Somebody got new cameras!!!

jeffreaux2

...and I have to say I haven't been this excited about new gear in a VERY long time.


...but it's not what you think!!! :wink


Last week I did a quick run through some local antique stores looking for a pair of chairs that I could use for on location shoots. I didn't want to pay much...I plan to paint one red...one black....and bring them for clients to use......like this....

...anyway...that chair already belongs to me, and since the prices...for what I wanted...was too much for the chairs, I decided to skip them for now. I was leaving the store when I spotted a case containing some old cameras. The clerk unlocked the case and let me fondle them awhile, and after a bit of a struggle over whether to buy two...or three of them I paid my $40 - for both cameras.

Of the two, one seemed to function, and was very clean inside. The other had a non-functioning shutter, some rust, but also had a flash attatchment and pristine leather case. I figured the one good camera plus the accesories from the other would make for a fun display on my desk.

But curiosity got the better of me after realizing the one with the broken shutter was the better of the two since it had a multiple optic shooting lens AND an adjustable aperture. Both have fixed shutter speeds.


So...I dismantled it...not knowing whether Id get it back together or not, and went through the entire workings of it. The shutter is now fully functional on both cameras. I removed all the rust out of the one camera, and repainted the inner film bay as well as the aperture which was also rusted. I cleaned all the glass, mirror, viewfinder, etc. I only had a few parts left over after reassembly....the innards of a mechanism that locks the shutter until the film is advaced to prevent double exposure. This was undoubtedly optional and not even included on one of the cameras.


Anyway here they are....I can wait to load them with film and shoot some medium format funky goodness.....:D

The pair.... Kodak Duaflex II's. The one on the right is the one that needed so much work. The shutter mechanism came to life after a two hour bath in WD40 and about a zillion "forced" actuations. It works great now....no sticking.

They have waist level viewfinders. A square glass that looks onto a mirror and then out the upper front "viewing lens. The "taking" lens is the lower one on front and is the one that focuses the image onto the film pane. I did a half baked focus check with toilet paper stretched over the film spools while holding the shutter open. The best I can tell...without running film through it is that it's about a half foot off......but close enough at F8 Max!:rofl

The film compartment I repainted. Not too shabby.

...and yes I do plan to run film through them....for the fun and discovery of it....but I also had an ulterior motive for the purchase of this particular type of camera.....

This is called TTV, or "through the viewfinder" photography...and this shot is my very first attempt. I shot it by using my Canon 50D and 17-55mm F2.8IS lens to aim straight down through a tube of flat black cardboard and out the viewfinder of one of the old cameras....thus....a digital capture through the viewing lens of a Duaflex. A shoddy example here...as I really need a true macro lens to do it properly. Stay tuned on that!

More on the Duaflex Cameras here.... http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Kodak_Duaflex

...and the TTV Pool on Flickr...these folks are ultra creative! http://www.flickr.com/groups/ttvphotography/pool/

ziggy53

Those cameras use type 620 film. It's very similar in size to 120 type film but uses a different film reel. If you have 2 - 620 reels you can reload some 120 film onto one reel and then reel it onto the second 620 reel, ultimately deloading it back to the 120 reel after finishing the roll.

You might consider shooting a plain white wall through the viewfinder and then using that as a Photoshop mask for other images shot with your modern digital cameras. Image manipulation can create a similar image "look" to the "TTV" technique while preserving more image detail.

Lots of fun and thanks for sharing.

jeffreaux2

ziggy53 wrote:

Those cameras use type 620 film. It's very similar in size to 120 type film but uses a different film reel. If you have 2 - 620 reels you can reload some 120 film onto one reel and then reel it onto the second 620 reel, ultimately deloading it back to the 120 reel after finishing the roll.

You might consider shooting a plain white wall through the viewfinder and then using that as a Photoshop mask for other images shot with your modern digital cameras. Image manipulation can create a similar image "look" to the "TTV" technique while preserving more image detail.

Lots of fun and thanks for sharing.

Hey thanks for the info Ziggy...and you are right on target. The only big difference between 620 and 120 is indeed the spool, and a 120 spool won't fit in this camera. Both cameras did have a spool though so I have two. BH Photo actually sells 620 film. It is, I think (?) , 120 film with the spools cut down to fit in a 620 bay. It's a bit pricey though...I am still shopping. A film bag and the method you described might be the ticket.

I just need to stay on top of getting those spools back after developing!

craig_d

Very cool. I look forward to seeing what you can do with these old cameras.

I still have a Canon EOS 100 Elan film SLR, but it's sort of annoying to use because the surface of the grip has decayed into a weird sticky substance that I dislike touching. I've been thinking of picking up a used Nikon FE or something of that sort, with which I could use my Nikon lenses without needing mount adapters.

Emancipator

Wow! Great finds. After all this hype for the next best thing its nice to see some antiquity finding some skill to. Congrats!

run_kmc

I like the abbreviated Sunny 16 guide underneath the lens.

jeffreaux2

run_kmc wrote:

I like the abbreviated Sunny 16 guide underneath the lens.

Those are the seops for the three position aperture....which is a very simple affair. It is a round disk with a screw through the center ro allow rotation. The upper half has three holes drilled for F8, F11, and F16. The bottom half of the disk has a bent tab that juts out of the slot below the lens to allow for adjustments. In this camera, the aperture (among other things) was a messof rust and grime. It was easy enough to sand off, but then had to repaint that upper half a non reflective black.

The second camera has no such adjustment. A change of film, to a higher or lower speed rating, was required if the weather changed!:D

Tango

cool, it drives me crazy not knowing what happend to mine when I was a kid...(of course I didnt use it as a cmaera, I used it as a submarine pariscope or super secret spy equipment):D

l.k.madison

Hmmm... so THOSE Duaflex Kodaks that were on the same shelf as the Brownies I got for Christmas? Gotta love that shopping spot, eh? Hubby remembers seeing those, "Those things were held together by rust" he says.

Seems like I need to steal some of the hubby's Medium Format film and go shooting while the weather's this nice!

skips-photography

very kool now i have to go look, i think i might have one of those