Brownie in the woodsBrownie in the woods

Analogue Blog: Bakelite Brownie anyone?

An Aunt bought me a Kodak Brownie 127 as present when I was around eleven.  I think I became quite fond of it and certainly shot a few rolls through it. I don't even know what happened to it, but for some reason, quite a few decades later, it occurred to me I ought to have another.  Onto the big trading site again and there were plenty to choose from.  If you want one of these things, you'll pay very little money even for a reasonable one and they represent a kind of challenge.

The Bakelite 'Brownie 127'  was manufactured for Kodak in London in the fifties, as a cheap camera for the masses. This was a nod to the original Kodak Brownie Box camera idea. I picked a slightly older styled one that looked in nice condition. It would have been in nice condition, had the seller packed it properly.  It arrived in little more than a bag with no protection around it.  There was a little rattling sound from a piece of Bakelite falling around the inside as it came out of the inadequate packaging.  A small piece was clearly recently broken off the inside around the edge of the light seal. Perhaps it wouldn't be critical; I went ahead with the plan.

What's 127 Brownie?

A quite charming art deco styled casing with an un-coated single lens element and a fixed aperture, supposedly around f14. The camera has simple spring powered rotating shutter that moves at one speed only and probably not precisely. A true holiday snaps camera with an utterly feeble viewfinder. You'll need plenty of light, which I didn't have.  There is nothing to adjust; load a film, point it at the subject, press down on the button, listen for the click. Next wind the knob whilst watching the markings through the film window at the rear.  Back in the day, you would then have turned the knob underneath to split the top of the camera from the bottom, removed the full film spool, licked the adhesive tape, fixed it down to stop the roll unwinding and off to the local chemist shop.

Finding the consumables

There are other bigger Brownies for 120, but this type takes 127 roll film.  That was fine back then, but of course it now limits choice a little. If you want to spend a while trying to unroll a 120, neatly cut it down and re-spool it, then I've got to hand it to you.  I didn't fancy attempting that and anyway, the camera probably wasn't worth it, or so I thought.  Analogue Wonderland had some stock of re-spooled HP5 under the name of HP 400, so I ordered one of those. 

Shooting attitude

For some reason I had decided I needed to run a roll through the Bakelite Brownie 127,  process it and get it out of the way, just so I could say I had done it.  There was to be a lesson here.  Sitting between 35mm and 120, 127 actually makes for a reasonably big negative. Even if a camera has no adjustments at all, it is still a device to capture an image and we should always marvel at that process. Anyway, off I went with the Brownie in less than wonderful light conditions.  Just 8 frames, that's all you get, so a roll goes by quite quickly. With hindsight, more patience on my part would have been rewarded.

Getting to know the ropesGetting to know the ropes

One in the bag

Roll film is of course great fun in a changing bag. If you aren't familiar, roll film has a paper backing of the same dimensions. It's easier to get started than 35mm unless you have left the tail sticking out.  In the dark bag / room, scissors at the ready, working your way along the roll until you find the point where the film is attached to the paper with a piece of tape. If you are working in a changing bag, you don't have as much space to move the paper roll far enough away from the film to be sure its the film you've got. If you briefly try to load the paper backing before deciding it folds too easily, you won't be the first.

Let's Reticulate

When it came to developing, the film went in the chemicals last and again, I rushed the process.  Knowing full well my stop bath was rather warmer than my standard 20 degrees, I pressed on anyway.  Again I had left the fixer in some warm water a little longer than it needed to bring it up to 20, but my lack of attention to detail with the stop bath was probably the cause.  The negatives came out with quite visible reticulation.  Little blobs randomly spread around the image where the emulsion protested about the sudden temperature change. It might be an effect you are looking for, but on this occasion I certainly wasn't.

Scan them anyway

Until the negatives are scanned you can't be sure how good or bad something is.  So, to the next problem.  My scanner doesn't come with a 127 film holder.  Was I going to try and fashion something for this purpose?  No, I fiddled around until I had managed to trap the 127 strips into the 120 holder.  This was hardly going to help sharpness towards the edges where the film curled somewhat, but what the heck?

As they came through the scanning process I began to feel a little annoyed with myself. Why had I not taken more care at both the shooting and the developing stages? The little camera had performed better than I had expected. Without the reticulation, some of the images might have been passable. I say passable, of course you can expect vignetting, and an acute lack of edge sharpness.  Oh and don't expect the sharpness to get hugely better towards the centre. Contrast?  Er... not really. These things are of course all part of the charm. You have still recorded a naive looking image on an emulsion. Imagine how pleased you are going to feel though if you coax a good result out of a camera like this. 

Here are some more images from the that one roll in the Bakelite Brownie 127.

Okay, the Brownie isn't a camera benchmarkOkay, the Brownie isn't a camera benchmark

Back to the Brownie?

Would I do it again?  Yes, I think this Brownie will have one more outing.  The good folks at Analogue Wonderland have increased their 127 range since I shot the HP 400, though some of the products tend to show 'sold out'.  They have listed a 127 colour slide film, Rerachrome... now that's one I want to try when it shows as in stock.  So next time, with a little more care.