An Autographic Experiment Part 1 - Shooting 120 Film in a 116 Format Camera.

It had "quirky" written all over it, so when I spotted the idea, I too was all over it.  

As is evident in many of my posts, I've gotten a bit engrossed with the 6x9 format as of late. It is the largest format I have ever shot in, and I had expected it would be the largest format that I would ever shoot film on, as I didn't see myself ever expanding to something like a 4x5" field camera, as it seemed far less convenient than my beloved 120 roll film.

Still, there was a hunger in me to shoot in a larger 120 format to get a super sized image on film.  

And as it turns out, the 6x9 cm format is not the be-all end-all of 120 formats, as there are cameras available to shoot both in a 6x12 as well as a whopping 6x17 panoramic format.  But neither options were really music to the ears of my wallet.  

And then I saw this webpage from Mike Connealy...

I was engrossed in the idea! Take a camera of a different format, and, with some degree of educated guidance, feed it a roll of 120 film to get a full bleed image that is approximately 66mm x 110mm in size, about 30% larger than the 6x9.  It seemed like it could be a really fun experiment at least, so I set about to see what I could find on the world's largest and most "evil" auction site! ;-)

Since Mr. Connealy had managed to successfully perform this task on a ca. 1929 vintage Kodak Autographic 1A Pocket of 1926 to 1932 vintage with no modification whatsoever, I elected to look for that same exact model. Prices on the 1A Pocket tended to range from about $25 to $40 plus shipping in possibly usable condition, not expensive at all, though maybe a bit much for what might ultimately turn out to be a single experiment versus a recurring shooter.  

SPOILER ALERT:

There is a happy ending to this story as the ancient camera and modern film made lovely images together.

Kodachrome Classic Monday #33

Every Monday, I'll be spotlighting a different classic Kodachrome slide that I've picked up, and trying where I can to detail the who, what, when, where, why, and how (much) of the image:

This Week:

What: Business district in a postwar transition

Fun with Film: Rollei Infrared 400

It has taken me a little while to really get back into shooting black and white film.  Between my fascination with old color Kodachrome slides and the wealth of color that was amid the landscapes during the Summer and Fall when I began to get back into shooting film, the premise of stripping that vibrance from my resulting images was not something I was initially ready to do.

That bias has since abated, with the rural landscapes largely having turned to a rather uniform palette that is the color of dull straw since November, the once rich green grasses now in a muted shade of sickly moss, and the colorful foliage on the trees now replaced by withering vines and branches.

However, even as I dove back into film, and was picking up a roll or two of whatever color films were still obtainable, a black and white film caught my eye that seemed particularly interesting to try. It took some time and effort to find a lab willing to process it, but finally, I have results in hand.  The film in question: Rollei Infrared 400.

Kodachrome Classic Monday #32

Every Monday, I'll be spotlighting a different classic Kodachrome slide that I've picked up, and trying where I can to detail the who, what, when, where, why, and how (much) of the image:

This Week:

What: The Camera Store

Kodachrome Classic Monday #31

Every Monday, I'll be spotlighting a different classic Kodachrome slide that I've picked up, and trying where I can to detail the who, what, when, where, why, and how (much) of the image:

This Week:

What: Neighborhood after a snowfall.

A (somewhat less than) Super Ikonta

All told, I'd had a lucky streak when it came to picking up cameras from ebay.  I had picked up a very capable TLR in the Yashica 12, as well as over half a dozen medium format folding cameras.  While I had encountered a few letdowns along the way, I came away from each initial test roll of a new camera with usable photos as well as some valuable insights on what situations for each camera would be useful.

In early December, I stumbled across a very attractive auction listing for a very good looking Zeiss Super Ikonta, for an opening bid of just under $100.  Since these typically sell for upwards of 3 to 4 times this amount, I handily placed it in my watch list for revisiting.  By the afternoon of the auction's closing date, there were no bites at all on this camera, and a good part of that was likely due to the listing calling this simply an "IZEISS COMPUR CAMERA."  Thus, it didn't appear in search results for "Zeiss" or "Ikonta."  I figured I was worth an early Christmas present to myself, so I bid, and managed to win it for just over $120,  a decent score considering its value.

This Zeiss was the "premium" version of my other Ikonta cameras in that it had a coupled rangefinder to assist in focusing, thus giving it the "Super" moniker.  Further, it had a Tessar f/3.5 lens that was the high end counterpart to the less sophisticated Novar on my other 6x9 format Ikonta 521/2.

The camera's seller was apparently a widow selling off her husband's camera collection, and offered little description in the way of the functionality of the so there was certainly some risk involved regarding the functionality of this classic Zeiss, and as such, it was being sold strictly "as is" with no guarantee of functionality.  Regardless, it looked to be in excellent shape, so it seemed that if nothing else, it was at least worth what I had paid for it.

The Super Ikonta 531/2 appears quite similar to the 521/2, with the most pronounced difference being the elaborate rangefinder mechanism that the user swings into place after unfolding.  To focus, the user looks through the porthole in the back of the camera, seen below, then composes the image using the Albada style flip up finder.

Kodachrome Classic Monday #30

Every Monday, I'll be spotlighting a different classic Kodachrome slide that I've picked up, and trying where I can to detail the who, what, when, where, why, and how (much) of the image:

This Week:

What: A Winter Parade.