20 March 2009

Brownie diary (1)

In a recent post (and in another, further back, to which it referred) I mentioned my first camera: a Kodak Six-20 Brownie C.

That Brownie is responsible for the whole shape of my whole life. No, I don't mean a box shape ... a wonderfully, endlessly fractal, complex shape.

For many years, the Brownie was only a memory but, as chance would have it, the global tides of history and family movement have just cast it up again on my shores. There it is, on the left.

The 620 film format is lost in the mists of time, but the actual film stock is identical to 120 and 220 which are still available. I only have one 620 spool, which is a stumbling block. One spool is supposed to be in the camera, the film used to arrive wrapped on another. I have the one in the camera, but 120/220 film come on their own, differently designed core. It's not an insurmountable problem, and I shall have a roll of film in there one way or another ... but if you have a spare 620 spool (or even complete roll of film?) about your person, well, you know what to do!

In the mean time, I've chopped down some 5"×4" sheet film to the appropriate size, and painted home made emulsion onto some scraps of celluloid sheet. With black insulating tape over the film window, and a dark bag in tow, I shall sally forth to try my luck in single shot mode.

Watch this space for results.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had a Hawkeye.