# Three Generations of Cameras



## 480sparky (Apr 3, 2015)

Well, the set is complete! I found my dad's old rangefinder a few years back and added it to my 'collection' of cameras. 

Last year, I began to wonder what kind of camera my grandfather used.  I knew it was most likely some sort of consumer-grade Kodak, but I couldn't nail down exactly which model.  About a month ago, I asked my dad what kind of camera his dad used.  All he could remember was it was a Kodak.  Two of his bothers only remembered 'he had a camera'. 

An aunt described it as "being so tall, with a 'draw-bridge' that came down and the lens rolled out onto it."  Hmmm.  I was no closer to my answer.

Then I talked to the oldest of the five.  He said, "Well, I don't remember off-hand, but if you give me some time, I can tell you _exactly_ what it was."  Turns out, he had it tucked away.  After a few phone calls and his sending me some cell-phone shots of it, I knew exactly which camera my grandfather used.  My uncle was unwilling to part with it, despite it being unusable (bellows coating was missing, and the shutter didn't fire).  But with the exact model number in hand, I went shopping on ebay.  Last week, I found a working copy of that exact same camera.... A Kodak 3A Folding Pocket Camera Model C.  Note... it's not the Autographic version.

It arrived today.  So, here........ in all their splendor.......... is *three generations of cameras*.







The Kodak 3A (ca. 1903-1915), my dads' Tenax Automatic (ca. 1960) and my Nikon D600.



And yes........ I'm going to convert the Kodak to accept 120 film!  Stay tuned!


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## Designer (Apr 3, 2015)

See if your uncle will give you a print and/or negative that was shot with the 3A.


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## 480sparky (Apr 3, 2015)

Designer said:


> See if your uncle will give you a print and/or negative that was shot with the 3A.



I have over 1200 negs and 800 prints taken with it.


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## gsgary (Apr 3, 2015)

Shame about the one far right other 2 look great


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## ByronBrant (Apr 3, 2015)

My my!! What a big camera you have there.


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## Gary A. (Apr 3, 2015)

Nice, materially and sentimentally.


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## 480sparky (Apr 3, 2015)

Since I already had the design of the 120 conversion engineered, I went ahead and bought some of the goodies to make it happen after supper tonight.  Stopped by the hardware store for a 1¼" dowel for the spool adapters, and the office supply store for a thick presentation folder to make a new film gate.








The first thing I did was tear off all the un-needed clear plastic parts of the folder, as well as the 3-ring binder loops.








That left me with plenty of plain stock to make a new film gate, and enough to make more if I make a mistake or want to make another format.  I chose 6x7 since that will be the same as my RB67.

Cutting the plastic to size was easy with a rotary cutter.








What took a bit more time (and finesse!) was laying out the 6x7 cutout.  But with a calculator and double-checking, it's fairly simple.








One last check to make sure everything is in place.....








Then use the utility knife with a new blade, next to a metal ruler, to cut out the 6x7cm opening.








Violá!  One new film gate.


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## vatkin.leo (Apr 4, 2015)

I have so many of these old beautiful Cameras. Am following your post with excitement.!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Derrel (Apr 4, 2015)

What's the situation with the red window for film advance and the numbers on the paper backing? Will you need to cut a new hole in the back of the camera so the film advance numbers are visible with the smaller film size/area? How will that work out? What's the engineering solution? I'm not that familiar with how the various issues all interact on converting from that old monstrously-sized film to the smaller 120 picture area.


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## Designer (Apr 4, 2015)

Count the turns and hope for the best?


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

Derrel said:


> What's the situation with the red window for film advance and the numbers on the paper backing? Will you need to cut a new hole in the back of the camera so the film advance numbers are visible with the smaller film size/area? How will that work out? What's the engineering solution? I'm not that familiar with how the various issues all interact on converting from that old monstrously-sized film to the smaller 120 picture area.



The film counter window will be covered up as it will be right along the edge of the 120 film, thus exposing the edge.



Designer said:


> Count the turns and hope for the best?



Pretty much it.  I have some spare spools and paper backing I'll run through and count the number of turns needed to get past the tape at the start of the roll, then how many turns it takes to advance to the next frame.  I figure I should get at least 8 frames per 120 roll, maybe 9.


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## Derrel (Apr 4, 2015)

Designer said:


> Count the turns and hope for the best?



I had considered that idea, such as making a small "surround" for the winding key, and indexing it with say 20 small numbers or marks, and then just literally taking a roll of film and test-advancing it and taking note of the number of turns and fractions of turns needed as a roll progresses...I think there's probably enough film for maybe a quarter inch of room between frames on one or two shots, and a bit less space on the remainder, so the wind-and-count method could probably be accurate enough to, generally, keep the frames from overlapping. I was just sort of wondering if 480sparky had arrived at some awesome shade tree camera modding method on this. Like I said, I am not really familiar with the engineering on stepping down in camera format/film size on a machine like this.


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

Derrel said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > Count the turns and hope for the best?
> ...



After lunch, I'll take a spool with backing paper and start running it though to come up with a workable system.  It will most likely be "Advance the arrow to here, put the back on, and turn the crank x turns.  Then x turns for each frame."


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## Designer (Apr 4, 2015)

The film will likely move farther as the take-up spool begins to accumulate some diameter.


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

Designer said:


> The film will likely move farther as the take-up spool begins to accumulate some diameter.



That's a given.  That's why I'm planning on leaving a generous space between frames and figuring 8 frames.


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

Well, here's the result:

Load film, and bring the double arrow to the first edge of the _original_ film gate.  Attach back and turn the crank 7½ turns.  That advances the beginning of the film to just past the opening of my _modified_ film gate and allows for the tape that attaches the film to the paper backing.  After the first 3 frames, turn the crank 2 full turns.  After that, 1½ turns.  That should net me 9 frames on a roll of 120.

Now to run an actual roll through it and do an acid test.


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## tirediron (Apr 4, 2015)

I'd use film; acid might be hard on the camera.


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## PWhite214 (Apr 4, 2015)

I am looking forward to seeing the results.  Excellent work on the conversion.

Phil


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

1 roll has been run through.  I know I screwed up the first frame by forgetting to advance the film, so it will be a double exposure.

There's no interlocks on this. It'll just take some time to get used to that.

Time to start cooking the soup.........


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

Just ran a roll through 'er!  As expected, the first frame is a double-exposure.  I also advanced the film twice by accident.  But I figured 2 full turns of the film advance between the first 3 frames, then 1½ after that.... looks like it will net me 8 frames.


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

OK, here's some of the results:


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## smithdan (Apr 4, 2015)

Pretty good guess on the film advance.  Expected bit better sharpness though.  wonder if the lens elements are seated correctly.

Watching this with interest sparky.  Have a Butcher 3a Carbine that would take the same treatment.


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## 480sparky (Apr 4, 2015)

It could simply be missed focus.  The only way to focus is to preset a small gauge, then run the lens up to it.  And that gauge is adjustable, so it may not be accurate.  I'll have to figure out a way to put a make-shift groundglass in to check it.


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## smithdan (Apr 4, 2015)

Tape a piece of wax paper on the film plane, works like ground glass.  Tape measure off different distances to a bright object like a desk lamp and set things from there.


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## ByronBrant (Apr 6, 2015)

Testing


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## 480sparky (Apr 6, 2015)

Well, I found a source for the 122-120 spool adapters.

Stuff

So I ordered a set (of 4) and they're on the way here!


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## Allenkerky (Apr 20, 2015)

It would be pretty cool to take a picture of something, same shot, with each camera. Might interesting to see the differences.


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## 480sparky (Apr 20, 2015)

Allenkerky said:


> It would be pretty cool to take a picture of something, same shot, with each camera. Might interesting to see the differences.



That's the plan.... just waiting for the trees to leaf out.


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## TheDrumsTheDrums (May 7, 2015)

Thats a good idea, you should deffo leave a healthy space between frames and fig8frams


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