Saturday, 1 December 2012

127 camera number 29 - Nagel Vollenda

Nagel Vollenda by pho-Tony
Nagel Vollenda, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This is another of the little black folding cameras from the 1930s that I am particularly fond of. It all seems to work, but I've not put a film through it before, so I won't know how light tight it is until next week.

photo from 127 camera No. 28 - Baby Brownie Special

Arts Tower by pho-Tony
Arts Tower, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

The age-related degeneration in the film is much in evidence here, though I was rather disappointed not to see in of the backing paper markings as I have sometimes found on very old film.

Sunday, 25 November 2012

127 camera number 28 - Baby Brownie Special

Baby Brownie Special by pho-Tony
Baby Brownie Special, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

It's been a couple of months since I last used a "new" 127 camera, so with the centenary year drawing to a close, I'll try to fit some more in. This is a full frame model, so it takes 8 photos on a roll. It is as basic as you can get, no focussing, fixed aperture and a single shutter speed with no "B" setting. I loaded it with Efke black and white film.

Sunday, 14 October 2012

photo from 127 camera number 27 - Purma Special

Sir Isaac Newton by pho-Tony
Sir Isaac Newton, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

The Purma special has three shutter speeds, selceted according to which way up the camera is held, but there is no "B" setting, so indoor shots are generally not feasible. This sunlit chapel seemed just about bright enough to get away with the "slow" shutter speed, so I took this picture of Isaac Newton. Even though the sculpture was several feet away, it is clear that the lens is focussed better on the wall behind, there is no way to focus the Purma, other than by attaching supplementary lenses, but I don't have any of them, so this was the best I could do.

Thursday, 27 September 2012

127 camera number 27 - Purma Special

Purma Special by pho-Tony
Purma Special, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This is something of a design classic, with its art deco lines and bakelite construction. It also has an unusual shutter, which has three speeds depending on which way the camera is held. The format is square (but not the standard 12 on a roll 4cm x 4cm, this takes sixteen 32mm x 32mm photos) so the orientation of the camera doesn't matter. There is no focusing, and a fixed aperture of f6.3.

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

photo from 127 camera No. 26 - Brownie Starmatic

Gondolas by pho-Tony
Gondolas, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This camera was made for the expanding tourist market in the early 1960s, so this rather obvious holiday snap is an appropriate choice of subject.

127 camera number 26 - Brownie Starmatic

Brownie Starmatic by pho-Tony
Brownie Starmatic, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

I found this camera recently in a charity shop, it has an automatic exposure system which still seems to work despite being around 50 years old. At 44mm the lens is quite wide, which makes a nice change for this format. I loaded it with Efke 100 film to take away on holiday.