Box Brownie no2 help/recommendations

BADGER.BRAD · Jun 11, 2017

Hello all,
I seem to be moving back in time with my camera equipment, in a few more months I will be doing cave paintings !
I may have lost the plot but am looking for help using the Kodak no2 which I have just purchased.Can anyone recommend which 120mm roll film to use (b&w + colour) and where to get it processed in the UK ? which settings to use in what situation and how best to use the camera generally in the real world.

Thanks all

75suzuki · Jun 11, 2017

I don't have any experience with this, but am interested in finding out as well. I also own a similar camera, mine is the Anasco copy of the Kodak 2a. I havent shot anything with it yet and would love to know what films seem to work well for these box cams.

GregW · Jun 11, 2017

The shutter is 1/50th a sec or should be and the apertures are f16 f 32 and f 64. For bw FP4 from Ilford to HP5. Portra 160 for color ought to work. Stay about 10-12 ft from your subject at least. If you don't have an exposure meter google "the Sunny 16 rule" it will help with exposure setting. Print out the guide and stick it in your pocket. That will be your exposure meter to consult. BTW the small hole is f45 largest f16 etc. It also might be fun to read the original manual for it. http://www.cameramanuals.org/kodak_pdf/kodak_brownie_2.pdf There are video's on youtube as well on how to load it etc... Enjoy your new camera.

Wayne · Jun 11, 2017

I use HP5+ in my Brownie 2C. Fun cameras. I had to adapt my spools so its a bit wonky but yours should be fine.

Two23 · Jun 11, 2017

I went through a box camera craze a couple of years ago, buying and using about two dozen. I have kept a 1904 & 1932 Kodak Brownie No. 2, along with a Kodak Panoram. The shutter seems to be about 1/30 -- 1/40s. The apertures on the strip seem to correspond to f11, f16, f22. I mostly use Ilford FP4 in it and have had very good luck. Metering is Sunny 16. I also have used ISO 400 film plus an orange filter held or taped over the lens, or no filter when shooting in lower light. This has worked well used in conjunction with an incident light meter. I've also shot with it at night, again using an incident light meter with camera on tripod using "B" mode.

http://www.brownie-camera.com/tech.shtml

Kent in SD

removed account4 · Jun 12, 2017

hi brad
i use my box cameras with flat light, not excessively bright contrasty light
and low iso film. i process the b/w myself in caffneol.

75suzuki · Jun 12, 2017

Thanks for the tips

Its tough finding info on these, let alone their proper use with modern film.

Cholentpot · Jun 12, 2017

I use one, I've run 100 speed Shanghai GP3 developed in D-76 stock in the past. Works best on even light and landscapes. Oddly enough they are a joy to use, they sit well in the hand the viewfinder while tiny does the job. Mine came with two wooden reels.

BADGER.BRAD · Jun 12, 2017

Nice photos for something so basic,Thanks for the info everyone ,much appreciated. I may try to use a similar design in the future for a pinhole camera. Once I have some film and have had it processed I'll post up the photos on here. next time round I may even process it myself.

LAG · Jun 12, 2017

GregW said:
The shutter is 1/50th a sec or should be and the apertures are f16 f 32 and f 64.

The shutter will depend more on the state of the mechanism (it should be something closer to 1/30 +/- 1/50) but the apertures are f/16 f22 and f/36

Cholentpot · Jun 12, 2017

BADGER.BRAD said:
Nice photos for something so basic,Thanks for the info everyone ,much appreciated. I may try to use a similar design in the future for a pinhole camera. Once I have some film and have had it processed I'll post up the photos on here. next time round I may even process it myself.

It got the job done for my Great Grandpa, It'll get the job done for me.

BADGER.BRAD · Jun 12, 2017

Does anyone know what ASA/ISO the original film would have been ? I would like to stick to as near as I can what the camera was designed for as a starting point.

Sirius Glass · Jun 12, 2017

BADGER.BRAD said:
Does anyone know what ASA/ISO the original film would have been ? I would like to stick to as near as I can what the camera was designed for as a starting point.

Verichrome Pan was rated ASA 125 from a roll that expired in January 1978.

Two23 · Jun 12, 2017

BADGER.BRAD said:
Does anyone know what ASA/ISO the original film would have been ? I would like to stick to as near as I can what the camera was designed for as a starting point.

I believe it was something like ISO 50. The way I figured that out was (1) Sunny 16 means using the f16 aperature and the shutter speed is 1/30s to 1/50s on those cameras (2) I have used Ilford Pan F 50 with good success in the four or five Kodak Brownies I owned (vintage ranged from 1904 to 1932.) Mostly I shoot ISO 100 film in them though. Keep in mind that in the early 1960s there was a change in the way film speed was rated. IIRC, it was basically cut in half.

Kent in SD

removed account4 · Jun 12, 2017

BADGER.BRAD said:
Does anyone know what ASA/ISO the original film would have been ? I would like to stick to as near as I can what the camera was designed for as a starting point.

also remember the prints would have been contact prints on azo made at a drugstore at some point
the negatives would have been higher contrast than what people aim for today contrast ...

darkroommike · Jun 12, 2017

jnanian said:
also remember the prints would have been contact prints on azo made at a drugstore at some point
the negatives would have been higher contrast than what people aim for today contrast ...

I have done contact prints on both Azo and Velox but Kodak (and others) made another paper for photofinishing that was a sort of self-masking DOP, GAF Monodex and Kodak Velox Unicontrast (see Photographic Facts and Formulas, 1975,`Wall, Jordan,`and Carroll, p. 204).

pentaxpete · Jun 13, 2017

I did a Video on my Brownie Box -- you can see it here :

LAG · Jun 13, 2017

pentaxpete said:
I did a Video on my Brownie Box -- you can see it here :

It's a pity you have sacrified that 1980 film, there're plenty of video examples on the Internet about what you've done (IMHO of course), nevertheless welcome. By the way when I need to use my Kodak Brownie Flash IV I only roll it once (120 to 620), it is not strictly necessary to "re-roll" again.

All the best!

removed account4 · Jun 13, 2017

darkroommike said:
I have done contact prints on both Azo and Velox but Kodak (and others) made another paper for photofinishing that was a sort of self-masking DOP, GAF Monodex and Kodak Velox Unicontrast (see Photographic Facts and Formulas, 1975,`Wall, Jordan,`and Carroll, p. 204).

yep ..
there were lots of different papers to print consumer box cameras. i was just attempting to suggest to the OP that
the negatives were usually contact printed and by some people's ( current DOP enlargement ) standards cooked/contrasty for the materials
being used to print them ... not trying to get into an argument about esoteric brands or names of commercial
and drug store papers used to print on that are currently forgotten about.
ALSO,
if the OP wants to make his own gaslight paper / silver chloride / chlorobromide &c papers,
there are fun and inexpensive ways to do this at present. he just needs to wander to thelightfarm.com or to blurb
and pick up one of denise ross' books and a few grams of silver nitrate, and some safety goggles ...
its almost as easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into sailboats ..
and hours more fun. ( YMMV )

sorry, i don't have the book you mentioned ..

BADGER.BRAD · Jun 13, 2017

Another nice little video, I found mine on Ebay but went to a local car boot (flea market) the other day and spotted 6 box cameras across 3 stalls I wonder if in 80 to 100 years time they will be sell DSLRs in any kind of working order ?

Sewin · Jun 13, 2017

Hi Brad,

You are certainly stepping back in time and enjoying it, when's the penny farthing being delivered

BADGER.BRAD · Jun 14, 2017

I've only got as far back as the 1980's with the bikes up to this point Sewin but I'm working on it !

M Carter · Jun 16, 2017

I've tested some of my old 120 cameras for exposure by checking with internet guesses/data, shooting a couple frames of a gray card and a still life, rewinding the film, and then shooting the rest of the roll in a known camera (RB in my case) with exposures around the "best guess". Some of those simple old shutters can slow down; my Hawkeye took some light oiling of a few shutter components to get the speed up and stop the occasional hang.

I've also tested shutter speeds with my video camera - I have one that shoots up to 120 fps at 1080p, so I'll shoot a few squeezes of the shutter and count the frames in an editor. That will show you speeds up to the camera's frame rate. My brownie, for instance, is about 1/25th - good to know what it's really doing I suppose.

Box Brownie no2 help/recommendations

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