Brownie No.2, kinda lost on this one.

Shootar401 · Mar 30, 2012

Ok, I picked up a Brownie No.2 at an estate sale for $5, I know nothing about it. I know it takes 120 film which I have plenty of, so I'm thinking of running a roll through next week.

What I don't know are the shutter speeds & aperture of the lens, or even what ISO everything is made for.

Can anybody help out? Although I'm not selling it, is it worth anything?

EASmithV · Mar 30, 2012

looks like it has more control than any other brownie i've seen.

T stands for time, locks the shutter open. B keeps the shutter open as long as you hold it. I stands for instant and is probably somewhere between 1/50 to 1/80th.

As for the apertures... Probably f11, f16, and f22 but I have no idea, just guessing

removed account4 · Mar 30, 2012

hi there

nice camera !
http://www.brownie-camera.com/88.shtml

it looks like this one ( i think ) folding brownie no. 2 ...

if you haven't seen this cool page
http://www.brownie-camera.com/

and according to chuck baker ... who knows

this is the info on your shutter speed and apertures
http://www.brownie-camera.com/tech.shtml

depending on its condition and all that stuff, worth varies ...

have fun !
john

bdial · Mar 30, 2012

Looks like a fun camera, especially if it can take 120, which isn't so common for the Kodaks.
As a guess, film speeds at the time the camera was current were probably ISO 50 or less.

removed account4 · Mar 30, 2012

bdial said:
Looks like a fun camera, especially if it can take 120, which isn't so common for the Kodaks.
As a guess, film speeds at the time the camera was current were probably ISO 50 or less.

totally !!!
120 is a HUGE BONUS !
seeing kodak made it a point to create a NEW roll film
for ever camera they made ...

john

tkamiya · Mar 30, 2012

While I don't have the same one, I have some brownies of the same vintage and other miscelleneous pieces.

I typically just stick in a Tmax 400 or Tri-X 400, set the shutter speed to the highest, aperture to the smallest and just shoot. Because of the wonderful latitude of the film, I always come out with usable images. It's really not a kind of camera you'd think too much before snapping. Try it. You'd be plesantly surprised.

I can't really see on your photograph but the half moon "thing" with a pointer at the top of the lens assembly should be the shutter control. It *should* be labeled with the shutter speed. (there's no guarantee it's accurate though!)

It's really refreshing to shoot these and look back to the time when everything was much simpler. Yes, something this simple can make photographs!

Shootar401 · Mar 30, 2012

See anything wrong with it from the photos? Everything looks good to me, bellows look good. I'll take a flashlight to it tomorrow and check for light leaks.

tkamiya · Mar 30, 2012

Isn't the body made out of really thick cardboard? Mine are (not the same model) made of wood and cardboard and there are some light leaks from corners and edges. You may need to test shoot it and see how well it works.

By the way, it's worth nothing unless you have a pristine one. There were so many made.

EASmithV · Apr 6, 2012

That looks like a fun camera to play with...

Brownie No.2, kinda lost on this one.

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