Box Brownie help please

cambsno

cambsno

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Simon
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Picked up a couple of this and want to have a bit of fun with them.

I have pictured the opening with my Rolleicord as a comparison - the rollei has a 6cm x 6cm opening. The smaller one is 8cm x 5.5cm and the larger is about 10cm x 6cm. The smaller one is marked as a No.2 Brownie Model C with the larger being a 2A Brownie Model C No. 116

I see i can get an adapter for the 2A, with the other taking 120 film. How many images can I expect to get off the smaller one - 8 or 9?

Also, I think the shutter speed will be anything between 1/40 and 1/50 but no obvious way to tell. Am I correct that the aperture choices are 8/16/32 ?

Finally, should I cover the orange plastic view finder for the film number or is that lightproof enough?

IMG_3201 by Simon Owens, on Flickr
 
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It’s sometime since I had a play with kit like that but iirc the mod c will give you 8 frames of 6x9
The 2a will give I think 5 frames using an adapter for 120 film. You can simply use plastic rawl plugs!!
Apertures can vary but I would expect F/16, 22 & 32
Very unlikely to be F/8 and probably not F/ 11 either for the largest aperture.
Shutter speed 1/30 or 1/50.....
Film counter window should be ok as it is though don’t purposely face it to bright sunlight.
 
Re: film count window.
The old box camera my dad had and I used a good few times in my early years had a little slider to cover the orangey window....the idea being that you opened the slide, quickly wound on until the next number appeared then shut it.

But with the type of film having a relatively thick carrier paper, as mentioned the potential of fogging should be low.
 
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Box Brownie said:
Re: film count window.
The old box camera my dad had and I used a good few times in my early years had a little slider to cover the orangey window....the idea being that you opened the slide, quickly wound on until the next number appeared then shut it.

But with the type of film having a relatively thick carrier paper, as mentioned the potential of fogging should be low.
Click to expand...

Yeah some of the old cameras had a slider, I had several, both box and folders.

You can always keep your thumb over the window when the light is a tad bright and the camera tself in a bag or pocket when not being used as any stray light entry with a camera of that age isn't forced to only be throught the shutter count window
 
A write-up here on my No2 Model F...

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...enge-registration-thread.649482/#post-7772587

I don't think there's much difference between that and the Model C, other than the later one having a metal body (feels like thin steel under the leatherette covering). I've never had any issues with light leaking through the orange window (always used Acros in this camera), although I tend to keep it in the case between shots anyway.

Shutter speed of 1/50th is about right. I suspect the apertures are supposed to be f/16, f/22 and f/32, but after measuring and calculating, I got f/15, f/19 and f/35 - gaps of about 2/3 of a stop and 1 & 2/3.
 
Asha said:
Be sure to let us know how they turn out, even if borked!
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Not too bad, all came out and here were the pick of the 2 ( the rest were not great but more down to composition and technique. Will be running some more film through at the weekend.

Box-2 by Simon Owens, on Flickr

Box-1 by Simon Owens, on Flickr
 
Well they’re pretty damned good for a brownie imho.
Well done!
Hopefully with results like that you’ll offer the camera a new lease of life and take it for a stroll fairly regularly.
 
Asha said:
Well they’re pretty damned good for a brownie imho.
Well done!
Hopefully with results like that you’ll offer the camera a new lease of life and take it for a stroll fairly regularly.
Click to expand...

Yes, a roll of Delta 400 in and took a few today!
 
Something that came to mind when I was reading this as I had a problem with finding film to suit my no2 Brownie which was Kodak films frame numbers are in the wrong place so didn't show in the red window, I ended up giving 5 rolls away ! I contacted Ilford who sent me some films to try which I can confirm worked. The thing that cropped up in my wonderful mind was If you are using an adapter of some sort will this not throw the film out of line from being seen in the red window ?
 
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