It’s funny what catches your eye when you’re casually roaming around the ‘Bay. The words “rapid rectilinear” caught my eye, a lens type well respected in it’s day. After a little negotiation with the seller, for a good price it was on its way to its new home. Although, as far as I could tell, not entirely un-interfered with at some point in it’s history, the box is in surprisingly good condition for a camera that’s about a century old with a working shutter and a clean lens.
After semi-stand developing a roll of Kentmere 100 in caffenol, I was pleasantly surprised how well the negs came out all things considered. There was a stop or two of overexposure (as expected) and fair bit of flare when the sun was anywhere but over my shoulder. When you also factor in a light leak from the rather pale frame counter window (even though I had a film box end flap taped over it when not needed) the scans came out pretty well. Although far from a stellar resolver, the lens did surprisingly well, with an even-handed, low distortion rendering. The biggest limitation to sharpness was probably me, with all photos taken handheld at the only shutter speed available of around 1/30th second.
The last time I used a box camera, flared trousers were still in fashion the first time round, so it was fun to use one again despite the tiny, rather awkward portrait/landscape viewfinders and decidedly limited functionality.
At some point I intend to use it again, though next time with a steady platform to stand it on. With no threaded bush, some sort of diy adaptation will be needed to mount it to a tripod.
There’s something quite rewarding about creating surprisingly useable images with a camera that was introduced in 1923 and processing them through a home-brewed developer.
Thankyou for reading my ramblings.
First frame: Parton Village, D & G. Remaining frames: Crossmichael Church, D & G.
More of my film-based images with kit old and (relatively) new can be found on https://grainery.app/login
fine shots.theres great fun to be had using these fine old cameras.
Many thanks, Don 😊. Indeed, there is.
Fantastic images for a 100 year old camera!
I was interested to know the location, but Google said D&G was Dolce & Gabbana. However, after some further poking around, I guess you mean Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Lovely spot. 😉
Thank you, Richard. Yes, indeed it is Dumfries and Galloway ☺️ and it is a wonderful place to be.
Wonderful Don! I’m often amazed at how these old cameras can still produce such lovely images. And isn’t Caffenol great?
Cheers,
Dave
Thanks very much, Dave. Yes, caffenol’s fantastic. It’s the only developer I use.
Surprisingly good images given the single shutter speed, and a good range of tones. A lucky purchase! Wait ’til you see what came out of my friend’s Goerz 6×9!
Thanks, Geoff! I look forward to seeing the Goerz goodies🙂
Thanks for this article, Ralph. It’s exactly the kind of thing I started reading 35mmc and emulsive for a few years ago. Interesting to see what these old mini-machines actually can make vs. mostly seeing them in a static object d’art situation.
Many thanks for your kind words, Peter, much appreciated.