The first camera that I had, was a hand built MF press-style camera from Germany with a German lens, and a hand built wooden box! I shot hand-cut Plus-X Pan and Panatomic-X and the images were stunning. Unfortunately, I had to give the camera back but to this day, I still remember that experience. I still have all of my enlarger and film processing equipment. I even got into Extachrome-64 both film and print processing using 35mm (I even built my own custom temperature controllers to keep the film temperature within 1/4 of a degree Fahrenheit); it is and other worldly experience to pull out a strip of color slide film out of the development tank with all of the brilliant colors! If the film was cheap and the chemicals were still available, I would probably still do film but these days the digital has gotten to the point to where I don’t see a great big advantage. Film does have a look though, so you can’t simply dismiss it… 😊
wow todd, excellent images. really liked the high contrast look and the use of the red filter to make those clouds pop in the sky. its the look that I'm currently using on my panasonic S5 full-frame digital camera with an old-school screw-on red filter. the only difference between your images and mine are attributed to the primative lens on your kodak camera....still I'm very impressed with your results. it would be great if you did more shooting with this camera on occasion. zen billings canada
I think the appeal of film today is the authenticity. Digital cameras and photo editing software are so good today that producing outstanding results is a trivial task. I think the younger generation is worn out by perfect and sometimes overprocessed images. The film grain and the streaks might have something to do with the film processing. I'm getting back into film after decades away. Thanks for the video.
I think you're right about the processing. And I love the thought about the authenticity of film. That makes a lot of sense and I think you may have just nailed why film is popular again. A win for the photo industry I think.
Note that you can often mount (with modifications) 120 film on a camera that takes 620 film. The 120 spool is a little wider than the 620 spool. Some photographers reroll the 120 film on a 620 spool. Others will trim the 120 spool so it will fit in a 620 camera. ps. 620 spools are rare and expensive. So after exposing and before sending in to be developed, some rewind the exposed back onto a 120 spool. pss. all of this film rewinding needs to be done in the dark, either a dark room or a dark bag. Also note that some types of 120 film will advertise that they have finer grain. I'm not sure if that would make a difference or not. It seems like if the grain bothers you, it's worth a try.
Thanks for all the information. I have heard how people will use 120 film in a 620 camera and modify the spool somehow. It may be worth it as I would be interested in running color film through this camera. Thanks for watching.
Thank you. I shot a roll of film om my Rollei TLR last Monday. Took it to the film lab on thursday and got scans in my email on friday. That us amazing service. I was a film photographyerwho had to transition to digital as well. Still shooting some film and reviewing cameras. cheers Geoff
Very timely. I was just headed out the door to do exactly what you did. Bought a 1939 Kodak Senior. Was worried about light leaks so I made a leather sleeve that slides over bellows. Eager to see results.
Thanks for watching and for the comment. I was surprised by the results I got. Not bad for a camera that had been a mantle piece for a long time. I forgot that I had broken this up into two videos. Hope you got to see both.
Great two part video - thanks! I just got a Kodak 6x9 on eBay for £10. Cleaned it up and fixed a couple of pinpoint holes in the bellows with black car touch up paint which seems to have worked really well. Mine is a 620 too but I plan to use 120 roll film and just cut the edge off the plastic cartridge to make it fit. I will hopefully get 8 shots out of this, but waiting eagerly to use it. I would like to see the quality, and if the images are good I might consider making an enlargement just to show what a £10 camera can do. Digital is great too, but I need a challenge now and again.
The streaking is probably fungus between lense layers. As far a retouching goes it depends on the medium I’m displaying my images on. If I’m printing the just spot removal and contrast. If digital then I do some minor enhancements.
Hey Super neat video. I literally just did the same thing (picked up an old "mantle-piece" camera off my shelf and realized: hey this camera is perfectly functional). I do wonder what resolution your negatives were scanned at. Because regardless of graininess, when you zoomed the images seemed to have poor resolution. As to say, maybe the "image" isn't sharp but the graininess should always be "sharp" if scanned at a high resolution, if that makes sense. And it doesn't seem like the "grains" are sharp ^-^. And frankly at $14.99 for processing I would be quite surprised if the images were scanned at anything close to 300ppi. Again Lovely job (especially with the filters), and thank you so much for sharing.
I did not consider this at the time but after reading your comment I think you may be very right. I know that scans are not super high res. and that probably did play a factor. Hmm, now you having me rethinking this......thanks for the insight and observation.
I Don't think that streaks are caused by fungus, course they would be consistent on each image. Rather, either unwashed residue or uneven development could be the reason. Now I never had experience with either this particular film or that type of (620) film in general, so I couldn't point the finger to neither laboratory person nor the film itself. What you could try is to wash that film agin, maybe you could put it thru Photo Flow chemicals, and rinse it properly before drying in order to get rid of that residue. In regards to fogging in upper part of the image, you are right, that's most probably caused by the lens. With that being said, a lens hood of sort would be of great help. Cheers...
Very insightful and I appreciate the comment. The film did have one spot on a frame that was from not rinsing or cleaning it but I didn't see anything else. I will take a closer look now. Thanks!
Great video, I have recently cleaned up my fathers Kodak Junior anastomatic he used during the second world war, I can only get 120 film here in australia and wondering if the numbers line up the same as the 620 film. A bit of trial and error I guess. The streaking is a processing fault, I get it on my 35mm film sometimes
Wonderful. Thanks for the insight on the streaking. My understanding is that the only difference in 120 and 620 is the size of the spool. Not sure about the numbering and how far to advance to the next frame. I wonder what it would take to ship 620 film to Australia?!
The first camera that I had, was a hand built MF press-style camera from Germany with a German lens, and a hand built wooden box!
I shot hand-cut Plus-X Pan and Panatomic-X and the images were stunning. Unfortunately, I had to give the camera back but to this day, I still remember that experience. I still have all of my enlarger and film processing equipment. I even got into Extachrome-64 both film and print processing using 35mm (I even built my own custom temperature controllers to keep the film temperature within 1/4 of a degree Fahrenheit); it is and other worldly experience to pull out a strip of color slide film out of the development tank with all of the brilliant colors! If the film was cheap and the chemicals were still available, I would probably still do film but these days the digital has gotten to the point to where I don’t see a great big advantage.
Film does have a look though, so you can’t simply dismiss it… 😊
Great story. Love the memories we have that got us into photography.
wow todd, excellent images. really liked the high contrast look and the use of the red filter to make those clouds pop in the sky. its the look that I'm currently using on my panasonic S5 full-frame digital camera with an old-school screw-on red filter. the only difference between your images and mine are attributed to the primative lens on your kodak camera....still I'm very impressed with your results. it would be great if you did more shooting with this camera on occasion. zen billings canada
Thanks for the comment!!
I think the appeal of film today is the authenticity. Digital cameras and photo editing software are so good today that producing outstanding results is a trivial task. I think the younger generation is worn out by perfect and sometimes overprocessed images. The film grain and the streaks might have something to do with the film processing. I'm getting back into film after decades away. Thanks for the video.
I think you're right about the processing. And I love the thought about the authenticity of film. That makes a lot of sense and I think you may have just nailed why film is popular again. A win for the photo industry I think.
Note that you can often mount (with modifications) 120 film on a camera that takes 620 film. The 120 spool is a little wider than the 620 spool. Some photographers reroll the 120 film on a 620 spool. Others will trim the 120 spool so it will fit in a 620 camera. ps. 620 spools are rare and expensive. So after exposing and before sending in to be developed, some rewind the exposed back onto a 120 spool. pss. all of this film rewinding needs to be done in the dark, either a dark room or a dark bag.
Also note that some types of 120 film will advertise that they have finer grain. I'm not sure if that would make a difference or not. It seems like if the grain bothers you, it's worth a try.
Thanks for all the information. I have heard how people will use 120 film in a 620 camera and modify the spool somehow. It may be worth it as I would be interested in running color film through this camera. Thanks for watching.
Thank you. I shot a roll of film om my Rollei TLR last Monday. Took it to the film lab on thursday and got scans in my email on friday. That us amazing service. I was a film photographyerwho had to transition to digital as well. Still shooting some film and reviewing cameras. cheers Geoff
Thanks for watching!
Hello, I collect and use film cameras, develop film. I have to say that I really enjoy watching your video. It's amazing! Thank you for sharing
Thank you for watching! I appreciate your comment.
Thank you so much for this video.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Very timely. I was just headed out the door to do exactly what you did. Bought a 1939 Kodak Senior. Was worried about light leaks so I made a leather sleeve that slides over bellows. Eager to see results.
Thanks for watching and for the comment. I was surprised by the results I got. Not bad for a camera that had been a mantle piece for a long time. I forgot that I had broken this up into two videos. Hope you got to see both.
thanks a lot
You’re welcome. Thanks for watching.
Great two part video - thanks! I just got a Kodak 6x9 on eBay for £10. Cleaned it up and fixed a couple of pinpoint holes in the bellows with black car touch up paint which seems to have worked really well. Mine is a 620 too but I plan to use 120 roll film and just cut the edge off the plastic cartridge to make it fit. I will hopefully get 8 shots out of this, but waiting eagerly to use it. I would like to see the quality, and if the images are good I might consider making an enlargement just to show what a £10 camera can do. Digital is great too, but I need a challenge now and again.
I loved what you said about needing a challenge now and again! Thanks for sharing and thanks for watching. Some more film videos are in the works.
The streaking is probably fungus between lense layers.
As far a retouching goes it depends on the medium I’m displaying my images on. If I’m printing the just spot removal and contrast. If digital then I do some minor enhancements.
Interesting about the fungus. I didn't know that. Thanks for the insight.
Hey Super neat video. I literally just did the same thing (picked up an old "mantle-piece" camera off my shelf and realized: hey this camera is perfectly functional). I do wonder what resolution your negatives were scanned at. Because regardless of graininess, when you zoomed the images seemed to have poor resolution. As to say, maybe the "image" isn't sharp but the graininess should always be "sharp" if scanned at a high resolution, if that makes sense. And it doesn't seem like the "grains" are sharp ^-^. And frankly at $14.99 for processing I would be quite surprised if the images were scanned at anything close to 300ppi. Again Lovely job (especially with the filters), and thank you so much for sharing.
I did not consider this at the time but after reading your comment I think you may be very right. I know that scans are not super high res. and that probably did play a factor. Hmm, now you having me rethinking this......thanks for the insight and observation.
I Don't think that streaks are caused by fungus, course they would be consistent on each image. Rather, either unwashed residue or uneven development could be the reason. Now I never had experience with either this particular film or that type of (620) film in general, so I couldn't point the finger to neither laboratory person nor the film itself. What you could try is to wash that film agin, maybe you could put it thru Photo Flow chemicals, and rinse it properly before drying in order to get rid of that residue.
In regards to fogging in upper part of the image, you are right, that's most probably caused by the lens. With that being said, a lens hood of sort would be of great help.
Cheers...
Very insightful and I appreciate the comment. The film did have one spot on a frame that was from not rinsing or cleaning it but I didn't see anything else. I will take a closer look now. Thanks!
Great video, I have recently cleaned up my fathers Kodak Junior anastomatic he used during the second world war, I can only get 120 film here in australia and wondering if the numbers line up the same as the 620 film. A bit of trial and error I guess. The streaking is a processing fault, I get it on my 35mm film sometimes
Wonderful. Thanks for the insight on the streaking. My understanding is that the only difference in 120 and 620 is the size of the spool. Not sure about the numbering and how far to advance to the next frame. I wonder what it would take to ship 620 film to Australia?!
@@Todd_Kuhns just watched a vid with Jim Sollows, paper and numbering is exactly the same, only the spool is different
@@mrpatrickkay61 Ah, very good!