Film Fun Folio #14 - Autographic 3A and Velvia 100F Double Feature

Periodically, 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 #14:

Camera: ca. 1928 Kodak Autographic 3A Camera with f/7.7 Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectillinear Lens.

Film: Fuji Velvia 100F

Locale: Frederick County, MD.

The thought of what could be done with huge 120 exposures as panoramic scenes taken in a 122 camera was sooo appealing, and I'd gotten a few promising results from some of my first rolls in the Autographic 3A, only to be disappointed in a follow up roll.  I tried to take a few lessons learned from these experiments and feed the massive camera two more rolls of film to see if I could find something encouraging and useful among the exposures.

All photos were taken at 1/100, with real apertures set between f/22 and f/32.  These "settings" however are not accurate for the light levels in the scenes, but are an adjustment due to the tendency of previous attempts to shoot at normal settings on this camera that came out looking overexposed.  I tend to suspect a slow shutter or an odd aperture iris that causes these overexposures, so I tried to properly compensate.  

1 - Feagaville, MD - Off the bat, the exposure compensation has worked wonders for the exposure.  The result is one with vibrant colors and very natural looking contrast and toning.  The only problem is that the scene, focused at infinity, fails to really render fully focused.  Not sure if this is an issue with the film plane or the focus of the camera. 

Film Fun Folio #9: Kodak Autographic 3A and Provia 400X

Periodically, 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 #9:
Camera: ca. 1928 Kodak Autographic 3A 122 format folding camera
Film: Fuji Provia 400X - expired December 2014
Locale: Central Maryland
June of 2015

I had certainly enjoyed the experiences of creating images of a more panoramic nature by adapting 12o film to cameras using obsolete film formats.  I dove into this realm by first using 120 film in a 116 format camera, and later followed it up by shooting a few rolls through an ancient 122 format camera.  The results from the latter, while encouraging, also gave me some room for improvement.  If I was really going to get some favorable results from this camera, it seemed imperative that I shoot at f/16 or greater.  Since shooting stopped down so far in all lighting situations would be tough using slower films such as Velvia 50, it seemed only practical to use a faster speed film.  However, I'd been underwhelmed at the color rendition of this camera on negative film, and wanted to use slide film to test this theory.  This resulted in me having to use one of just two rolls I had left of a renowned but discontinued film: Fuji's Provia 400X.

1 - Sykesville, MD - f/16 1/100 - So, with only 5 shots to use, I select a sprawling farm as my first shot. Only thing is, I just can't seem to get the horizon to line up the way that I want it.

An Autographic Experiment Part 2 - Shooting 120 Panoramics in a 122 Format Camera

The thirst continued:

The images from my initial test 120 roll in the Autographic 1-A 116 format camera had not even returned from the lab when my curiosity of the possibilities got the best of me. I looked into information on other discontinued roll film formats, and began to research which could be adapted to utilize 120 film.  

My goal was to be able to get the largest possible image on a frame of 120 film, one that approached panoramic dimensions.  After some minor research, I'd made the decision to pick up a new acquisition, none other than a Kodak Autographic 3-A camera, using the 122 format.  Whereas my existing 120 cameras could take images ranging from 6 x 4.5 to 6x9, and the Autographic 1-A could bump that up to an impressive 6x11 format on 120 film, the 3-A could trump these, producing a 6x14 size image on 120 format film.

After a little bit of searching, I snagged the actual machine itself, a Kodak 3-A dating from between 1916 and 1926, armed with a Bausch and Lomb Rapid Rectilinear lens. Report were that this lens not only could be quite sharp at f/16, but also had some surprisingly good color rendition considering its production in the midst of the panchromatic era.   

The Autographic 3A at left is somewhat larger than the 116 format 1A seen next to it.  Still, it towers over 120 format cameras such as the Super Ikonta 531/2 and the Ikonta A 521.

Sounds great! But it comes with a hitch.  Unlike the 116 camera that is only slightly wider than 120, and thus, can be fed a roll of 120 film by simply laying the supply roll in the chamber and threading the film to the native 116 roll, this 122 format is appreciably wider than 120, about an inch in fact, so using the same methods is sloppy at best, and could result in poor framing and skewed horizon lines. I had to step it up with this experiment if I was going to come away with anything usable.