Film Then and Now

Steve Noel

In Memorium
Location
Casey County, KY
My first photos were taken with my mom's Brownie Junior 620, over 50 years ago. Still have a few of those pictures. Development and a fresh roll of film from Fox Photo, was $0.65. Today I found a Brownie Junior 620, at a yard sale, for $5.00. ( You didn't think I would leave it there, did you?):) The picture is, just as found, with no clean up, beside my E-p3 and 45mm. Both were compact, "for their day". I had no Idea where mom's "Brownie Box" went. It's very a good day for me.:)
The man said, "it's been laying around here for a long time. How do you focus it? How do you take it apart? How does it work?"
It was the ultra simple picture making machine. And it just needs a roll of film, to do it again!:2thumbs:

620_and_E-p3.jpg
 
That is the "hair pin" shutter spring. Trip it down for one shot, and up for the next. "fires" every time, with no "safety" stop if film is not wound to next frame. Also no safety stop, for film winding. Watch the little red window for the next number, printed on back of film. No "machinery" to get out of calibration. Shutter is a "flip/flop" piece of thin metal, with a hole in it. View finder is a small window, that has a small mirror below it to reflect the image up to view it. Winding film is a simple twist knob, catching the wind up film spool. No rapid fire here!
 
My first was something just like this:

cxey.jpg


A Kodak Instamatic 110-format camera I got used from a yard sale with $5 of my hard-earned lawn mowing money when I was in or about 2nd grade, I would guess. I shot 15 or 20 rolls with it through elementary school, and still have many of the prints. I remember the thumb film advance tab on top, I remember the heavy, leaden feeling of the clunky shutter button, and I remember how tiny things looked in the viewfinder, with those dashed lines outlining the frame. I also remember that you could look backwards through it (so it magnified) and use it as a mini-monocular.

NOW: Fuji X100.

vqb6.jpg


Photographed in this case with the other thing I use a lot, a 70's Minolta XD-5.
 
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