Nostalgia

Photo of the week #12: This week's photo is one that I've been trying to find the time to take for the last few months. It was taken using my Grandmother's Kodak Junior 620, which is an antique (c. 1935-1937) folding type camera that cost approximately $13.50 USD when new. Unfortunately, it's no longer possible to purchase the 620 film that was originally used by this camera. Luckily though, the currently available 120 film works great after a slight modification. Both 620 and 120 films come rolled on reels with the only difference between the two being the diameter of the reel. In order to prepare the 120 film to be used with this camera, all we had to do was unroll the film from the larger diameter 120 reel and roll the film back onto a 620 reel (thanks for the help Geoff!). I developed the film myself at home (with more help from Geoff) and then scanned the negatives. This was the first shot that I took with the camera while we were taking a walk around Bowring park on Saturday:

The camera was a very interesting one to use. Back when this camera was the norm, it was definitely necessary for even the most amateur photographer to know quite a bit more about photography that what most current point and shoot users know today. The camera is fully manual. This means that in order to get a proper exposure you need to be able to set the correct aperture and shutter speed (I cheated a bit by taking test shots with my DSLR). You then need to focus the camera by choosing a setting based on the estimated distance to your subject. The camera also has very limited low-light capabilities, which is why I decided to test it at the park on a sunny day. In order to frame a shot, you have to look down on a small view-finding lens on the side of the camera. Even though this viewfinder is actually quite clever, it was fairly challenging to keep the shots level and properly arranged. These are a few shots that I took of the camera itself while at home, using my homemade lightbox:

Finally, here are the other shots that I took with the camera. By today's standards, these pictures aren't particularly well exposed and the focus isn't even close to what I expect from my DSLR. But, when you consider the fact that this camera is very likely 75 years old I think it's quite amazing how well this camera has held up: