Box Brownie question

Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus

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Does anybody here know how I could swap the lens in a Box Brownie? I'd love to swap out a distressed plastic lens for something a bit better. I'm not looking for digital perfection but slightly sharper would be nice. I've already hacked it to fire an electronic flash. Any suggestions welcomed.
 
h'mm unless it has sentimental value maybe someone could suggest a cheap similar camera with a better lens OR maybe you could turn it into a pinhole camera.
 
excalibur2 said:
h'mm unless it has sentimental value maybe someone could suggest a cheap similar camera with a better lens OR maybe you could turn it into a pinhole camera.
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It's amazing Brian how you always manage to not answer the question that has been asked :)
I'm afraid I'm just as useless though as I have no idea if it's possible.
 
It would be a lot easier to find one without a distressed plastic lens and embrace any corner and edge softness it may have as part of the 'look' of a 1920s camera. My Canadian built 1924 Kodak Brownie No 2 Model F gives pretty good results, providing I hold it still and get the exposure right.



However, it's a fixed focus meniscus lens that's optimised for average portrait type distance, so it's never going to be a stellar performer. If it's sharp photos you want from a classic looking camera then you're probably better spending your money on something like an Ensign Selfix 820 with Ross Xpres lens, rather than trying to cook up some sort of 'bitza' yourself.
 
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Stegosaurus said:
Does anybody here know how I could swap the lens in a Box Brownie? I'd love to swap out a distressed plastic lens for something a bit better
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The first thing is to measure the focal length. For 120/620 film it will be somewhere in the range 70mm - 100mm depending on the format. For 127 film it's likely to be around 60mm.

Then pick a lens. Oddly enough, an enlarging lens might be a good choice if you're going to retain the original shutter. If you don't want to alter the appearance, you''ll need to find a meniscus lens that has the same focal length as the plastic one. If you have a really helpful optician that would be a good starting point (he'd be able to accurately measure the focal length as well).

Then you need to attach the lens. If you're keeping the appearance the same, that will almost certainly require cutting the replacement to the correct diameter to fit in the hole. See if there's an astronomy group you can talk to. Many of them are home builders and know a lot about cutting and grinding glass.

Good luck!
 
Andysnap said:
It's amazing Brian how you always manage to not answer the question that has been asked :)
I'm afraid I'm just as useless though as I have no idea if it's possible.
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LOL pick it up from my Irish wife.....a sorta Irish man's (woman's) answer.
 
Stegosaurus said:
Does anybody here know how I could swap the lens in a Box Brownie? I'd love to swap out a distressed plastic lens for something a bit better. I'm not looking for digital perfection but slightly sharper would be nice. I've already hacked it to fire an electronic flash. Any suggestions welcomed.
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Absolutely no idea....sorry:

Perhaps remove the lens altogether and shoot without.
High chances of a better IQ :p
 
The Box Brownie was made from 1900 til into the mid 1940's

So, when did they change from the (I surmise) glass lens to a 'plastic' one ???

PS my early lenses (NHS specs) were glass but optical plastic I think from about the late 70's ;) :coat:
 
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Stegosaurus said:
I'm not sure I'd dare... ! Perhaps I should run a bit more film through it before I decide.
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Do try to avoid camera shake, as that can manifest itself as a 'soft' image, and a vintage box Brownie has a shutter speed well below the typical 1/125 of a second that's supposed to give us a chance with a lens of around 50mm.

So perhaps try the camera on a suitably sunny day (with the sun behind you to eliminate lens flare from the equation) with the camera mounted on a secure tripod, and try not to cause any vibration when you trigger the shutter. A couple of test shots like that of a subject that combines near, mid and distant objects (to test focal distance) might help you tell it it's the lens that's an obvious limitation, or it's a camera shake issue.
 
Mr Badger said:
Do try to avoid camera shake, as that can manifest itself as a 'soft' image, and a vintage box Brownie has a shutter speed well below the typical 1/125 of a second that's supposed to give us a chance with a lens of around 50mm.

So perhaps try the camera on a suitably sunny day (with the sun behind you to eliminate lens flare from the equation) with the camera mounted on a secure tripod, and try not to cause any vibration when you trigger the shutter. A couple of test shots like that of a subject that combines near, mid and distant objects (to test focal distance) might help you tell it it's the lens that's an obvious limitation, or it's a camera shake issue.
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Thanks for the tips. I am aware of the slowish shutter speed, but even with a tripod and electronic flash it was a bit soft. I do have another one which I haven't tried out yet so I'll give that one a go and see how it compares.
 
It depends what you're after and really want. Getting a sharp(ish) image with a box Brownie can be good fun

36991440350_a36106150b_b.jpg


But I much prefer the look of this soft one.

37197472684_cdcd7b3668_c.jpg
 
Stegosaurus said:
I'm impressed by them both. I've yet to try a colour film in mine. I tend to stick to B&W as I develop at home to keep costs down.
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Thanks. They were both taken with the same 1924 box Brownie camera, a few decades apart. The colour one was taken on Kodak Ektachrome 200 E6 slide film in the late 1970s, the black and white one a couple of years ago.

That was one of my daft photography hobbies as a teenager, going round junk shops and buying cheap old cameras and seeing what I could get out of them. Looking back now, it probably wasn't such a daft hobby, and I should have learned more from it.... I'd probably have been far better off concentrating on the 'look' the particular camera gave me and learning how to use that to enhance to photos I took with it, instead of spending as much money as I have over the years on 'top quality' kit to get sharp and perfectly exposed photos!

Hence my comments on this thread. I think all too often we perhaps tend to obsess too much about sharpness, when it's the art of taking photos that we should be concentrating on. Sadly, I'm as guilty as anyone if that is the case! :banghead:
 
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Mr Badger said:
Thanks. They were both taken with the same 1924 box Brownie camera, a few decades apart. The colour one was taken on Kodak Ektachrome 200 E6 slide film in the late 1970s, the black and white one a couple of years ago.

That was one of my daft photography hobbies as a teenager, going round junk shops and buying cheap old cameras and seeing what I could get out of them. Looking back now, it probably wasn't such a daft hobby, and I should have leaned more from it.... I'd probably have been far better off concentrating on the 'look' the particular camera gave me and learning how to use that to enhance to photos I took with it, instead of spending as much money as I have over the years on 'top quality' kit to get sharp and perfectly exposed photos!

Hence my comments on this thread. I think all too often we perhaps tend to obsess too much about sharpness, when it's the art of taking photos that we should be concentrating on. Sadly, I'm as guilty as anyone if that is the case! :banghead:
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..and all those old cheap cameras are just classed for use as "a bit of fun" ;)
 
excalibur2 said:
..and all those old cheap cameras are just classed for use as "a bit of fun" ;)
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Holiday snaps, snaps of the family, snaps of pets, snaps of cars and bikes, snaps of days out. Creating fun memories - that's what those old 'point and shoot' cameras were all about. So I think it's only right we should have fun with them now too. (y)
 
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