TexasGirl Photography

I’m really enjoying being part of the Frugal Film Project, so I’ve already started thinking about next year – with a different camera and film combo of course. Surveying the cheap cameras on my shelf, and wanting to stick with medium format so that I have fewer frames to not only expose but also scan and edit, my number one choice is my Brownie Hawkeye.

I have special love for this little camera. My Dad let me take it out of his collection several years ago, and gave me some (very old) 620 film plus some old (metal!) 620 spools to go with it. I have yet to use the film, in part because of its age and there’s only about 5 rolls, but I have played with the camera a fair amount. The waist-level viewfinder is wonderful and bright, and it has the pleasing appeal of point and shoot. Also, I like the handle.

The film, however, is an issue. Years ago, friends of mine suggested I could just trim the edges of 120 spools (with nail clippers) to help it fit in the camera, maintaining the 620 spool for take-up. I tried this many times, and sometimes it worked better than others. It’s a really tight fit that way, and the advance knob is so difficult to turn sometimes I have to use one of those rubber gripper things for opening pickle jars.

Toward the end of last year, I decided to use the nail-clipper technique to put a roll through the Brownie, and it was SUCH a tight fit I couldn’t even get it to load to the first frame: while I was struggling to turn the advance knob, I was shocked to hear the sound of some kind of snap. My heart sank, thinking I had broken the camera, but a moment later in the darkroom I discovered that the snap had been the sound of the film backing paper breaking in two. I had no idea that was even possible!

I set the whole mini-disaster aside for a while, to ruminate. Eventually, I decided I would just tape up the paper and load it into a different camera (Diana F), but I did a terrible job with the tape and it failed within moments. Fast forward: I bit the bullet and trimmed up the paper, after feeling around with it in the dark for several minutes. I taped it into place in the Diana and exposed the roll. That’s the end of that part of the story.

There are two positive things that came out of this experience: first, I was still able to use that roll. You can see the results here. Second, it gave me a new confidence with medium format film. I am no longer afraid to mess around with it.

In the meantime, I ordered some 620 film from the folks at Film Photography Project (via B&H) and I noticed that not only did the film roll smoothly and problem-free through the camera, but some of the film was good old HP5, hand rolled onto different spools.

Thanks to my new confidence, it occurred to me: Amy, you can do this yourself.

Part of my journey for sorting out next year’s Frugal Film Project was done! Next: what film to use? I ordered a few rolls of Arista 400 from Freestyle, having had great experiences using Artista’s sheet film, went into the darkroom, and rolled the film onto a 620 spool. Here is a video by one of my friends in the Film Shooters Collective about how to do this. I’ve shared it before, and maybe I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again: it’s not rocket science. You can dooooo it!

The above photo shows what I used. For some reason I keep all my used 120 spools (let’s not talk about how big the box is that’s full of them), so I was easily able to produce an extra to roll the film over onto before rolling it back onto the 620 one. I photographed on a Wednesday at the tennis courts and then at the new library, and I’m thrilled! I’m ready! I will be raring to go in January, and I doubt I will even wait until then to use my Brownie again.

Considering I used the camera mainly indoors, and taking into consideration the camera’s limitations, I am really happy with the results. I developed the film as instructed on the inside of the box, in D76 1:1. It seems to have lovely tones and a fine grain, but I feel like I will be better able to judge what it can do after I put a roll through my Hasselblad. When you look at the prices Kodak is slapping us with these days, I figure it’s good to have more affordable options in your pocket.

I made several multiple-exposure photographs on this roll because I was indoors and I knew there wasn’t enough light. That’s one of the fun things about the Brownie, though: creative options!

So tell me: what other cheaper films should I try?? I’ve got some Kentmere 400 in Medium Format, and I’m hoping to play with it in 35mm also.

Thanks, y’all, for reading!