Blog
(Jun 2025) Kodak Brownie Junior (Part 2)
Having used the Brownie back in January but not being overly happy with the results and then having found out the camera was originally designed for 100 iso film I decided to give it another go and where else but the historic town of Stirling whilst taking part in the A.W annual photowalk (See the post below). I went online an ordered two rolls of Shanghai GP3 Pan 100 and two rolls of original Kodak film from the late 60's and 70's (More to come with that film). I took one roll of GP3 to Stirling as this was not intended as my main camera but more of a 2.0 test to see what the images look like before committing to any 'serious' work.
Trying to keep in mind that the camera has a fixed shutter speed and aperture I was constantly aware that the lighting would need to be correct or risk wasting an exposure, although some of the images may not of came out level and true I believe the images themselves came out with a big improvement over the Shanghai gold 200. Which although a good film being re-rolled Kodak Gold 200, it does not suit the Brownie's lack of features. A couple of the images suffer from a little shake but that is a result of me rather than the camera but I am happy with the contrast between the highlights and the shadows, the sharpness for a 100 year old camera (near enough) with a single element none coated lens is impressive, the fine detail it captured in some of the shots also impressed me. Although I am sure the points I've just mentioned good and bad could be vastly improved with the use of a tripod (Which is my plan for the second roll of GP3 - more to follow in a future post) as a small hand held camera that you can almost fit in a cargo trouser pocket, the results are useable for what the camera was originally intended, which is an easy to use potable way to capture a quick snapshot of a location or subject, these were never designed as professional use cameras which at the time of release in the 30's would surely of been reserved for large format.
I'm going to continue to experiment with the Brownie now that I've found a film that works well with the camera next I will try some shots with a tripod to eliminate some hand shake to improve the images a little further and then also try and be more aware of the location of the light source so to try and not make the subject too bright as seen in a couple of the images. Then with the original Kodak colour film thats going to be an interesting ordeal having to use the cameras only other feature bulb mode which is activated by the same little leaver as the regular shutter, trying to keep the camera still for some 10-15 second exposures will be a challenge.
Below are some the best of the eight exposures from Stirling.
(Jun 2025) Analog Wonderlands "The big film photowalk" - Stirling
After missing the 2024 photowalk (Which is only held annually) by Analog Wonderland across multiple locations in the UK, I was determined to attend in 2025. Upon reviewing the extensive list of locations I had decided to attend the event in Stirling, Scotland, this is somewhere I had drove past countless times but had never stopped and looked around, so what a fantastic opportunity to go and experience the town with an excuse to bring the camera and capture some images.
I brought along the Olympus IS200, being unfamiliar with the town it was possible there might be some occasions where a zoom might of been useful (I was right) and then as a second camera I took the old Kodak brownie jr (Photo to the right and the blog post above / below). The walk started with meeting everyone outside of the Stirling art museum we then went into the museum and sat for a chat with a brief overview of what to expect from the day and the route we took in case anyone got left behind. The event being sponsored by Kodak, we were each given two rolls of Kodak Pro Image 100 (Included in the ticket price £20 for 2025 but this is highly discounted for film and developing) for use on the walk which will later be entered into the Kodak competition held throughout July and August. The route took us from the museum down Dumbarton Rd to Port St through the centre past the shops and the markets following the road until we got to Queen St we then worked our way up to Mar's Wark and finally into the Cemetery of the Church of the Holy Rude. This route although only around 1.5 Mile was packed with interesting scenes and moments of everyday life that have now been immortalized in roughly 15 old film cameras.
The entire group of people on the walk were wonderful and brilliant to talk to, it was interesting watching and observing everyones unique styles and techniques as we walked through the town. At the end of the day we exchanged details for Instagram / phone numbers etc and I've been in regular contact with a handful since the event. One of which is helping to organise the Stirling photography festival which I'm hoping to attend in September 2025 (Keep an eye out on this page for further details closer to the time).
I've included a small handful of images below from the walk taken on Pro Image 100 more to be seen in my Portfolio, See the post above for the walk through on how the images turned out using the Brownie jr.
(Jan 2025) Kodak Brownie Junior - Super SIX-20
Introduced by Kodak in 1935 and discontinued in 1940 this camera is incredibly basic by late 20th century film cameras and even more so compared to modern digital cameras. This camera features a fixed shutter speed and aperture designed for 100 iso film only, although it does have a bulb mode, a pull out tab which changed the focal distance from infinity to around 3 - 4 Feet (90cm to 120cm) for use while doing portraits. A manual film advance nob being operated whilst looking through the red window on the film door. Two waist level view finders one for landscape (horizontal) shots the other for portrait (vertical) shots.
It uses a mostly discontinued film called 620 which Kodak released as their own proprietary version of 120 film, it features the same size film as 120 but the spools are slightly different, although discontinued by the big firms there is a company running out of America called "The Film Photography Project" (https://filmphotographyproject.com/) who are taking modern rolls of 120 and respooling it onto original and 3D printed reels, they have a range of 3 or 4 B&W Options and 2 or 3 Colour options at the time of writing, they ship worldwide from what I have seen on the website, then simply get them developed as you would for normal 120 either at home or your local lab. The second being a company out of China called "Shanghai" which are selling on eBay although very limited on film options Illford Pan 100 B&W and a Kodak Gold 200, they now have a couple of dealers stocking the film in the UK for around £15 per roll at the time of writing, this might be an easier option to test cameras for functionality instead of waiting for a delivery from the USA. If you are confident your camera is in working condition then FPP as linked above has a wider selection of film at the same cost per roll then shipping. Being a fixed shutter and aperture FPP has a range of film for 100iso film both colour and B&W where as results with Shanghai's respooled Kodak gold 200 may vary as you are now underexposing the film.
When I got the camera as a present from one of my friends (Thanks Liam) it needed a little work but nothing major. Both the internal and external of the lens needed a clean, the inside at first seemed challenging and it appeared the camera would need disassembled, but no need. Simply open the film door on the back put the camera in Bulb mode and activate the shutter this gives access to the rear element of the lens, being a simple lens from the 1930's it is only one piece of glass, a couple of cotton buds soaked in glasses cleaning solution from Zeiss and you can get in to give the rear of the lens a wipe, once dry repeat with a clean dry cotton bud to remove any residue, the outside is as simple as a wipe with a microfibre. The viewfinders on the other hand would require disassembly of the body to access to clean, thankfully mine aren't too bad, yes theres some dirt in there but as this has no effect on the photos I've left it as I can still see the composition well enough to frame the shot. The film advance lever got a very light oiling with one 3in1 multipurpose to help it spin smoothly just be careful to not over saturate as this could end up transfering onto the film.
At the time of testing the camera I only had access to the Shanghai Gold 200 as mentioned above this camera was designed for 100iso speed film, I intend on using it again with the correct flm but that being said I was happy with the results during a snowy January day which can be seen below, although slightly soft this could be due to being handheld, I will try with a tripod on the next outing with 100 iso film to compare results.
(Nov 2024) Nikon EM
Having told my brother about my pursuit down the film route for my photography and after showing him examples from my wales trip using the old USSR Zenit-E (As below), he showed interest in trying it for himself, in the coming months to christmas I thought good opportunity for a present, got on the web and went straight to the UK's main film camera dealer.... eBay (Obviously). Starting searching for something that as a beginner would be easy to use, mostly automated with minimal user interaction but manual focus, of course looks are important so I didn't want the typical Canon EOS or Nikon F4 through F6 range, good cameras just not what I wanted. I forgot about the EM until I came across one listed for a moderate price.
Listing : Nikon EM Tested, good condition, clean ready to use.
Fantastic, buy the body then look for a AI mount lens. Body came a couple days later in the post, and it was NOT good condition, clean and ready to use. The camera was covered in what looked like cigarette ash, dust and was sticky, all of the light seals had perished but it did come with a strap so you know positives. Quickly running out of time to get it fixed and tested before christmas, back on eBay and bought a light seal kit and new batteries got the camera cleaned using an air blower, pack of lens wipes and a lot of patience. I noticed through the viewfinder that it was also dirty, in the process of taking the focusing screen out so I could clean inside the chamber I ended up scratching the focusing screen, back to the internet to buy a replacement, which is when I found out that the EM is the only model of Nikon film camera that no company makes replacement screens for, so back to eBay I bought another EM Body listed as spares or repairs as it had a broken light meter. Took the screen out of it VERY CAREFULLY ! got it installed on the original screen holding plate that had a new mirror cushion as part of the light seal kit and installed back into the camera. All of which I will add is accessible though the lens mount via a single philips screw, careful with the screw it is incredibly small and easily dropped (It can be seen in the image to the right if you look close enough between the holder and focusing screen).
Using a small flat head screwdriver, a stanley blade and some alcohol cleaning wipes I removed the old light seal from around the film door replaced it with the new ones supplied in the kit and hoped it had sealed correctly. New lens attached, batteries in and a roll of of Illford HP5 I headed out to test it and thankfully the camera performed as expected, easy to use the camera being an aperture priority only camera, select the required aperture the camera chooses an appropriate shutter speed if the camera thinks it is too slow for handheld use it beeps and there is a needle display in the viewfinder to show the selected shutter speed, adjust aperture accordingly.
Having liked the camera so much I decided to get one for myself to add to the collection and use as part of my professional work until the time of upgrading for the notorious Nikon F3, being an aperture priority camera it still allows me to decide on the outcome of the image, for the most part, but allows for faster paced work in comparison to the all analog Zenit-E which has a very slow work flow. Yet again the one I bought came and the light seals have perished so I've got that to fix although thankfully this time it wasn't sticky which is always a positive and as a nice addition mine came with a 28mm lens and a 2x teleconverter.
Below are some examples I had taken on the repaired Nikon EM that I gave to my brother for christmas, more examples can be seen in the Portfolio.
(Sep 2024) Zenit-E
1965 USSR, Leonid Brezhnev has taken office of the former Soviet Union and the KMZ factory rolls the Zenit-E off of the production line. Between 1965 and the mid 80's when KMZ decided to seize production of the model E they produced around 3 million models of the Zenit-E, easily making it Europe's most popular 35mm SLR. The camera features no electronics hence why it has stood the test of time, a Selenium cell runs the light meter which really is the only thing that can go wrong with these otherwise tank like SLR's, yes you can have curtain hangups but from what I understand this is rare and the viewfinder has a silver wash over the internal glass that can fade or leave a vertical line in the viewfinder of course this has no impact on the images you produce, thankfully mine has none of these issues and the selenium light meter is still accurate (At least to my eyes).
The Zenit-E was the official camera of the 1980 Moscow olympics to which they made a commemorative model with the olympic logo all other features of the camera remain the same. A max shutter speed of 1/500 and a max iso of 500 (For the built in light meter) the camera can in some situations be limiting but as long as you use aperture correctly this should not be an issue unless you want to capture fast moving objects.
I decided to purchase the Zenit as a travel companion, having no electronics you never need to worry if you've remembered to charge batteries or remembered to pick them up before you leave the house. Camera, roll of film and go. To date I have used the Zenit to capture nearly all of my work as it is such a reliable system, all metal construction and of typical USSR mentality of making a product last forever means you can use this to hammer in your tent pegs if you forget your hammer (of course this is a joke -- but that is the feeling you get having the camera in hand).
So as per the image to the left, why have I disassembled my lens, after the purchase of the camera and lens was the trip to Wales and the Forest of Dean the camera performed as to be expected and helped produce some fantastic work (As seen below and in the Portfolio). But while I was there i noticed some dots of dirt or dust in the lens as these are NOT a sealed unit they can be susceptible to ingress. Got home a week later, confident on taking the lens apart I decided to give it ago, whats the worst that can happen, lens stripped down (Further than in the photo) all elements of glass cleaned and re-assembled, the ball detents for the aperture ring probably took longer to get back into position than the whole disassembly and cleaning process, finally the lens is back together, screw it back onto the body via the M42 mount and I have somehow managed to change the focal settings on the internal helical screw that I now have an extreme Macro lens focus from a couple of cm's to no more than a foot or two in length, Landscape and Street being at the time my primary aim in photography this is not acceptable. So apart comes the lens again to adjust the focus, back on the camera and it isn't any better, so obviously I've gone the wrong way, lens apart again adjust the opposite way and then once reassembled the lens would not screw onto the body as the back element of glass interfered with the mirror in the body. Whats the next solution, eBay. Helios 44M £20 thanks. These lens' are so cheap it wasn't worth the headache trying to fix it, I've kept my original lens meaning I've got spares if something goes wrong in my current replacement, I'll just be careful not to mess with the focus next time.
This is always my go to camera, first to be picked up for personal ventures and traveling, if you are looking for a robust camera that will outlive everything else these are cheap enough to pick one up to have that all analog no electronic experience or purely just to leave on the shelf encase the electronics stop working in your current more modern SLR. A tested working model at the time of writing can be picked up with a lens for around £40-£50 inc postage.
