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Anonymous
'sup /p/? A question for those who may happen to have enthusiasm/interest in vintage photography. I've been doing b&w photography for a few years (Canon AT-1 SLR). For xmas my dad wound up surprizing me with one of these - an Autographic 2A Brownie. Beyond the cardboard box it gets stored in falling apart, the camera appears to have taken the last 90 years quite well, and as far as I've been able to tell it looks like it's still very much in working condition (with care, of course).

The camera, however, didn't come with its manual, so I'm left somewhat clueless as to how to actually load film into the thing. The back dosen't open up to allow a roll to be strung across the camera, rather there's a sort of slit in the back covered by a hinged metal plate and a stylus. How a roll is supposed to get loaded into the camera is a mystery to me atm. Speaking of film, is it possible to accept (slightly) more commonplace film sizes? I did some research and came across the possibility of using 120 film for it, although I'm not sure specifically what models would be possible for that.

Any sort of help would be awesome. It's a beautiful camera and I'd love to put it to its intended use once again, not to mention have something a little bit eccentric for taking pictures around town.
>> Anonymous
nice to hear it's still in good condition. check if the leather sealing between the lens and film doesn't show any cracks.

those older cameras are all 120 roll film, no can do. look up a guide for loading roll film. you put the film into one side of the camera, take out the end of the film. on the other side of the camera, across the part where film gets exposed, you need another plastic thingie. it should be delivered with your camera, if not: ask a plastic thingie where you buy your film.

the beginning of the film is somewhat smaller, it goes into the slit of the plastic thingie (no idea how's it called - im just awake). then you start rolling it up. after some trying, you'll see that the film gets secured on the second plastic. close the back, wind some more.

there should be a system on the camera that counts the frames. you'll find the rest like aperture, shutter time, and shutter yourself.

loading more common film? mm.
if you're somewhat handy, you can load regular 35mm film into it. you'll get panoramic photos then (something like 2:1), but getting it scanned or printed might be tricky.
>> Anonymous
That sould be a fun piece of equipment. Now to correct a few things.

>>33062those older cameras are all 120 roll film

Actually they don't all use 120 film, 120 wasn't even all that common at the time. Luckily this camera does use 120 film, so you can just go to the camera store and buy the size you need rather than re-rolling or trimming modern sizes to fit.

>>33062plastic thingie

Film spool, and in that camera it's highly unlikely that it will be plastic.

>>33062system on the camera that counts the frames

The "system" on this camera is a small hole covered in red glass on the back of the camera. The film has a paper backing on which numbers are printed. You look through that window to see the numbers on the film. The film advance is not indexed, so you will have to watch for the next number when advancing the film and stop at the appropriate time.
>> Anonymous
OP here. Yeah, I should mention that this camera originally took 116 film
>> Anonymous
>>33062
OP again. The thing is that the camera dosen't actually fully open in the back the way a typical film-loading camera does. Like I said, there's a sort of slit on the right-hand side maybe a quarter inch thick that normally gets covered with a small rectangular metal plate (obviously to avoid light exposure). I'm finding it a bit difficult to describe verbally - I'm heading out for a bit but when I come back I'll take some photos of the back of the camera and put them up here so you can see what I'm talking about. As far as I know these cameras should allow in-light loading so I'm boggled as to how you'd load the film without unspooling the canister into the camera without exposing anything to light. Not to mention I can't see any way to get the film to hook into the winding mechanism. And this stylus... what the heck do I do with this stylus... >.<

Pics coming later today. Sorry, I probably should have done this first thing.
>> Anonymous
>>Actually they don't all use 120 film,
depends if they're old, or really old :)

>>Film spool, and in that camera it's highly unlikely that it will be plastic.
thanks

>>so I'm boggled as to how you'd load the film without unspooling the canister into the camera without exposing anything to light.
120 is with a leader and a trailer. just put the paper leader in, and keep winding until you're at the first frame. when the film is at it's end, there's a trailer that's wrapped around the film to protect it from light
>> Anonymous
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okay, I'm back. Here's some pics of what I'm talking about. Here's the back of the camera with that metal plate closed. It's the only access to the back of the camera - no hinges or anything that would suggest that the entire back of the camera can come off for loading film.

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A610Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS2 WindowsMaximum Lens Aperturef/3.2Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution180 dpiVertical Resolution180 dpiImage Created2006:12:26 16:45:08Exposure Time1/60 secF-Numberf/3.2Lens Aperturef/3.2Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternFlashFlash, AutoFocal Length10.84 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width450Image Height600RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
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And again, this time with the metal plate opened, stylus under my thumb. Obviously there's no way a 116, 120, or any roll of film is physically going to fit past that groove, lending me to believe that I have to somehow unwind the roll and feed it directly into the camera. Again, as far as I know the camera should be able to reload film in light, so I'm boggled by how I'm supposed to get the film in there in that way without exposing the film, much less how the hell I'm supposed to be able to get it back out of the camera once the roll's finished

Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A610Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS2 WindowsMaximum Lens Aperturef/3.2Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution180 dpiVertical Resolution180 dpiImage Created2006:12:26 16:46:20Exposure Time1/60 secF-Numberf/3.2Lens Aperturef/3.2Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternFlashFlash, AutoFocal Length10.84 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width450Image Height600RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
well, never mind. I gave it back to my dad to look at and within about 30 seconds figured it all out when my weak arts-student brain was stuck for hours. Turns out it *does* fully open in the back, just not the way I was expecting it would. Also turns out that stylus is used to engrave a signature or notes into the emulsion - hence 'autographic'. I'm going to go spend the next week or so whacking my head for being such a dumbass, ta.
>> Anonymous
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Hey, nice camera, I just got one of the Gevabox 6X9 Waist Level Cameras for Christmas, 1951 and 120 film, shot off a test roll today, and looking forward to seeing how it turns out. When I get the film scanned I'll try and post it on /p/. What kind of film are you using if its a 116?