Just checking in, nothing else to do, it's -35F outside. You know the old No.2 Brownie might be the only camera that might work in this weather. I ran Ilford Delta 100 thru it and the shots came out great! But than I tried ilford Pan F 50 - not so good, very light negatives. Don't know what I should try, maybe longer exposure times? I might have to mount it on a tripod `cause I know I can't hold my breath that long! B&Jdude, check your messages to see if mine went thru ( just some info on finding manuals & other info on Brownies.)

SteveinAlaska:

I checked my messages in the MY APUG section and didn't find any messages from you there, nor did I find any on my Yahoo.com e-mail place.

Now, I have sent messages to people using the CONTACT SELLER button in the classifieds area, but have never been able to find where that file is to review any of those messages, so I never know what their status is . . . it seems that they often tend to get lost and are never seen by the intended recipient.

Another message thing I havent quite understood is the "VISITORS MESSAGE" area that I get when I click on an APUG member's name and go to his profile. It is labeled "Permalink" and is, I suppose, a 3rd message system within APUG.

Oh how I wish all messages on APUG were shown in a single place, preferably MY APUG.

Now, about that -35F temperature . . . I put my cameras away anytime the temperature gets to 32F or below as I have no intention of going outside when I have the option of remaining indoors where it is warm. Santa gave me enough coal to keep me toasty all winter, so I won't be taking any pictures unless a warm day come along.

The Brownies might work fine out there, but I don't. Anyhoo, I have mine loaded with ASA 200 & 400 film, so maybe I can take shots in all the overcast skies we have been having (if it gets warm!).

EuGene

Hey 2F/2F! A couple days ago I said I owned 6 No. 2 Brownies, well actually it should have been 8 of them . . . but that was then . . . I bought 2 more yesterday, so now the number is 10. Oooooh, it's a G.A.S. attack!!!

Smiff

Eugene, you can shoot most of the 620
Brownies so long as you have a 620-size
take-up spool. I shoot a Brownie Six-20
and a Brownie Hawkeye, both designed
to take 620 film. But both will accept
(barely) a 120 roll of film, so you don't
need to respool 120 before shooting.

Sanders

Sanders:

I don't have a 620 Brownie . . . all of mine are the No. 2 Brownies, which take 120 film. In fact, 120 film was introduced simultaneously with the No. Brownie, the camera for which that size film was developed. I also have some Kodak Panorams that were made for 105 film, but they work well with 120, if you can live with upside down numbers in the red window and the need to shoot the numbers 2, 6, 10, & 14 to get 4 negatives (6 x 18) from a film roll.

EuGene

OK, I loaded 6 No. 2 Brownies with various films - TMax, Fortepan, Arista, Ilford, & TriX (ASA 100 thru 400) and went out and shot it all using the 3 different aperture settings. I'll send it off to the lab and get contact sheets back so I can check all the negs & prints against the detailed notes I took with each shot. I also metered each shot and recorded the EV reading.

Since I know the approx shutter speed and the approx f stop value of the 3 apertures, I should be able to come up with some EV data for each individual camera which will help me to take better shots in the future.

Maybe thats being a bit overzealous in trying to cubbyhole the cameras, after all, grandpa took nice pix with those little boxes without a meter and all the EV jazz . . . then maybe he was smarter than me, eh??

Sanders:

I have a Brownie Target Six-20, There is on way i can fit a roll of 120 into that camera. I have to respool onto 620 spools. It is a PITA, but I get great results from that old camera, people have a hard time believing that some of my photos came out of such a simple camera.

MHCfires:

You might check with Ken Ruth at www.baldmtn.com . . . he modifies many 620 cameras to accept 120 film rolls and can tell you if such a modification can be made to a Target Six-20.

Smiff

M, I have a Brownie Six-20 and I am just
able to squeeze in a roll of 120 into the
film chamber -- it's tight but it goes in.
If yours won't go, it's easy enough to
widen the box to give you extra room:

http://www.geocities.com/brandonshahan/620.html

You can also remove the metal leaf spring
that holds the spool tight, if need be, to
load 120. Bottom line: These are primitive
cameras, easily modified. You shouldn't
have to go to the expense of sending it to
a camera tech to load 120 film into it.

Sanders

I got the negatives and contact sheets back from the lab on the test pix I took with the 6 Brownie boxes. With each camera I took 3 bright sunlit daytime shots, one at each of the f-stop slider positions. Then I took a couple of under-a-carport shadow shots at the large & middle f-stops, followed by the last 3 frames as evening dusk shots at each f-stop.

So, now all I need to do is analyze the results and will have some good info as to the ISO rating and f-stop settings to use with each camera for shooting under various conditions.

4 of the 6 cameras differed somewhat, but gave good results based on the available light conditions and f-stops used . . . after viewing the first 3 sunlight shots, the next five (shadow & dusk) shots followed with predictable results. The remaining 2 cameras appeared to have inconsistent shutter speeds as the shots didn't follow a logical pattern. Sometimes a picture with a larger f-stop setting would, as expected, be brighter than one with a small opening, then on the next group of pictures the small opening produced the brighter photo.

So, I'll need to do a bit of work on those two outlyers, but overall I am quite happy with the test results. I now have a good idea on how to use them.

I also had a couple of 2A Brownies (a Red one and a Black one) but didn't try to test them . . . I don't relish the idea of paying almost $40 for a roll of 116 film. I just donated them, and an unneeded box for a No. 2 Brownie, to our local museum.

Smiff

I got up at 7:00AM last week when it was -42F, opened my curtains, set up the Brownie and Voightlander Bessa with Ilford Delta 100 & Pan F 50. Then after the morning coffee, I proceeded to make time exposures of 2 to 10 minutes thru the windows using only the street lights as available light(house lights off). Very good results with the Brownie & Pan F 50.

Damn! -42F! I get symptoms of hypothermia just thinking about it. Smiff

mhcfires
I just acquired a Brownie Target Six-20 from collectiblecameras.com. I am fascinated by this old and unassuming device. I need another 620 spool before I respool 120 and shoot it. Sounds tedious. Where do all of you find your treasures? I didn't know there was a portrait model until I came here. I'd like to get one.
2F/2F
Do you get good results with 25 or 50 speed film? What do you (or anyone) suggest for my first roll of B&W?
Barry

Hi, Barry.

Pan F seems to work well using the middle aperture when there is plenty of sun.

Check this out: http://www.brownie-camera.com/tech.shtml (and, of course, the homepage as well: http://www.brownie-camera.com/).

According to that Webpage, if Pan F is rated at 50, that exposure works out perfectly. Remember that Pan F is a very contrasty film, however, so at 50 does not excel in shadow detail. (All of this is a large part of why I love the stuff so much). If you want it to look more "normal", use the largest aperture and underdevelop your film about 20 or 25 percent.

I can perfectly fit the shank of a 9/32 in. drill bit into my No. 2's largest aperture. If the chart at the Brownie Website is correct, that means the FL of the lens is 9/32 x 11 = approx. 3.1 in. (78.58mm to be precise). The camera takes 120 film and has an exactly 2-1/4 by 3-1/4 in. film gate (57.15 by 82.55 mm). That would give the frame a horizontal AOV of 55.42 degrees and a vertical AOV of 39.97 degrees; almost exactly equivalent to a 35mm FL lens on a 35mm camera. I always thought the lens seemed a bit wider than normal. This makes sense for a point and shoot camera, as it adds not only to depth of field, but to hand holdability.

So, I can now brag that my camera sports an 80mm f/11 lens. Sweet!

My next experiment will involve sawing the front off of one of them and mounting it to a view camera.

Eugene,

If you want to use your 2A cameras, you can spool some 70mm film on the backing paper from a roll of 116 film. It is the same width. Not sure how much a roll of 70mm film would cost, but you can usually find some on fleabay at a decent price. it may or may not be perforated, but it will allow you to have some fum with another old camera. I may have an old roll of exposed 116 laying around, not sure. I seem to have everything except what I need. . The Brownie has to compete with a few newly acquired Graflex cameras, a 3x4 RB series D and a 4x5 RB Series B.

mhcfires: Hmmm. Well, I don't have the 2A cameras any more as I gave them, along with a box for a Brownie No. 2, to our local museum. I will stick with the No. 2 Brownies since I can always get 120 film for them and don't have to mess with rolling the stuff.

. . . guess I'm just lazy!

Smiff

I have brownie Reflex and I love it to death. It is such an awesome camera!!

You can easily modify a 2a to accept 120. I just put some spacers in there to hold a 120 roll in the center, use a 116 takeup spool, and drilled a hole in the middle of the back and put a red filter on it. Using numbers 2,4,6,8,10,12 should work - haven't verified since I did that mod though (my first roll I was using the bottom window and thought I had it right, but everything overlapped.)

-I have a brown No. 2a Model B - had to replace bellows. Just used some brown vinyl in the proper shape...not an actual bellows as that turned out to be very tough. So I just don't fold it closed The 1/50th setting on the shutter doesn't work properly, it sticks open I should be running some film through it this weekend.
-Have a Brownie Hawkeye Flash. Use a 120 in the supply side, and 620 spool for takeup. Need to get a second one, because you can flip the lens for closer focus. Love that camera.
-Have a Baby Brownie Special. Haven't run film through it yet. Found a roll of film from the 60's in it, and developed it just for fun. Some interesting winter family photos on it. Plan on respooling 35mm onto the 127 spools.

I miss pictures of your gems here! I will post a picture of mine, and hope some of you wiill do the same

Hi everyone, how nice to find a group dedicated to Brownies My collection of Brownies started when my good lady bought me a 620 popular Brownue from a charity shop, saying "I know you like old things, see if you can get this working" Well, that was the start of it, I now have 11 no2 Brownies, the 620 popular Brownie, a 620 Brownie model D, a 620 Brownie model F, a No2 folding Brownie Autographic, and a 620 folding Brownie. All are now working fine, and are great fun to use, and take some incredible photos, especially considering the simplicity of them.They seem to work well with 100 ASA film, 400ASA is definitely not so good, over exposed and washed out! Have yet to try 50ASA or slower, but that is a later project! The only problem I have found is that modern films tend to have dark backing papaer, which makes trying to read the frame numbers through the red window a right pain. Can anyone let me know any film brands that still use yellow backing paper? Anyway, enough of my waffle for now, who needs a Hassy or mamiya when you have a Brownie!

I always use ISO 400 b&w film in my Brownie Hawkeye. I control exposure by using either a yellow filter (1- stop), an orange filter (-2 stops) or a red filter (-3 stops.) This gives me a lot more latitude to take photos in lower light levels, and in bright light the filters really help kick up the contrast too.


Kent in SD

I'll have to give 400 asa a try in some of the later 620 brownies, the later ones have a yellow filter built in, but I don't see a way of using it with the no2 brownies, other than to use the pull up stop lever, no way of fitting a filter that I can see! Anyway, thanks for the advice, and if anyone knows of a film with yellow backing paper, I'd love to know about it, thanks.

I found you! I knew there had to be a group of people using old box cameras somewhere, and I'm relieved to know I'm not alone! I have some Brownies as well as a few other brands. If it's a box camera, I want it! I've only ran a couple rolls through them with less than great results, but I'm just getting started! For everyone out there, an internet search will show how people are running various films through their old cameras and some have great results. I just put in 35mm to my Brownie Bullseye hoping to get some cool shots, but I've got to get out and use it now. I'll post results if I can!

YAY! I found the Brownie group! I have a Model 2A - just bought some 120 film for it - have the spacers already...and a Brownie Holiday. I'm always looking for another Brownie when I go to the second hand shops and the like. So far, in the 2A, I've just been using photo paper. Works like a charm.

Good tp see a group on brownies.. I have recently converted a digital shooter friend to Brownies and he bought two the same day!! LOL.
He has the virus..

I love my boxes. I have been selling off my russian cameras to buy more brownies.. Oh dear!!

I recently did a hack of 120 to 620 that worked for boxes so I no longer re-spool. It works fine.

A happy girl indeed!