# The Brownie Target 620



## smithdan (Aug 7, 2019)

Zulu42's recent post on that mint Target 620 prompted me to check back aways to see if I had ever posted anything on mine.  A friend had one gathering dust so we made up a plan to go on a shoot. 






John became too busy over the last year so our plans got put on hold.   I did however take mine out last summer and previous late winter, developed and scanned the roll and then forgot it.

Here's what to expect from this Brownie.   It's non adjustable except for a choice of two apertures so  optimum lighting conditions give better results.

Late winter day around here with characteristic Chinook clouds




Stavely Hotel




Old gas station








...and as a comparison,  what this one sees when the light isn't right.


----------



## otherprof (Aug 7, 2019)

smithdan said:


> Zulu42's recent post on that mint Target 620 prompted me to check back aways to see if I had ever posted anything on mine.  A friend had one gathering dust so we made up a plan to go on a shoot.
> 
> View attachment 177811
> 
> ...


Interesting post!


----------



## Dean_Gretsch (Aug 7, 2019)

I'd say those are pretty darned good!


----------



## Jeff15 (Aug 7, 2019)

Very good results for such a camera..............


----------



## smithdan (Aug 7, 2019)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> I'd say those are pretty darned good!


Thanks Dean.     Reload that Ansco with no faster than 100-125 ISO/ASA,  put black electrical tape over the red window and hide from direct light when advancing frames,  take it out on a sunny/cloudy bright day and shoot 8!


----------



## zulu42 (Aug 7, 2019)

Hey, that's really neat. Thanks for posting! I'm getting inspired to shoot mine now.

How are your viewfinders? Can't really see anything through mine, and they don't look like they could be cleaned.
Did you experiment with both aperture sizes?

Thanks again


----------



## smithdan (Aug 7, 2019)

zulu42 said:


> Hey, that's really neat. Thanks for posting! I'm getting inspired to shoot mine now.
> 
> How are your viewfinders? Can't really see anything through mine, and they don't look like they could be cleaned.
> Did you experiment with both aperture sizes?
> ...



The viewfinders on mine are still bright.   Some of my other boxes are bleary mostly due to the silvering inside flaking off so attempting to clean them wouldn't fix anyway.  luckily you should see enough to aim,  if not just point and crop. You're working with a big negative. 

I shot these on the larger (tab in) f8-11 aperture.  It was a bright day with intermittent sunlight.  The smaller (F16 ish) according to Kodak was suggested for snow and beach scenes.  with 125 DIN and a shutter speed of around 1/50 sec there wouldn't be much noticable difference with a broad latitude film like FP4 anyway especially given the IQ of the single element lens.

Just now tried to get a 120 spool to fit by taking the spring out.  Looked promising but the tiny bit extra length made it too tight to turn even with a gentle tweak to try and bend the metal a bit.  Best treat yourself to a 620 size roll.  Hopefully there is a 620 spool inside the camera for the takeup side.  If you don't process yourself, bug the lab guys making sure you get the spool back.


----------



## Derrel (Aug 7, 2019)

I would love to hear the description of the clouds. Chinook is a town in Washington state near the mouth of the Columbia river (where it enters the Pacific ocean): Chinook is the name of the group of native American tribes, and the name of a widely-spoken native language;Chinook is also one of the five species of Pacific salmon.   Your post is the very first I've ever seen of a type of cloud they were referred to as a"chinook cloud".


----------



## smithdan (Aug 8, 2019)

Derrel said:


> I would love to hear the description of the



"Chinook cloud"  is a local colloquial term for the  "chinook arch"  or more correctly termed "fohn arch" cloud pattens that form when the strong southwest warming winds characteristic to the area along the East slopes of the Rockies from Calgary to mid Montana blow.  The good folks at Wikipedia  have an interesting and comprehensive entry on the subject.  They explain much better than I  can the derivation of the name referencing the fact that the Chinook people are coastal.


----------



## webestang64 (Aug 8, 2019)

Those shots look fantastic.


----------

