Old cameras

[fuzzyedges]

As I seem to be gathering these I thought I would start sharing them with you

 

The first is a 1931/33 f type No2 box brownie by kodak (made in England)

 

80 years old and still working although I havnt put a film through it

 

They cost (I cant find the british price ) but the ones in the usa sold for 2$ 50c

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
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[annie]

are you going to give it a go fuzz? would be really interesting to see what you get..

[NannyFerret]

They are in very good condition.

They took good picks too. I had a black one like this when I was young and the a more up-to-date one (for the time anyway)
I think my older brother gave me the first one and I bought the second one from somewhere or other.
It was so long ago. lol

Edited May 13, 2013 by NannyFerret

[Les]

A lovely example Fuzzy.I have a British made Kodak Six-20 'Brownie Junior.Its a simpler unit and not in such nice condition as yours but it still seems to work.It has 2  settings a fixed exposure and a 'B' stop for user customised exposure and a fixed lens.

[Guest DaveW]

My aunt gave me one she had as a girl guide and she would have been over a hundred now if still alive. Don't know what happened to it, but it was not as elaborate as yours and it only had one speed I think since I can't remember the shutter and aperture leavers on top, but I may be wrong. This is the nearest to it I can find as I remember it. Really minute viewfinders on it:-

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-62EiAxV0zh8/TWfXx42GqdI/AAAAAAAAAN4/2w7HYI45P2o/s1600/Kodak_Brownie_no2.jpg

Next one I was given was an Ensign Ful Vue:-

http://photo-utopia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/ensign-ful-vue.html

Edited May 14, 2013 by DaveW

[fuzzyedges]

Could well be a No 0 brownie A  Dave

They look the same but only have an I and B lever

made from card and wood

Made 1914 to 1928

The article has a common mistake saying the aperture is f11 they usually start at f16

Havnt found one of these yet

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senorton/543374471/

[NannyFerret]

My first Brownie was more like Les's as I can't remember having it having the push down things on the tops as in Fuzzies picture.

Never-the less it took good pics even though I think when I got it, it was 3rd hand or maybe more and I considered myself lucky to own any sort of camera in those days.

[colinb]

Fuzzy - thanks for going to the trouble of the 'instructional views' they really do help some of us understand 'how', muchly appreciated

[fuzzyedges]

I can't remember having it having the push down things on the tops as in Fuzzies picture

 

The junior had fixed aperture f11 but the I-B lever was on the side just above the shutter release

It was a later release than the F type the junior was 1934 -1938

[NannyFerret]

It was definitely a fixed aperture as I never had to change anything, except to load the film, wind on and click the button.
The other one that I had later,had a bigger and more magnified viewfinder and was covered in cream coloured rexine or leatherette.

I had the first in the latish fifties and the other one in the mid sixties.

Edited May 14, 2013 by NannyFerret

[fuzzyedges]

This is an F model Portrait Brownie 2 

Practically the same as the red one above except it has a key winder which means it dates from 1929-1931 and went on to 1935 with the knob winder

It also has a second lens for close up work, as much as I can find out the standard lens (which is behind the shutter) focus is 7 to 8 feet away but by depressing a lever on the right hand side a second lens swings up in front of the shutter and decreases the focus to 4 foot away  This drops back under gravity

 

Its cost in red was 19/6d so black would have been cheaper (I am not sure which year it was at that price)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
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[NannyFerret]

They are amazing, aren't they. It makes me realize how far things have come in the way of camera's.

[fuzzyedges]

This is the six - 20 F model

Made between 1955 and 1957

It has not only a close up lens that can be moved in but a yellow filter for sunny days

It also had attachments for flash

Some of the parts were gold plated

It was one push for the shutter release instead of down for one shot and up for the next as in the older models

Bees knees camera this one

 

 

 

The film carrage was a lot smaller but the exterior was the same

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
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[fuzzyedges]

I dont collect cameras BUT I am drawn to a bargain which these have been

The most expensive one I have bought is a bakelite Hawkette at £22 (which I will post later as its a folder)  none of the box cameras has been more than £8

and make a great display

 

I have them displayed better than this but I coudnt get back far enough to photograph them

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
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[NannyFerret]

They all look in very good condition.

[fuzzyedges]

Moving on to Folders

The Zeiss Ikon Netter 517/516 was at the lower end of the Zeiss market it took 120 film and had 3 shutter speeds and B 1/25 1/75 and 1/200

The lens on the cheapest were a vario 75mm f6.3

This is a landscape opening folder

To take an image you first decided on the aperture and pushed the lever at the rear of the lens to it

Then you selected the speed by the large rotory ring (that only moves about 1/16 of its circumferance

Then you cocked the shutter with the small lever

Focusing was done by one of three methods

a) buy a range finder to fit the cold shoe on the top

b) measure the distance with a tape

c) Guess and use the hyperfocal settings on the camera

Press the shutter release

 

 

Arnt we spoilt today

 

production started in 49 and ended 58

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
External links removed

[fuzzyedges]

Franka Kamerwerk Solida 1

With the more expensive lens a 75mm with a huge aperture of f4.5

Shutter speeds of 1/25 1/75 and 1/100

Not quite as well engineered as the Zeiss but still good

It took a 120 film

Made in Bayreuth

Bavaria from 1952

 

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
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[fuzzyedges]

The last picture in the Zeiss should have been this

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by Phil
External link removed :)

[colinb]

Fuzzy I thought you might like to take a look at this Brownie that my mother-in-law has, whilst it is in near perfect condition I assume it is not a 'rare' version.

 

 

I also have this Geva complete with 'add-on' flash

 

 

and amongst others this un-special Halina - not sure about the transistorized electronic eye though, not a clue what that is all about?

 

[fuzzyedges]

hi Colin

Nice to see old cameras from the budget range of yesteryear

Unfortunatly information on these cameras is usualy scarce unlike Leica's or Rollies but they are probably the most important in the history of Photography

 

The Brownie Flash 111 is another version of the six -20 similar (if not the same mechanically to the model F above ) not exactly rare but they were made in 1958 the last brownie box was the Flash model 11 in Australia 1962 The rare box brownie was the one with Micky Mouse on the facia The most desirable of the rest was the beau which was art deco in design on the facia

You can still download the manuals for most Brownies

 

Information is scarce on the Gevaret 144 classed as a toy camera from 1965 but that seems unfair

Information is also scarce on the Halina  it is from 1971 Very little is said about the electronic eye (I will search more later) but it would seem to be an automatic exposure control but thats very subjective

controlling the shutter speed.It could be something very much simpler

One source said it controlled the focus by the iso The only problem there is iso wasnt recognised in 1971 all films were ASA and if you constantly altered the asa on a film you would have one grand time developing the film and this is not to mention the link between asa and focus ???

Does it still work I think it takes 2x AAA batteries, if you are curious it might be worth sticking 2 in and trying to figure out what it does  

 

I dont collect cameras they seem to follow me home

[fuzzyedges]

Further reading suggests it has a light sensitive transister possably a bc107 used for auto exposure

I would (and this is a guess) think it adjusts shutter speed as the asa for the film is set, the aperture would be ackward to alter  and probably costly for a relativly cheap camera but an electronic timer for shutter speed would be easy for the electronics of 1971 in Hong Kong. Hence the fancy term computer

 

more reading

Here is thanks to all those folk out there that seem to know

The front shutter is probably released by small electro magnets and the trannsister cct works out the time from the available light before releasing the back shutter

Edited June 15, 2013 by fuzzyedges

[colinb]

Hi Fuzzy -interesting stuff and thank you for taking the time to post it.

I did wonder if the computer/electronic eye might have referred to the flash with the electronic eye deciding if there was enough light or to fire the flash  As for the Gevaret it is certainly not a nice camera to hold in your hands and does feel very 'plasticky' unlike the brownie which does and makes you almost want to cuddle it and I'm now going and find the manual to download, who knows maybe even stick a roll of film in there too. 

Keep posting pictures of the old un's

[fuzzyedges]

Look on here for manual

 

http://www.browniecamera.nl/brownie_user_manuals.htm  Its free

 

I cant decide what the shutter is in your halina If it still works is there any chance you can have a look

 

The aperture cant be altered on the lens can it? Its hard to tell from all the photos of it on the web

 

Manual for Halina here but £3 for 1 page seems a little expensive

 

http://www.oldtimercameras.com/manuals/Halina-Easy-Matic-camera-manual-4416.asp

Edited June 15, 2013 by fuzzyedges