The "C21 Pentagram" Photo Filter

Click for the Flickr set.

My photos of the Space Needle just came back and the Kodak Vest Pocket has once again opened a portal back in time.  The Space Needle was built for the 1962 "Century 21" world's fair, by the "Pentagram Corporation."  When the digital crowd asks what filter I used to get the effect, I'm going to tell them it's called "C21 Pentagram."

Loading 35 mm Film into a 126 Cartridge

A friend picked up a Kodak Instamatic 404 for me, a while ago.  It uses 126 film cartridges, which are 35 mm (-ish) film inside a sealed, easy-to-load cartridge.  Off I went to eBay, and found a used roll for ten dollars including shipping.

Fused spots.  Click for full size.

Pulling the cartridge apart is the hardest bit.  I found a great post on how to do it.  You'll need to twist, tease, and pry it apart.  The two halves of my Kodacolor II cartridge were glued/fused at four points inside, two on each side.  Pictured at right, the arrows are pointing to those spots, which may help you do it yourself.

With the cartridge eviscerated, I taped the start of some 35 mm film to the take-up spool and got to work in the changing bag.  I pulled out an arm's length of film, cut it, and rolled it up loose.  I wrangled the take-up spool into the big side, and held the loose roll in the small side, then snapped the cartridge back together.

Ready for the changing bag!

I'm assuming the Instamatic is reasonably light-tight once it's closed.  So rather than try to tape-up the edges of the cartridge -- so I could load a camera in daylight -- I just added the camera to my changing bag, dropped in the cartridge, and closed the camera's door.

As detailed in a fantastically technical post, there are some interesting differences between the teeth on 35 mm film and the "notches" on actual 126 film.  In short, the camera will think it has advanced a whole frame, before it's actually done it.  So, for each picture I took, I advanced the film, then held my hand over the lens and took a blank shot, so I could advance a second time.

The resulting photos are pretty gnarly.  For one thing, I was using 400 speed film in a 100 speed camera.  For another, the tape I put over the frame-count window on the cartridge was obviously not opaque enough.  Armed with these data, I think the next roll is going to be better.

First Roll on the Agfa Isoflash Rapid

I picked up an odd little Agfa camera, the Isoflash Rapid, a while ago.  It uses two canisters that hold 35 mm film, but that lack winding spools.  The advancing teeth pull film out of one cartridge and sort of "shove" it into the receiving side.  There's a fantastic write-up at lomography that goes into all the details of Agfa's Rapid brand.

I only have the "take up" canister, and a 35mm canister is slightly too tall to just remove the spool part and drop in.  What I did was get the camera and a roll of Ilford XP2 Super into a changing bag and improvise.  I pulled out some XP2 and cut it off.  I stuck a half-inch or so into the take-up canister.  Then I just rolled up the rest of the film and put it, un-canistered, on the other side.  I shut the camera, and hoped it would feed the loose film into the canister properly.

Click for the Flickr Set

Mechanically, it ended up working just fine.  After I'd shot the roll, I threw the camera into my changing bag and rolled the film into an empty 35mm canister for its trip to the lab.  Naturally, the camera wasn't built for 400 speed film, so the film got totally cooked.  But the camera does function, and my film kludge did work.  The results are in a Flickr set.

Whitehouse Beacon II

This is the Whitehouse Beacon II.  I'd never even heard of the Whitehouse company, but it was President's Day, so I had to get it.  Manufacturing spanned 1947 to 1955 -- that's Truman and a little Eisenhower.

It's got a fixed aperture of f/11, and the shutter is something like 1/50 of a second.  This is the early model, which includes a manual shutter option that was absent on the later versions.  (I blame Ike.)  I took it to Drink & Draw to shoot a roll of Rollei Crossbird slide film on it.  At ISO 200, the shutter times were around two seconds.  We'll see what happens!

Kodak Baby Brownie

I picked up this little Kodak Baby Brownie last week.  It came in a pair, with a Baby Brownie Special.  I'm trying the "non-Special" first.

The great copypaste feedback loop that is the Internet suggests it's got a fixed aperture of f/11.  And the shutter speed is "around" one fortieth of a second.  This is the domestic model, sold between 1934 and 1941.  An export model was created later, which offered a manual shutter mode.  (Sold in the UK between 1948 and 52.)

It takes 127 format film, and I've just shot a roll of efke 100 on it in bright sunlight.  My light meter -- given f/11 on 100 speed film -- varied between recommending 1/125 and 1/8 shutter speeds as I tried a few different lighting conditions.  We'll see what comes out!

Sekonic Elmatic 8

This is the Sekonic Elmatic 8 motion picture camera.  It was a couple bucks at a swap meet.  The mechanical stuff all seems to run fine, so I've shot a roll of regular 8 mm film on it.  It's tricky to get this format developed, (Yale is widely recommended.) so it'll be a little time before I get to see if the ugly beast is actually functional.

Come to think of it, I'm going to need a projector.  This could be interesting.

Tru-Vue Junior 3-Dimension Viewer

I picked up this Tru-Vue stereo image viewer at a photography swap meet event.  It was dirt cheap.  It's for image pairs laid-out in a rectangular format, where you slide a card up and down to see different images in a sequence.

My thought is that I can print up Sputnik image pairs on transparency paper, in the right layout to work with this viewer.   It might also come in handy for looking at "proofs" of viewmaster shots, somehow.  A quick scan and print, and it'd be much easier to "preview" my shots without having to actually punch 'em out and stuff 'em into a real reel.

Eastman Kodak Shutter

I picked up an old Kodak shutter the other day.  I don't know what it wants to be when it grows up, but it's got a really nice look to it.  I might try to attach a servo to the aperture adjustment bits and see if it can add some "feeling" to a project somewhere.  Okay, so maybe I'd better finish the Voight-Kampff machine first...

A Few More Ilford Films

Trying out some new film.  I'm kinda stuck on Ilford these days .. you kinda never forget your first love.  It's all 120 format .. dunno which camera I'll put it in.  Maybe the Brownie Hawkeye would like a little field trip.  I'm gonna be especially interested to play with the SFX, which is infrared.  The messed up lens on the Hawkeye might be *just* the thing to complement that.

Film Rescue International

Film Rescue International just finished resurrecting an antique roll of 127 film for me!  It required a developing process that the dinosaurs used before they went extinct.  And I'd totally exposed half of it to indoor sunlight.  They still managed to coax a few shots off the thing.  These people are awesome!

You know, this is one of those awesome things about the modern individual's ability to communicate globally.  Big service bureaus need to do the one-size-fits-most thing, to be financially stable at scale.  But a handful of specialists, when they're the *only* people who can do the job, are able to make a living collecting bunches of small orders from the entire world.

This is very kewl stuff.  I'm curious to see where else the model can be applied to keep "dead" technologies alive.  Throw in some desktop 3D printers, scanned service manuals, a wiki, and now you've got all sorts of possibilities!

First Roll on the Superheadz Blackbird-fly

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I shot a roll of Fuji Velvia 100 on the new Blackbird-fly dual-lens reflex.  (Actually, a couple of the photos were taken by my friends.)  Here's what came out.

It looks like I need to give it a little more time in the low-light situations.  I usually add about 50% on top of whatever my light meter tells me .. but I think I need to multiply by two (at least) for this one.  Full sunlight looks okay, but I think that also needs more light.

Next roll, I think I'll try either setting it to the "overcast" setting in full sunlight, or multiplying by two when I do low-light shots.  Actually, I'm thinking I'll multiply by three.  This'll be a neat one to mess with.

Kodak Vest Pocket with Kodak Portra 160

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Here's another roll on the Kodak Vest Pocket camera -- this time with Kodak Portra 160 print film in it.  I think we might have a winner.  Despite all the shots being totally light-leaked upon, this film really seems to suit the li'l guy.  The true winners are the indoor shots, where I had to make multi-second exposures.  The color is just fantastic, and the leaked light only adds character.

This roll was a single-variable experiment.  I'd taped over the window that shows the frame I'm on.  It looks more like the light is leaking in along the panel that opens to let you load and unload film rolls.  I'm gonna keep the frame window taped up, and I'll also tape around the panel for the next roll.  I just ordered more Kodak Portra 160 .. so it'll take a couple weeks to get the next batch of experiment data back.

Two Rolls on the Kodak Vest Pocket

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I got back the two rolls we shot on the Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic camera.  One's Efke R 100 black and white.  The other is Rollei Crossbird 200 color slide film.  I think I like the character of the color roll, which is a new brand to me.  I'll need to try some in another camera to see how much is the film and how much is the camera.  It looks like it's the film.

As you may have noticed, there's a bit of a light issue going on.  The baffles on the thing seem to be in one piece.  The shutter also looks pretty good.  The design of the Autographic model includes a nice wide door on the back .. so I might be taping over that for the next roll.  And the window for looking at the frame number is generous.  Plus, it was a very bright couple of days.  It's also really hard to get the film in the camera in the first place.  (Now I'm just making excuses.)

Click for Flickr Set

With the handful of variables, this is gonna be a really interesting experiment.  Testing one of the easier theories first, I'll use a changing bag for the load and unload of the film.

Baby-Max Throws a Curveball

Okay, this one's gonna get interesting.  The Baby Max camera there, front and center, might take eight millimeter, or sixteen millimeter .. or something.  (17.5 mm?)  So I've started to create a foam insert for the old Holga to see if I can slice some 120 film *whey* down to whatever size the little guy wants.  And then there'll be a bunch of blind wrestling in a changing bag, too.

And who's going to process it?  I *think* the automatic machines can do just about any width, and I'm gonna use C-41 film to make it easier, but it's gonna be as much an adventure for my developer as it is for me.  Here we go!

More Shots on the Viewmaster Mark II

I shot another roll of slide film on the Viewmaster Mark II.  With the last roll, I hand-crafted some reels and chopped up the film in the process.  Briefly, what I did was scan an existing viewmaster reel, then print that on card stock.  I cut out frames on the cardstock reel with an exacto, then sliced up my film and taped it to the card.  This actually works surprisingly well.  Just slip it into a normal viewer carefully.

Click here for the Flickr set.

For this roll, I'm going to keep the film intact.  I'm pretty sure I can craft a viewer of my own that will let me slide the whole strip through it, with a mask that'll only show one pair at a time.  So instead of advancing the usual round disc to see frames, I'll slide the film one frame's width through the contraption.  It'll likely be totally hand-done, but if I get excited and try to 3D print it, I'll post the files for everyone to join in.

First Roll on the Coronet Three-D

Click here for the Flickr Set.

I just got back the first roll from my Coronet Three-D camera.  I'm kinda "meh" about it, but it could be my own fault .. I'm not subtracting the film's mask color correctly.  Also, it looks like this one prefers to be closer to the subject than my Sputnik does.

As you can tell from one or two pairs of frames, it likes to spontaneously fall apart.  Poof!  Playful little thing, that way..

Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic

Check out the new arrival, a Kodak "Vest Pocket" camera.  This is the "Autographic" style, which means there's a small door on the back, that you can flip open and write directly on the film backing (possibly score, instead, not sure yet).  It takes 127 film, and I've loaded a roll of the Efke R 100, black and white.

It's totally adorable .. the whole thing collapses down flat, so it can fit in your vest pocket.  For a time, it was sold as the "soldier's camera," because it was so portable.  Also, one of these seems to've gone to the top of Mt. Everest.

They were probably manufactured between 1915 and 1926.  Mine has all sorts of lists of the patents that it's covered under, and one of them is from Nov 8, 1921.  So I'm squarely between world wars.  (i.e. not much market for soldiers.)

Exposure is going to be interesting.  The pre-set shutter speeds are a twenty-fifth or fiftieth of a second.  There's a B setting.  The aperture isn't listed in f-stops tho .. a dial sets it between "portrait" and "clouds" sizes.  I'm shooting this first roll using the smallest aperture (clouds) and the fiftieth of a second shutter .. in bright sunlight.  I'll try some B shots, as well.  I love science (physics?) experiments!

Sputnik has Landed

привет товарищ!  This little moster is the Sputnik 3D camera, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.  It takes 120 film, which you load upside down and wind the "wrong" way.  The viewfinder is a top-down thing that unceremoniously pops up four separate spring-loaded metal pieces, which you fold back down one at a time.  There are no frilly American conveniences .. and yet everything is completely adjustable to your precise desire.

Click the portait over there, and revel in the detailed awesomeness.  Three gears around the eyes keep the focus in sync.  The bar under the lenses sets the aperture of both at once.  A manual lever cocks the shutter spring and another fires.  There's a delayed shutter feature, even.  A dial around the right eye sets shutter speed and displays the current f-stop.  Everything you need, with none of the corrupt western extras like batteries and cheery auto-everything modes.

.. first roll on Sputnik.

I've shot a roll of Ilford XP2 Super, to see how it functions.  I then used Anaglyph Workshop to combine the two eyes into red-blue composites, which works nicely.  My favorite shot is the kid by the fountain, but everyone else seems to like the hall of flowers interior.  You be the judge.

Agfa "Thing" Joins the Club

Time for another Five-Dollar Mystery!  This is an Agfa camera, and beyond that I've got no idea.  Yet.  On the outside, it's pretty simple.  There's a dial-up flash reflector dealie, you can switch between "outdoor" and "flash" modes, and that's pretty much it.

The insides are the interesting part.  It uses a "Rapid" film loading/winding system.  It seems like the thing requires you to have two canisters in there, and the camera has no rewind dial anywhere, which suggests the take-up is done into a second canister and that one is pulled out without rewinding.  That would explain the "Rapid" moniker.  On the back, they recommend Agfa AG-1B Blue or AG 1, when shooting with a flash.  And there's an empty battery compartment that I'll need to figure out.  This should be interesting!

Meet the Kodak Stereo Camera

Say hello to the Kodak Stereo Camera.  Handily, it takes 35 mm film.   Teh wikipedias say that these were manufactured between 1954 and 1959, and it's not the usual Kodak "just point and shoot." Mere mortals are allowed to adjust aperture, focus (close ups, groups, or scenes) and shutter speed.

Do not drop it!  You won't harm this hulk of a camera .. but you might fracture a toe.

..click here for the first roll.

To see what it can do, I shot a roll of Fuji Provia 100 slide film.  The results suggest that full daylight is definitely the best.  Tho I can coax better low-light performance out of it, now that I've seen my first tries.  Oh, and it looks like this one exposes the left eye just a tad more than the right.  "We'll fix it in post."