Week 177 - Brownie Flash 20

Brownie Flash 20, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

I love the 1950s design of this camera, with its enormous flash reflector. It has a few minor sophistications that raise it above the minimum. There are three apertures, and a wind on system which doesn't require you to use the red window, other than to advance the film to the first frame.
The downside is that it takes 620 film, which is identical to 120 film, but on a slimmer spool, so you can't use ordinary 120 rolls in it. 620 film was discontinued some years ago, so the only way to use it is to respool some 120 onto a 620 reel, which is what I've done this week.

photo from week 176 - Ferrania Astor

decorated cow, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

Another indoor photo to take advantage of the reasonalbe specs of this camera. The film is slightly expired Kodak Ektar 100, and I was pleased with the sharpness of both the lens and the film. This was 1/25th second at f5.6

photo from week 176 - Ferrania Astor

reflected self portrait with Kodak Brownie 20 camera and purple silicone hat, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

I wanted to hand hold my mirror portrait, which meant using a large aperture, with its associated shallow depth of field. I used a tape measure to position myslef, and set the focus to the minimum, 1 metre (so I was 50cm from the mirror). There is a sharp zone, but its plane is behind the camera in this shot.

photo from week 176 - Ferrania Astor

charity emporium glassware, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

The Astor has a full range of shutter speeds, so by resting the camera on a shelf, I was able to use a slow speed, hals a second in this case. The shutter sticks below this speed, and the B setting doesn't work, but otherwise the camera performed pretty well.

Week 176 - Ferrania Astor

Ferrania Astor, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

Although it's rather battered, this camera generally works OK, though the "B" setting doesn't work, and the 1 second is very sticky. With the lens retracted, the camera is quite compact, and quicker and easier to get ready to shoot than a similar bellows camera would be.
I've loaded it with some slightly expired Kodak Ektar colour negative film.

photo from week 175 - Kodak Jiffy VP

metal staircases, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This might be the sharpest of the lot, but it's still pretty bad. Unfortunatley my reflected self-portrait this week was a complete failure, I suspect I left the shutter on instantaneous rather than "B"...

photo from week 175 - Kodak Jiffy VP

Park Hill, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

The results this week were pretty poor, none of them are really sharp, and most have evidence of camera shake, possibly the shutter is running a bit sluggishly making hand-holding more difficult, although the negs don't seem particularly over-exposed, so it may be my technique.