ……… rimshot ………. duck/duct tape or black electrical tape !

http://johnsomerville.wordpress.com/

Above is the Blog where I found my inspiration. Thank you John ! My Bloglist widget has a link to his Blog.

I have made an early New Year’s Resolution – to take at least one picture a day with both my DSLR and a pinhole camera. I have been spending too much time at the keyboard and workshop. Winter is coming and the Fall colors are passing me by.

Just now I found a small blurb regarding the difference in developing 220 vs 120 film. The physical difference is there is no paper backing on 220 film, making it very sensitive to light. This comes into play when you load/unload the film. Also, if you have a camera that has a red viewing circle, there are no numbers and the light coming in through the circle can fog the film. This is probably old news to MF film users, but was news to me. I was planning on using a roll of 220 color in my homemade stereo pinhole camera to double the number of stereo pairs, this info saved me the price of a ruined roll of film.

An Hour of Leisurely Photo Taking

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I packed up the Bronica and my handmade wood pinhole camera, both loaded with Kodak 160NC. I wandered around a small industrial village nearby. After shooting the roll in the pinhole, I loaded it with B&W 100 ASA el cheapo film. I’ll send the 160NC to the lab tomorrow. The Bronica only ate 1/2 of its roll.

There is now a page for images from the pinhole.

Quick hint for Graflex roll back users – remember to pull the slide ! I had a few unexposed sections of negative on the B&W roll………..

One from the Bronica

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This is one from the Bronica test roll. I will be using color with this camera from now on.
Update March 2009 – I still haven’t gotten to finishing the color roll.

 

Film marathon completed

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I started at 6:30pm and finished at 12:10am – 10 rolls. For sure, I am considering either a few more single tanks or one of those biggies that takes 4 120 films at a time. This was too long to spend standing on a concrete floor.

The one from the Bronica looks very good. The pinhole rolls will have to wait on the scanner for judgement. I did see that there are no apparent leaks in the stereo pinhole, that is good news and it will nudge me to finish up the little extras that need to be done on it.  

One failure to report tho, I tried one of those stainless steel tank/reel combos and ruined one roll when the film obviously slipped out of the grooves and the chemicals didn’t reach most of the film. I did notice something, the Lucky and Shanghai brand films do not have the nice little oval opening that catches on the stainless reel’s tab as does Kodak. This made it very frustrating to get the end to stay put in the reel. The lack of the opening possibly caused the failure. The Chinese film goes in the plastic from now on.

Bronica test roll

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I went downtown to my favorite camera shop and found a good deal on 10 rolls of Kodak  Portra 160NC film (slightly outdated, but professionally stored) for the Bronica.

While the receipt was being written up, the owner found that she had just recently sold a Canon AV-1 I had there on consignment. Armed with some free money, I found a tripod complete with a ball mount that I believe my wife will like for her Canon 300D digital. I also picked up some dry chemicals for my planned foray to the cellar this evening to get those 120’s developed.

After I left the shop, I took the Bronica for a quick walk around the area to shoot up the B&W test roll. There is a creek, underpasses, overpasses and general shop area there. The different lighting themes will give me a good idea of the cameras personality.

A new, old toy

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Last night I spent a few hours deciding what I was going to try to accomplish during my one day trip to NYC in two weeks. The first trip I took was an eye-opener. The upstate farmboy wasn’t quite ready for the sheer size of it all. Most of the time was spent walking around trying to see as much as possible and taking very few pictures. I found a free 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the Union Square area every Saturday afternoon, so that is the main goal. Perhaps a quick run through Chinatown  also.

A few years ago I purchased, entirely on a whim, a Bronica ETRS MF body and f2.8 75mm lens. Last month I happened to run across them, pushed in the back of a drawer. A little searching and I found a roll film back and righting eye-level viewer on an auction site. They arrived and today I found time to put the four together. 

First problem was the roll back wouldn’t dismount. Some searching on the web and the problem was solved. A small protrusion on the dark slide that pushed on a pin to allow the body to let go was not centered, thus sliding behind the pin, rather than depressing it. A little twist with pliers and instead of going at 6 o’clock it now goes at 7:05 – reliably pressing the pin. Grabbing a roll of B&W from the freezer, I placed it on the workbench to thaw,

Second problem was the roll back wouldn’t open. I pressed the safety tab and tried to push the slide, but nothing. This is a very complicated system compared to the Graflex roll backs I am used to. After verifying in the PDF file I had from the web, I went back secure in the knowledge that it SHOULD open. Sliding a small jewelers screwdriver alongside the safety catch, I must have moved some grime or dirt aside and it opened. Tomorrow I am going to shoot a roll. This gives me 10 rolls of B&W 120 film to develop. That qualifies them for a place high up in the ‘to do’ list. 

The digital pics from the Louden NH race sucked. Very drab and the P&S mini zoom wasn’t enough to get any detail. DELETE ALL/YES