Photo Project – Kodak No 2 Folding Brownie Posted on 20th July 201522nd February 2022 by Laurence I’ve been intending to get back into film photography for a long time. After completing an A Level in photography eight years ago, I rewarded myself with a second hand Digital SLR, and never picked up a film camera again. That has all changed now though. I couldn’t warrant the cost of paying £10-odd a time to get films processed without even getting prints or a CD of them, and especially not knowing whether I would even get any negatives that were anything other than plain black or plain white rectangles, so I duly went and bought all the equipment and chemicals to process them myself. Continue reading “Photo Project – Kodak No 2 Folding Brownie” →
Vintage Camera #005 Posted on 26th May 20122nd March 2026 by Laurence Canon AE-1 Program I’m taking a bit of a liberty calling this camera vintage, it’s not even as old as me…well the one I have isn’t anyway. The AE-1 Program was introduced in 1981 as the successor to the AE-1, its key difference being the ability to set both the shutter speed and aperture automatically. Mine was purchased by my parents in 1982 (no doubt to take embarrassing baby pictures of me), but I first got to know this camera when I began private photography lessons and eventually went on to complete an A Level in photography. I used this camera through most of my A Level studies, developing the films (mainly Ilford HP5, sometimes FP4) and making prints myself. I enjoy using this camera and have achieved some great results with it.
Vintage Camera #030 Posted on 30th April 20122nd March 2026 by Laurence Kodak Retina IIs The second in my series of posts about vintage cameras is a Kodak Retina IIs. It was produced between 1959 and 1960, and has a Xenar 45mm f2.8 lens with a Synchro-Compur shutter. Around 20,000 of these cameras were made in its short production life. This camera is known as a Coupled Rangefinder camera, which essentially means that when you look through the viewfinder you see two images from different lenses, by adjusting the focus, it brings the two images into line to create a single sharp view in the camera. Being coupled, it means you can read the distance from a wheel around the lens. Kodak Retina II S The camera uses 135 film, the standard 35mm film. It was somewhat easier to get this camera working, and I’ve now got an Ilford HP5 film in it and have started carrying it around with me, so the results of this should be published very soon.
Vintage Camera #031 Posted on 19th March 20122nd March 2026 by Laurence Kodak No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie I have gained a number of old cameras from various sources, so I thought I’d write a short series of posts, each highlighting them, and maybe I will be able to inspire others to do the same. Continue reading “Vintage Camera #031” →
