An Elegant Box Camera?
Not exactly an work of art, but....
It is pretty in its own way, with a shiny
black enamel front and art deco style accents.
The lens is dead center and with the two viewing
optics in the upper corners, it's a camera with a
"face". Black leatherette covers a card body, and
the shutter and aperture controls simply stick
out of the top and side. The two levers on the
side are the shutter release (lower) and bulb
setting (upper). The tab seen at the top, near the
strap is the aperture adjustment. It has two settings,
small and smaller.
The only thing on the back is the ruby
window. The film wind knob is there on the
right. To advance the film you have to turn it
backwards. To open the camera for loading film
you pull out the film wind knob while turning it,
then pull up on the front strap holding button.
The whole front of the camera will then slide out
of the box, (it takes a bit of a tug to pull it out).
Like
many medium
format Kodaks, it takes 620 film. The shutter speed is about
1/30 sec, according to my eye-ear testometer, and it's very quiet about it.
Just a little "snick" but if there is much ambient noise you won't hear it. Trust it,
it works every time. For time exposures, pull out the upper lever on the side, and when
you trip the shutter, hold it down and it will let in as much light as you want...eventually.
You see, the aperture is f15 by my rough calculations (14.9 actually), and that's
the big one. If you come across a situation where you have too much light
you can pull up (HARD) on the tab at the very top front of the lens plate and it will
get you to about f20. For the following shots I rolled some JandC Classic 400
onto a 620 spool and headed outside. I used 400 asa 'cause it was a heavy
overcast day and threatening snow, so I thought the extra speed would do me good.
These were printed on Agfa MC RC with Neutol developer. The prints were scanned
and the only manipulation was to adjust the levels.
Yep, more barns. We got a couple of inches of snow the night before
I went out for these photos. We've usually had about two feet of snowfall
by this time of year. There have been less than six inches so far this year.
January is here though, and from now through March we will get more...lots more.
I went to visit a friend in the hospital, and low and behold, I came across
another one of my favorite subjects, this time ala-mode. What is it that attracts
a person to certain objects? I've always liked things that look old. Things
like barns and benches, old cars and old folks, aged wood or ageless buildings.
This is, without a doubt, cowboy (or cowgirl) country, and there are a lot
of horses in the area. Most nowadays are probably kept for the pleasure
of the people who own and love them. There are many that still use
them in the more original manner, however. The back country here is immense
and come roundup time nothing gets the job done like someone on horseback.
One of the fish hatcheries in the area, this one is about 25 miles from my place.
They raise mostly salmon and steelhead.
One of the hatchery runs. This one is teeming with salmon. There are 625 thousand
of them in these two runs, all of them juveniles about 3.5 inches long. When they reach
about five inches they will be released for their run to the Pacific Ocean. It will take
them about three weeks to reach their goal, and they will stay there for 2 1/2 years.
After their stay in the Pacific they will return to spawn, many of them ending up
here where they started. They will be pushing three feet in length by then.
This hatchery also hatches out over a million of what would commonly be known
as rainbow trout. They are all released each year, and some are caught by
fishermen. Many thousands will get away, and they too will head to the Pacific.
These will also eventually return, but when they come back they will be full grown
Steelhead. Many make it back to the hatchery, and are trapped there.
Their eggs are harvested to produce another generation of rainbow/steelhead.
And so it goes, on and on.
1/30 sec, according to my eye-ear testometer, and it's very quiet about it.
Just a little "snick" but if there is much ambient noise you won't hear it. Trust it,
it works every time. For time exposures, pull out the upper lever on the side, and when
you trip the shutter, hold it down and it will let in as much light as you want...eventually.
You see, the aperture is f15 by my rough calculations (14.9 actually), and that's
the big one. If you come across a situation where you have too much light
you can pull up (HARD) on the tab at the very top front of the lens plate and it will
get you to about f20. For the following shots I rolled some JandC Classic 400
onto a 620 spool and headed outside. I used 400 asa 'cause it was a heavy
overcast day and threatening snow, so I thought the extra speed would do me good.
These were printed on Agfa MC RC with Neutol developer. The prints were scanned
and the only manipulation was to adjust the levels.
Yep, more barns. We got a couple of inches of snow the night before
I went out for these photos. We've usually had about two feet of snowfall
by this time of year. There have been less than six inches so far this year.
January is here though, and from now through March we will get more...lots more.
I went to visit a friend in the hospital, and low and behold, I came across
another one of my favorite subjects, this time ala-mode. What is it that attracts
a person to certain objects? I've always liked things that look old. Things
like barns and benches, old cars and old folks, aged wood or ageless buildings.
This is, without a doubt, cowboy (or cowgirl) country, and there are a lot
of horses in the area. Most nowadays are probably kept for the pleasure
of the people who own and love them. There are many that still use
them in the more original manner, however. The back country here is immense
and come roundup time nothing gets the job done like someone on horseback.
One of the fish hatcheries in the area, this one is about 25 miles from my place.
They raise mostly salmon and steelhead.
One of the hatchery runs. This one is teeming with salmon. There are 625 thousand
of them in these two runs, all of them juveniles about 3.5 inches long. When they reach
about five inches they will be released for their run to the Pacific Ocean. It will take
them about three weeks to reach their goal, and they will stay there for 2 1/2 years.
After their stay in the Pacific they will return to spawn, many of them ending up
here where they started. They will be pushing three feet in length by then.
This hatchery also hatches out over a million of what would commonly be known
as rainbow trout. They are all released each year, and some are caught by
fishermen. Many thousands will get away, and they too will head to the Pacific.
These will also eventually return, but when they come back they will be full grown
Steelhead. Many make it back to the hatchery, and are trapped there.
Their eggs are harvested to produce another generation of rainbow/steelhead.
And so it goes, on and on.
deansphotographica.com
deansofidaho.com
deanw@bmi.net
1-05
© 2005 Dean Williams