120 box camera vs Diana/Holga/Lomo

baachitraka

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I wanted to ask about 6x6 box cameras. Box tengors are really good and they are either 6x9 or 6x4.5 and wonder are there any 6x6 box cameras?
 

Donald Qualls

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Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash is a Bakelite box -- one shutter speed (plus B), fixed focus at about 10 feet (hyperfocal 5 ft to infinity) and f/16-ish aperture, Some versions will feed from 120 to a 620 takeup spool, others require trimming the 120 or respooling to a 620 spool.
 

Donald Qualls

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Mr Flibble

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baachitraka said:
I wanted to ask about 6x6 box cameras. Box tengors are really good and they are either 6x9 or 6x4.5 and wonder are there any 6x6 box cameras?
Click to expand...

There sure are, like the Dacora Daci and the Ensign Ful-Vue. There's a list of 6x6 box cameras on Camera-Wiki.org.
 

shead

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My box cameras shine when the light conditions are just right - not too bright, not too hazy. Otherwise the cheap LoFi plastic cameras actually seem to deliver better photographs for me, even with the focus dropping off on the edges.
 

KinoGrafx

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What is a “better” photo? Any box camera, used with intent, may give you a more INTERESTING photo, that’s part of the fun of it.
 

KinoGrafx

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Oops that was regarding the original post, not shead’s remark! I can attest to the last box tengor’s sharpness, it’s remarkable- but i have a sears box camera with a horrible lens that just makes “better” pictures
 

wahiba

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Examples from my Kodak Brownie 620 compared with Diana. First in Spain 2016, Fuji acos 100. Second Yorks/Lancs border this year, Kentmere 400. I bought the 620 re-rolled on line which turned out to be the 120 spool with the end diameters reduced. Fuji film evidently is thinner than others so this works. Actually DIY re-rolling onto converted 120 spool worked just as well as I tried it with another film, probably Fomapan as Kentmere was not available as 120 then.
 

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Jeremy Mudd

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A little late to the party but anyway..........

I've been shooting a lot of 620 bakelite box cameras lately like the Hawkeye, Argus 75, etc. I recently picked up a few Kodak Duaflex IV cameras, that included both the Kodet and Kodar models. The Kodar version has a 3-element f/8 lens adjustable to f/11 and f/16, with zone focusing from 3.5ft to infinity, with an approximate 1/50th sec shutter speed. The Kodet version is a fixed meniscus lens at f/11 or f/15 depending on what you read.

Both are decent but the Kodar really shines when in proper working order. I had to calibrate the focus on it with a piece of ground glass taped to the film plane on the back, but once I did that and added some flocking to the interior sides it did a nice job. Here's a few examples of HP5 shot on it, developed in Rodinal 1:100 with the Semi-Stand method (2 inversions every 15 minutes with a hard pound on the table to break loose any air bubbles).


Jeremy
 

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Dustin McAmera

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A lot of the 'meniscus' lenses on box cameras are meniscus achromats, so better than you think. Some box cameras could be had with a rapid rectilinear, for a bit more money. You don't see many of them.
I have an Ensign box with three aperture settings (f/11 - f/22), and an add-on lens for portrait range. My Brownie doesn't have apertures, but it does have a portrait lens and a yellow filter. Both of them struggle if you point them toward the sun. That bit's about the user, and whether they read the instructions.

It's not all about the photographer though. Cameras like the Diana, which make an actual selling point of leaking light and vignetting, really do make worse photos. Designed-in faults are not art.
 

blee1996

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The toyish 120 camera I enjoyed most was Agfa Isola with the f/6.3 triplet lens. Super light and compact, sharp lens, decent control, and fun.


I also liked the toyish Argus 40 but less convenient due to 620 film. The finder is super bright the whole thing is small. Both lens and shutter are very good for a toy camera.


Lomo LC-A 120 is a seriously good camera, despite its toyish look and feather weight.
 

Dali

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Agulliver

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August this year I returned to Dorset (UK) where last year I bought a rather forlorn looking Ensign "All Distance Twenty" 6x9 box camera for a fiver on a market stall.

As with all cameras, it's knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen equipment and working with them which makes good photos. And technically good is not always a prerequisite for a pleasing or amusing image. The attached photos came from the Ensign and they're quite pleasing.

I've just been given an Ensign full Vue (the first version 1940-ish) which should be interesting to have a play with. Lovely big viewfinder and it's a 6x6 which is unusual for a box camera.

Dali said:
The opposite is also true: Absence of designed-in defaults is not art.
Click to expand...

How you use them can be art.
 

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George Mann

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Thanks for all of your suggestions. I ended up buying a Yashica A, and bought a new mirror for it, as well as a 3D printed double hood and lens cap.
 
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