120 film in a Brownie 2A camera

[gatewaycityca]

I'm sorry if this isn't in the right forum. I really wasn't sure where to post this.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but you can use 120 roll film in a camera that takes 116 film. It's very simple. You just put spacers on the ends of the spools. I just used plastic drywall screw anchors. It worked great. I think what I did was count every 3 frames. So you expose frame 3, then go to 6, then 9, etc. Unfortunately, you only get 5 pictures...but it's still kind of fun to play around with. Also, the entire width of the film gets exposed and the frame numbers will be in the images. But I thought it looks kind of cool anyway.

Here's a contact print from one of the negatives. The negatives are HUGE, bigger than what I've seen with any other roll film. It almost looks panoramic. I took this picture on my street. This was Kodak Plus-X film.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/contactprintFeb32009.jpg

So if anyone has an old Brownie camera they want to play around with, this is an idea to try. The Brownie 2A is a really nice, very early box camera. I got one in excellent condition for pretty cheap on eBay...it even had an original instruction manual. I'm not sure how old it is, but I think it's from at least the 1920's.

The Brownie 2A has an adjustable aperture. You pull up a tab to adjust the F-stop for f/11, and f/16, and f/22 I think. There is also a "bulb" mode for long exposures. You just pull up another tab to switch the shutter into long exposure mode. But the shutter speed is fixed, and I think it's really low, like 1/50. So you'll want to use a low ISO film to take pictures outside. I used Plus-X during the later afternoon, and it seemed to work fine.

 

[elekm]

That's really quite nice. Very impressive indeed. What do the drywall anchors look like? Do you mean those little plastic plugs that you hammer into the wall? The ones that look like tiny cones?

 

[gatewaycityca]

yeah, that's it. You just put them in the ends of the spools. Although really, you could use anything for spacers. I just read about the idea on another website, and it seemed really easy and convenient.

 

[stealthman_1]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. I've got a nice 2a as well that I would love to shoot because the shutter is more crisp than my Beau Brownie. V616 film won't work as the prong on the advance is slightly different than 116 so this may be a good solution.

 

[beck0299]

yeah, that's it. You just put them in the ends of the spools. Although really, you could use anything for spacers. I just read about the idea on another website, and it seemed really easy and convenient.

Do you know what site you found this info on? I am looking for way to convert a 116 camera.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Creative Image Maker will have an article on just this in the issue coming out tomorrow. YEAH, tomorrow.

 

[Steve Smith]

I'm just about to do the same thing (mine is a 2A Autographic folder, not a box camera). I am only going to make one spool spacer. This will locate in the end of the spool and will be slotted for the winder. For the other end of the take up spool and the supply spool, I am just going to pack out the body. On the Autographic camera, the spool just sits in the body and rests up against two rollers each side of the film gate.


Steve.

 

[Jeff L]

Here's a photo I found on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/radioripster/3968400219/

 

[Wayne]

I'm doing this mod to my Brownie 2A Model C, which takes 116 film. The film spool side seems to fit as shown in this picture (from the same album as the above link), although my camera is different from that one and its less perfect of a fit. But at least the two drywall spacers place the spool and film centered in the middle.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/radioripster/3969174730

But the take up side is trickier. I'm experimenting with a shorter spacer on the non-winding end, and a slotted spacer for the winder, and a pad to make the end of the spool snug, but this seems far from ideal.


Anyone made this work with a 2A Model C?

 

[Steve Smith]

Since I last posted in this thread, our company has made a 3D printer. It is great for making little adaptor pieces such as spool end adaptors.

For those not lucky enough to have a 3D printer, a search for 3D printed 120 spool ends should find someone selling them.


Steve.

 

[Wayne]

yeah I have come across those like here:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/WQGGJTLT3/120-to-116-film-spool-adapters-set-of-2?optionId=41470310


but have doubts whether they will work so well in my camera. It seems like that thick spool end will rub against the retaining clip and probably be too thick to fit into the slit in the clip like the ends of a 116 spool will.

 

[Wayne]

I think I found a way...took a 120 spool and glued 2 nylon washers on one spool end and one on the other end as spacers. So its only off-center by one washer width. If I'd had slightly thinner or thicker washers I could have made it perfectly centered. Epoxied a 1.25" fender washer to each, which is the same size as the 116 spool ends. I slotted one washer for the winding key. Total cost .20 per washer, $1 per spool.

.

 

[studiocarter]

New 70mm film arrived. No adapter needed.

 

[480sparky]

For anyone interested in similar adapters, Holgamods has a lot of them available.

http://www.holgamods.com/holgamods/Main.html

 

[Wayne]

New 70mm film arrived. No adapter needed.

Care to be more specific?