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Category Archives: Vintage cameras
Three Vest Pocket Kodaks
These are “Vest Pocket Kodaks” – of which nearly two million were produced, from about 1912 to the early 1920s. I’ve blogged about one of these cameras before – to sum up, they represent an important step in the miniaturization … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage cameras
Tagged 127 film, autographic, film, Kodak, Soldiers' Camera, Vest Pocket Kodak, vintage
2 Comments
Found Film Friday: Dress-Up Dog
This week’s roll of found film is a roll of 620 panchromatic that not much is known about, other than that it came from an estate sale near Alliance, Ohio. I had quite a bit of trouble loading it into … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: New Baby AND a New TV!
Sometimes when I develop these “found” rolls of film I find it kind of sad that their original owners forgot to do so themselves. This is one of those times. The fact that I picked up these rolls on eBay … Continue reading
Found: Michelle’s Fisheye Film
It’s “Found Film” Friday, and this week’s “found” roll comes to us from the same place as last week’s roll – but appears to be from a different photographer. Among that set of different 35mm rolls, none of which appeared … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: It Doesn’t Have to Be Old
One of the fun aspects of “found film” is the fact that it’s usually old, and developing it opens a window into a forgotten past, maybe involving forgotten people. But this week’s roll is an oddity in that it’s not … Continue reading
Posted in Found Film
Tagged 3200 ASA, black and white, found film, San Francisco, selfie
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Vintage Camera Test: No 2 Hawkeye Model C Anniversary Edition
This week’s vintage camera test is an interesting one (yes, but aren’t they all?), despite its rather long name. Waaaay back in the late 1880s, a small company called the Boston Camera Company introduced a model called the “Hawk-Eye” Detective … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged anniversary, Chennai, Hawkeye, India, Kapaleeshwarar, Kodak, kolam, No. 2 Hawk-Eye, temple, vintage
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Found Film Twofer: At the Beach and On the Farm
Not long ago, I bought a roll of Kodak Verichrome Pan 127 film that had been found inside an old Beacon II, a bakelite camera manufactured between 1947 and 1955 by Whitehouse Products in Brooklyn. The seller threw in half … Continue reading
Testing the Agfa Silette Rapid F
When I’m considering vintage cameras for purchase, I specifically look for cameras that still appear to work, and for which film can still be acquired somehow. Then, periodically, I grab a couple and test them out. This week, it’s the … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged Agfa, camera, film, Photography, Rapid, Silette, test, vintage
2 Comments
Documenting the Dhobis
British soldiers may know the terms “doing your dhobi” (laundry) and “dhobi dust” (detergent) – but they may not be aware of these terms’ origins. A photographer friend recently spent several hours negotiating, on behalf of a small group of … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged caste, Chennai, dhobi, ghat, hereditary profession, India, khana, washermen, washerwomen
1 Comment
Found Film Friday: Fungus
It’s “Found Film Friday!” This week’s roll is a bit different from most weeks. This week’s roll seems to have been stored in conditions that allowed some sort of mildew or fungus to grow on the film. This was not … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: An Airman in Syracuse
It’s “Found Film Friday” again! When I share a roll of film that has been found and rescued from oblivion. No one has seen these photos before – not the people who took them, not the people on them. And … Continue reading
A Story Behind Every Picture
They say every picture is worth 1,000 words. In the best case, a good picture tells a story. Sometimes the picture itself is the story. This is one of the cool things about photography. Take the photo below, for … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: Clyde, Texas
In my continuing, admittedly odd, quest to rescue other peoples’ forgotten, undeveloped film from oblivion, I recently acquired a Kodak Brownie Starflash, advertised on eBay as still containing a roll of unprocessed film inside. I received the camera, still in … Continue reading
Posted in Found Film, Vintage cameras
Tagged Clyde, fellowship hall, found film, Lions Club, Starflash, Texas
2 Comments
Found Film Friday: Trip to Germany
This week’s “found film” is a roll of 35mm film that came with 5 other rolls via an eBay seller who was unwilling or unable to offer any details concerning the film’s origin. Only one of the six rolls yielded … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: Bill
Found Film Friday is when we look at a roll of film that someone took long ago, and forgot to get processed/developed, and years later it ended up in my possession so that I could rescue the photos from oblivion. … Continue reading
Found Film Friday: Bill’s Party
Last week I posted the first of three rolls that were shipped to me as a set, ultimately from Rhode Island – and we don’t know much else about them. They were all 120 film, but of different types. This … Continue reading
The Argus Seventy-Five: Great Photos for a So-Called “Toy” Camera
The Argus 75, also marketed as the Argus Seventy-Five and the Argoflex Seventy-Five*, is a bakelite pseudo TLR made by the Argus company between 1949 and 1964. It’s a simple, inexpensive, yet reliable little box camera that you would hang … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged 120 film, 75, Argoflex, Argus, black and white, Seventy-five, vintage camera
1 Comment
Shooting with the Kodak Retina 1a
I’m loving this little 1950s camera and the pictures it takes. There are lots of little imperfections here and there, maybe dust in the lens – who knows – but I love the vintage look of the photos I have … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage cameras
Tagged Hyderabad, Kanchi Kailasanathar, Kanchipuram, Kodak, Retina 1a, vintag
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Found Film Friday: Bill Goes to a Wedding
So there’s this guy, “Bill”, who loved to take pictures…he lived somewhere around Rhode Island…and when he passed away, as is the case for many people, his things were packed up and sold for whatever his relatives could get for … Continue reading
Testing the Zeiss Ikon Ikonta A 521
The Ikonta A 521 is one of a series of compact and well-designed cameras the German Zeiss Ikon company produced from 1929 until the late 1950s, with a brief break during World War II, as the company was destroyed during … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage cameras
Tagged 521, Compur Rapid, Ikonta A, pinhole repair, Tessar, Zeiss Ikon
4 Comments
Shooting with the Ansco Anscoflex
A couple of days ago, I posted about some “found film” that had come from a 1950s Ansco Anscoflex. I had originally bid on an unidentified roll of film on eBay, and when I found out that the seller was … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage cameras
Tagged ansco, Anscoflex, beach, Chennai, dog, India, vintage camera
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Found Film Friday: Holy Toledo! It’s an Ansco Anscoflex!
This week’s Found Film Friday is a fun find… This week’s film is a roll of Kodak Verichrome Pan 620 film. I was the winning bidder on eBay, and asked the seller where the film had come from. He told … Continue reading
Posted in Found Film, Vintage cameras
Tagged 1950s, ansco, Anscoflex, birthday, found film, mystery, Toledo, Toledo Blade
2 Comments
Cross Processing 127 Film
When I first started playing around with vintage cameras, I wasn’t sure what kind of film to order, and just for fun, ordered a roll of Rollei Crossbird, without really knowing what it was. It turns out this is slide … Continue reading
Posted in film processing, Vintage cameras
Tagged A-8, A8, Agfa, cadet, Cross-processing, Crossbird, Rollei
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Ansco B2 Cadet: Photography with an Old Box Camera
Sure, today’s fancy digital cameras have a lot of tricks to ensure your photos turn out picture-perfect. But compared to the simplicity of an old box camera like Ansco’s B2 Cadet, the photos aren’t THAT much better! Basically a wooden … Continue reading
Posted in Vintage cameras
Tagged 120, Agfa, ansco, B2 Cadet, black and white, Namibia, Photography, shipwreck, Skeleton Coast, vintage cameras
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“Found Film Friday”: from Fort Wayne, Indiana
This blog bounces around a bit depending on what I’m interested in on a particular day of the week, so maybe I will post “found film” articles on Fridays from now on. There are a few folks out there doing … Continue reading