The Vintage Camera Club Thread

[Two Gun Bob]

Hi folks,

There seems to be a fair bit of interest in using and collecting vintage cameras on here, so may I propose that we have a permanent thread for general discussion centring on cameras and other photographic equipment of the period 1900 - 1960, and photography and photographers of the same period?

May I further propose that we call this thread 'The Vintage Camera Club' as a camera users/collectors equivalent to all the 'hat club/group' threads already in existence for fans of specific makes/types of hat?

Posters in this thread would be considered 'club members' on that basis

How does that sound?

- TGB

 

[retrogirl1941]

Oh! Am I the first member?Here is my argus c-3 from the late 40's early 50's.

Samantha

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Hi Samantha,

Welcome to the club, as they say

The Argus C-3 is a good little camera, in fact I saw a US Army re-enactor carrying one at an event last Saturday.

Would this be your style, then?:

 

[retrogirl1941]

I think so. I take mine to reenactments despite it not being a correst camera for WWII or pre war reenacting(nobody knows the difference). I have been looking for a prewar camera but no luck yet.

Samantha

 

[Two Gun Bob]

I don't think there's too much difference with the later models, 99.9% of people wouldn't know the difference as you say.

The 1930s models do come up on eBay now and again, well worth keeping an eye out for one.

I think so. I take mine to reenactments despite it not being a correst camera for WWII or pre war reenacting(nobody knows the difference). I have been looking for a prewar camera but no luck yet.

Samantha

 

[freebird]

Argus "A"

Argus 75

Argus "A2B"

Argus C4

Agfa Billy? Not sure on this one.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

Yashica LM

 

[Doctor Strange]

I'm definitely up for this discussion, though I am not really an active collector, per se.

I grew up working in my parents' commercial photo studio, and have been hands-on with vintage camera equipment since the early sixties. Although I mostly shoot with my Minox subminis and Olympus 35mm cameras now (my own OM SLRs, and a Stylus Epic that my son gave back to me last year when I got him a digital camera), my folks' basement and garage are home to a wide variety of vintage cameras (not to mention a well-equipped, functioning studio and darkroom).

I'm talking a 4x5 Crown Graphic, 4x5 Graphic View II (plus other 4x5s and a couple of 5x7 and 8x10 view cameras), Yashica TLRs, a Mamiya RB67 (we had several Mamiyaflex TLRs before it), various old rollfilm folders, one or two stereo cameras, drawers full of old Polaroids and 8mm cameras given to us by folks cleaning out their houses, a Balda rangefinder, old Kodaks (Pony 828, Retina II, a Vest Pocket Autographic, a gorgeous art deco 616, assorted Instamatics), other miscellaneous 35mms, and a couple of outstanding Nikon F2s that I plan to use a lot more... someday.

Anyway, I have a lot of experience and knowledge after a lifetime in photography, and I still frequently shoot with old film cameras. But I am not big on digital or setting up Internet galleries (I don't own a digicam, though everybody else in my family does!), and thus can't point to lovely pages of pictures of all these antiques - that's a project for sometime down the road.

But I'm always up for discussing this stuff. Having learned photography back in the sixties from folks who had learned it the thirties/forties, I have the photographic perspective of someone far older than my chronological age!

 

[Eyemo]

Cool thread... Most of my vintage cameras are a bit...Batterd:eusa_doh: ..Anyone got a nice pre war Rolliflex to sell?..

 

[David Conwill]

My brother's very much into photography, but not really vintage cameras per se. However, a friend of his recently bought him an antique camera at a garage sale as a gift. It's about eight inches by three inches by one and one-half inches with an accordian type "boot" around the lense sticking out in front. Aside from a Speedgraphic with a big flashbulb housing, it's virtually everyone's image of an "antique camera." I have no idea of the brand, but I'll see if I can get some pictures of it next time I'm visiting him. It's pretty battered, can these things be restored with any ease?

Personally, I've been toying with the idea of picking up an old Kodak "Brownie" box camera like my grandfather carried during WWII, but I'm not sure what to look for or if I could even get film.

-Dave

 

[Doctor Strange]

You're describing a "folder" that's got bellows - there were hundreds of models of these, from dozens of manufacturers, made from the early 1900s until about 1960.

Re shooting oldies, the only kind of roll film that's still "widely" available is the 120 size. Many old box cameras and folders were designed for film sizes that are now long gone - 620, 616, 110, 127, 828, etc. (Yes, I know that there are boutique operations that spool obsolete film sizes, but they're obscure and expensive... and then getting these oddball film sizes developed, unless you're doing it yourself, is a pretty iffy proposition these days.)

Anyway, if you intend to shoot an old camera, vs. just putting it on the shelf as an art object, definitely stick to models that use 120 roll film (or 35mm, or 4x5 sheet film.)

 

[Eyemo]

Good advice there...I used to shoot out of date Polaroid film on the back of my Anniversary Graphic...got some great "Period" shots..

 

[Quigley Brown]

Here's a collage of some of my collection (some are duplicated for the photo).

[/IMG]

 

[Eyemo]

Hi Quigley,
Could you tell me what the attachment is on the side of the Rolleiflex..

 

[Quigley Brown]

Hi Quigley,
Could you tell me what the attachment is on the side of the Rolleiflex..

I think it's to attach a hand-held shutter release.

 

[Eyemo]

Let me know if you wish to sell/swap that Rollie..

 

[Two Gun Bob]

For users of old cameras in the USA it's worth noting that B&H can supplied a limited range of film in 110, 127, 620 and 828 (Bantam!) sizes!

See: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/336/Other_Film_Formats_110_127_620_828.html

But of course 35mm and 120 roll films are easiest to get from major photo retailers.

- TGB

You're describing a "folder" that's got bellows - there were hundreds of models of these, from dozens of manufacturers, made from the early 1900s until about 1960.

Re shooting oldies, the only kind of roll film that's still "widely" available is the 120 size. Many old box cameras and folders were designed for film sizes that are now long gone - 620, 616, 110, 127, 828, etc. (Yes, I know that there are boutique operations that spool obsolete film sizes, but they're obscure and expensive... and then getting these oddball film sizes developed, unless you're doing it yourself, is a pretty iffy proposition these days.)

Anyway, if you intend to shoot an old camera, vs. just putting it on the shelf as an art object, definitely stick to models that use 120 roll film (or 35mm, or 4x5 sheet film.)

 

[Two Gun Bob]

It's entirely possible to use old Kodak Brownies, though the older they are the lower the quality is likely to be because they use simple uncoated lenses.

Still, they can be fun, especially if you get one which uses 120 film as it is reasonably easy to get this. Use film no 'faster' than 125 ISO or even 50 ISO as these cameras were designed for 'slow' films, and use black and white rather than colour as the lenses are not corrected for colour.

To take the following photos I used a Kodak Box Brownie No.2 Model F, using 120 roll film taking 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" negatives (6cm x 9cm). No focus control (nominally 'sharp' from 12 ft to infinity), no shutter speed control (only 1/25 second or 'Time'), no double exposure prevention (key film wind with numbers in a red window!), exceedingly dim twin 'viewfinders' and the only method of adjusting to the subject brightness being a set of three 'waterhouse stops' in a sliding metal plate.

This camera was made in 1901 and still works!

Personally, I've been toying with the idea of picking up an old Kodak "Brownie" box camera like my grandfather carried during WWII, but I'm not sure what to look for or if I could even get film.

-Dave

 

[Quigley Brown]

It's entirely possible to use old Kodak Brownies, though the older they are the lower the quality is likely to be because they use simple uncoated lenses.

Still, they can be fun, especially if you get one which uses 120 film as it is reasonably easy to get this. Use film no 'faster' than 125 ISO or even 50 ISO as these cameras were designed for 'slow' films, and use black and white rather than colour as the lenses are not corrected for colour.

To take the following photos I used a Kodak Box Brownie No.2 Model F, using 120 roll film taking 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" negatives (6cm x 9cm). No focus control (nominally 'sharp' from 12 ft to infinity), no shutter speed control (only 1/25 second or 'Time'), no double exposure prevention (key film wind with numbers in a red window!), exceedingly dim twin 'viewfinders' and the only method of adjusting to the subject brightness being a set of three 'waterhouse stops' in a sliding metal plate.

This camera was made in 1901 and still works!

They really look authentic as if they were real snapshots taken by a WWII GI.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Seimon, you need one like this 1939 Rolleiflex New Standard.

This is one of the more affordable yet high quality models of the time. The taking lens is an uncoated Zeiss Tessar f3.5/75mm, Shutter: Compur - Rapid, 1 - 1/500 sec., T & B.

Not for sale, but they do come up on ebay now and then. Mine cost £70.

Cool thread... Most of my vintage cameras are a bit...Batterd:eusa_doh: ..Anyone got a nice pre war Rolliflex to sell?..

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Thanks QB, that was the object of the exercise

We often forget these days that in the 30s and 40s not everyone had cameras and most who had them used very simple box or folding cameras and the results were really very soft due to the fixed focus simple lenses.

The more upmarket folders and 35mm cameras (second half of the 30s onward) were the domain of the well-heeled amateur. This type of Brownie, taking 620 film, was typical of the 1930s art deco period, a significant step on from the 1901 Brownie 2:

They really look authentic as if they were real snapshots taken by a WWII GI.