"New" (or returning) to film via 120/620

bazzmund · Nov 9, 2016

Hello to everyone out there!

First things first I'm new to the forum but thought I would join up for some advice and to show my first steps in "retro" photography. Me and my fiancee have come into ownership of a '50s vintage Kodak Brownie Flash IV which we found clearing out my late grandmothers flat and decided to see if it was working. Mechanically it was in good condition with just a little cosmetic damage (we think it was last used for a summer holiday to Devon in the late 60s/early 70s then put away for good until a month ago). We got some 120 film and did the long winded "file and cut" method to the spool until it fitted well enough. It came with us to Coventry for a weekend so we clicked and waited.

We brought it back to Wales with us and I took the film of EIGHT(!!!!!!!!!) pictures to be stabilized. I was told that getting prints off the negatives would be "difficult but possible" (ie expensive). I downloaded software onto my phone to allow me to scan the negatives.

Just for comparison here is a digital and film shot of the same subject

As this is our first attempt we are open to advice/criticism. We already have our second roll of film ready to test out!

photo1x1.com · Nov 9, 2016

I didn´t shoot film for quite some time, and I´m not the biggest film-fan to be honest. But if you want to print more often, I´d consider using black and white film and getting an enlarger off of ebay. Then you could develop your own film and enlarge the film instead of print it. That´s some fun and might in the end be the cheaper option. but to be honest I don´t know much anymore about all the darkroom stuff - how to get and what to buy, what the price is,.... Color Film is more difficult when it comes to developing, etc..
The first image looks a little as if the film was old when you bought it, but it has its charme

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john.margetts · Nov 9, 2016

Getting prints made from 120/620 film is both easy and cheap. If you go somewhere that uses a mini-lab for developing film, their machine will include a scanner which will give you excellent prints. It cost me (at Snappy Snaps in Lincoln) less than £10.00 for developing, prints and a CD of standard resolution scans.

vintagesnaps · Nov 9, 2016

I have that camera but haven't used it in a long time. It was the last of the Brownie box cameras and has actual settings! which can be adjusted. You might need to adjust the camera settings differently - isn't there an aperture lever that you pull out to change to a smaller or larger aperture?

Usually with vintage cameras I use a film speed that would have been made when the camera was manufactured. So using older cameras I usually go with 100 ISO.

You might try taking a picture of something and then change the aperture, then take a picture at that setting - take a picture at each setting. Write down what you did so you can see what worked better.

You might also need a meter. If nothing else, I've sometimes used another camera to meter a scene to help me decide how to set a camera like the Brownie.

I would also try using it in nice even light, maybe a sunny day facing away from the sun not into it (maybe in the shade or at least not midday). In the second one it looks like you were in a darker area facing out toward a bright area so the camera may not have been adjusted for those conditions. I just find older cameras do better in decent light rather than low light or mixed lighting (in shade facing toward a sunny area).

Was this fresh film? the second image to me almost looks 'fogged' (which refers to old film that needs lots of light/longer exposures to record a decent image) but it could be just that the exposure was off. The first one on the right side made me wonder if there's a 'light leak'. You see that more with bellows that have deteriorated or plastic cameras that aren't light tight anymore along the seams.

I don't know if you'll get real good images from these negatives. In the process of developing color film the lab can adjust the machine (although much of that is automatic now). When you get film developed you can always get the negs scanned and then see if you can do some adjustment digitally with the scans. I've done B&W film darkroom work and found that it helps to get a good exposure and a negative that's not too thin or too dense; if it's too thin it's often a lost cause, if it's too dense I could keep zapping light thru it. But it's a lot less trouble to get a proper exposure in the first place.

Dave442 · Nov 9, 2016

My mom always said her Brownie had been her best camera. Sometimes I now wonder if that was because there was little to get in between her as the artist and the end result.

I must saw that the second image of the train has much better composition than the first. Although I expect the cell phone shot was just a quick snapshot, it just takes more time to take the shot with the Brownie so you probably took the time to better plan that shot.