Junk and Cheap Camera Month: Will it or won’t it work for me?

I got this camera from a darkroom club that was having a clear out. They had been given lots of cameras and I was allowed to rummage through. I took 3 cameras including the Seagull which I had serviced. Whether this worked or not, I would not be sending it for a service, it wasn’t that kind of camera.

It was in a very rough state. Look at the film rollers, they were covered in rust. I took a piece of sandpaper to those. The lens and mirrors were also very dusty so they needed a clean. The front of the camera was held on by one screw. Once that is out it pulls off, with a little force. Then you have access to the mirrors and lens.

The shutter mechanism was quite simple and worked as it should. The whole camera reminded me of the original Ensign, which I liked. That one was a 6×6 camera, this was a 6×8 camera, well ish, officially 2¼ x 3¼. Best of all it used 120 film rather than 620 which many box cameras do.

This camera was produced in 1927, yes 1927, that makes this one of the oldest cameras I have. For an early box camera it had quite a few settings. There are three apertures marked “Large”, “Medium” and “Small”. They are approximately f16, f22, and f32 as according to this great review. There are two shutter speeds of Instant and Timed. The former is around 1/25th, which is a bit slow even for a box camera.

Finally, you can pull out the lens to take photos where the distance is less than 10ft. The review I linked to said the viewfinders were bright. I didn’t find that on my example, even after cleaning. There is also a pull out system which is definitely brighter 🙂

To load the camera, you push up a slider on the side and the back swings out. It stays attached which is unlike other box cameras I have tried.

Finally, there is a rather odd red window cover. When advancing the film, you have to flip the tab up to reveal the window. Flipping the window also releases the pressure plate, making it easier to advance. The position of the tab makes it hard to forget to put it back in place.

I loaded mine with a very expired roll of Ilford Selochrome and went for a walk in Leeds. I found using the camera OK, not amazing, but OK.

Here are the results, you get 8 shots on a roll of 120.

Well, that was a mixed bunch. I am not sure if the light leaks are the camera or the film. Then you get the final perfect one.

Did it work for me? Yes, despite the mixed results, the camera did work. If I had used a fresher film, I am sure the results would be better. But, I doubt I will be using it again unless there is a box camera day. Even then I have other box cameras I prefer. So I think I will give this one away at some point as they are not very expensive to buy.