Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash
12 26 Share TweetIf GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is a problem of yours as it is mine, then you must spend a lot of time on the lomography store website or ebay just looking and lusting after cameras. This beautiful, medium format, box camera caught my eye on ebay. It looked so cute and interesting and was selling for just $10. I couldn’t help myself and the rest as they say is history.
Manufactured during 1950-1960, this art-deco bakelite box camera is built to stand the test of time. Here are some of its specs:
- Lens: Fixed focus, 5 feet to infinity
- Shutter: Instantaneous (approximated to be 1/30) and "L’ (Long Exposure) settings
- View Finder: Waist-level
- Film: 620 film
How to load 120 film into the camera:
This camera actually comes with a caveat that it does not take 120 film. However, there is a way to load the camera with 120 film.
This camera has two film spool holders. The upper film spool holder can accommodate the 120 film spool while the lower one cannot. Use the 620 film spool that comes with the camera in the bottom holder. Once done with the roll, you can use a changing bag to move the film from one spool to the other. It’s better to move the film to the correct spool immediately to avoid mistakenly bringing it to the lab.
“L” Long Exposure Setting
For low light conditions, place the camera on a firm, solid support and lift the time slide found in the left side of the camera as shown above.
Take landscape pictures
Bring this camera along to exotic locations! It’s a bit bulky but still light compared to other vintage medium format cameras. You definitely won’t be disappointed with the results.
Take portraits
I love taking portraits of my friends. Plus it’s always fun to see a friend’s reaction upon seeing this camera for the first time.
Experiment with Lomo techniques
One of my favorite lomo techniques is taking multiple exposures. Since the winding of this camera is done manually, you can compose some pretty cool images. This is coincidentally listed as a “fumble” in the manual.
Another experiment I’d like to try is to load the camera with 35mm film. Still haven’t gotten around to doing that though.
Using the flash
While my camera package came complete with the flash bulbs, I still haven’t had the opportunity to test or use them. A flash bulb can only be used once so I’m procrastinating on using any of mine.
No doubt this is one beautiful, simple-to-use camera that can take some pretty gorgeous pictures. It’s a fun conversation starter as well. If you find yourself on ebay or any vintage camera store and see this camera or any of its relatives, don’t hesitate to get one for yourself. The results will surprise you!
For more information and the link to the manual you can go to: http://www.brownie-camera.com/27.shtml
written by tikayiyay on 2011-02-04 #gear #review #vintage #box-camera #lomography #kodak-brownie #user-review
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