Regularly, I'll be posting scans of some complete rolls of film on here, showing both the good and the bad, and giving some basic information as well a little write up of the shoot as well as the reasons why I selected each camera and film. Enjoy the trip!
Feature #1:
Camera: ca. 1949 AGFA Billy Compur 6x9 120 folding camera
Film: Fuji Velvia 50
Locale: Central Maryland
May and June of 2015
It had been a while since I'd shot anything on the Billy Compur, a gleaming Art Deco styled camera that was among the very first folding cameras I picked up. I'd felt a little guilty about leaving Billy on the shelf for so long, but as the landscapes about turned from a dreary shade of straw into a more lush green, I wanted to give this camera another shot, as my previous results were a bit hit and miss, and I was not sure if this was more a by-product of my inexperience with folding cameras when I first shot it back in the Fall, or if it was an issue with the camera itself. I loaded it up with a fresh dated roll of Velvia to see how it would perform for its first roll of 2015.
1 - Washington DC - f/4.5 1/50 - I elected to test the sharpness of the Solinar lens wide open for my first image, and got this generally successful result.
If a look through the chronology of my posts is to be believed, I'm a "camera whore." I get a camera, shoot a roll or two through it, and then stow it away as my fascination turns to the next novel project or acquisition in my repertoire.
I am very proud to say that is not the case.
The story and interest in the machines does not end with the publishing of the article. In fact, the article often sets about to be the springboard for even more new and novel fun with the camera once I have gotten a taste of its strengths and limitations. As such, I thought it would be a nice idea to publish this follow up as a sort of "where are they now" feature. Enjoy!
It's the very camera that got me interested in film photography once again, and after a little bit of trial and error, I got it working once again. Since discovering the portability and fun of the folding cameras, I've used the Seagull less, but it is still a wonderful camera to use, though often maligned by "serious" photographers. Ironically, it is the medium format camera I've had the longest, and yet it is the newest in my collection, as every other 120 camera I own was somewhere in the world on the day I was born. Below is a Provia 100F image taken with the Seagull. I had to secure the camera on the rear of my car, causing the light bleed in the lower corner.
There is a very strong likelihood that at some point, someone took a picture of a streetcar named "Desire" with a camera named "Billy."
And while the now-discontinued New Orleans Desire streetcar line is pretty much well known as a result of the famous Tennessee Williams play, Billy has fallen into relative obscurity.
And yes, there really is a camera named Billy, and he comes in many variations.
I myself learned about Billy through some very roundabout means, starting with a Saturday afternoon browsing a store named Pink Cabbage in Ellicott City. Here, I spotted a folding Kodak rollfilm camera in very good condition with a working shutter for the modest price of $34. I was instantly intrigued, but upon opening it, discovered it took 616 film. I did a few hasty Google searches to see how 120 film could be repurposed in a 616 camera, but the results seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.
