How to Use Your Obsolete 620 Film Cameras

I have managed to collect a couple vintage film cameras that take 620 film.  620 film is similarly sized to 120 film, but the reels for it are slightly smaller.  While you can modify 120 film to fit in these cameras, the easiest way to use them is with a 35mm film mod (similar to the mod that allows you to shoot 35mm in a Holga).

I used this mod to make my Kodak Browning Hawkeye and my Ansco Flex II usable again.  Here’s a full tutorial of 35mm in my Ansco Flex II.

1. Tape over the hole used to view which frame you are on (this is for 620 film with paper backing).

Use packing peanuts to center the roll of 35mm film and tape it into place.

Tape the other end of your film to the take-up spool.  If your camera doesn’t have a 620 take-up spool, you can obtain one on eBay.

Shoot film.  Each camera is different, so you will have to experiment with the number of turns between each frame.
When the film is done, you’ll need a darkroom or light tight changing bag to unload the film in total darkness.  Wind the film back into the canister and develop.

Just like shooting film in a Holga, the image will bleed onto the sprocket holes of the film.

Because of the orientation of my Ansco Flex II and Brownie Hawkeye, the shots will be vertical on the film.

Enjoy!
-Kelly

DIY Red Scale Film

Not too long ago, I wrote an article about Rollei Redbird film.

Today, I offer 2 options for getting your own Redscale film cheap.  Option 1 - Follow the DIY instructions below or Option 2 - I'm going to list and sell my handmade RedHeaded 35mm film on Etsy for $6 a roll.  To reserve your film, post a comment below.

Special reserved film sale - Post your comment below and I will give you a 10% off code for when the film is listed on Etsy.

Fun Fact: You can control how red or gold the photos come out by changing the ISO setting on your camera.  Overexposing (setting to ISO 50) makes the photos come out more golden than red.

ISO 400

ISO 100

ISO 50

ISO 12 (Note, this film shoots photos backwards.  You have to flip them when you scan your film or print it)
I love red scale film.  However, there is nothing I love more than cheap expired film.  How to blend my two loves?  Use cheap expired film to make my own red scale film!
How To:
Materials
- Roll of color film
- Empty film roll with some of the film still left at the end
- Scotch tape
- Darkroom or light changing bag

Cut the end of your film so you have a straight edge.  Flip it upside down so the films are being taped together upside down.  Attach the ends with scotch tape.

Put the whole setup in your darkroom of light changing bag and use the spool to roll all the film into the other film canister.  When you’ve rolled it all the way, remove from bag and cut the film leaving a little of the end left.

Cut a new notched end into your film so you can load it.  Now’s the time to check your work.  When you load the film, it should be backwards like so:

Set your ISO and shoot!

When you unload the film, you can either give the lab instructions or use the same method to return it to it’s original film canister before dropping it off at the lab.
Here are some more photos from my first roll of film.



- Kelly

Camera Obscura

Since Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day is coming up, I wanted to share a project I did with my photography class recently.  We built a camera obscura inspired by Abelardo Morell.

To set this up, we blocked all the windows in a room at the school, then positioned “pinholes” in a portion of the window.  These pinholes ranged from 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter and turned the entire room into a pinhole camera projection of what was outside.  Everything was backwards and upside down.  The students (and staff, parents and myself) had a blast standing in the room and watching cars, kids and everything else go by our little school.

Above is a long exposure photo of the back wall that shows what we were watching in the room.
Tips:
-The room doesn’t need to be 100% light tight.  Cover the windows most of the way, although the darker the better.
-Smaller pinholes create sharper projections, but are harder to see with the naked eye.  Larger pinholes create brighter projections, but are a little fuzzy.
-To take a picture of the inside of your camera obscura, point the camera at the wall opposite the window and use a longer exposure on a tripod.

Good luck with your life size pinhole projects!
-Kelly

“Toned” Black and White Prints on RA-4 Paper

Traditionally, if you wanted a toned print from a black and white negative, you would use warmtone paper or use a toning bath, such as sepia.  However, if you happen to have access to color photo paper and a color darkroom, you can change the settings on your enlarger color packs to get tinted monotone photos.  These are the settings I used for each toned print with a CMY enlarger, use them as a starting guide since they will vary based on your negative and the type of photo paper you are using.

Green – Magenta: 115, Yellow: 105, Cyan: 0

Blue – Magenta: 100, Yellow: 150, Cyan: 0

Sepia – Magenta: 60, Yellow: 50, Cyan: 0

Pink – Magenta: 20, Yellow: 50, Cyan: 0
Good luck with your toned prints!
Kelly

Reticulation - my article on Lomography.com

I've been writing articles lately for submission to Lomography.com. So far they have published 4, some of which are based on posts from this blog.  Check out this article I wrote about how to reticulate black and white film, which makes the silver in film bunch up for unique grain patterns.
Experiments with Film: Reticulation - Lomography
-Kelly

Product Photography for Artists

If you missed my SAC Business of Art Class, or even better - if you were in the class and were looking for more information, I’m uploading a copy of the PowerPoint from the class for your reference.
Also, please check out the “Photography Basics” tag for more tutorials.
View PDF file here:
http://www.klsphotography.com/files/11227/productphotography.pdf
-Kelly

Is that a camera?

Is it digital? Is that made by Fisher Price?  Wait, it shoots film?

Or my personal favorite…

What are you doing?

There is something special and fun about shooting toy cameras.  First, nobody gets them.  And the people who do, LOVE IT.  I’ve been working on a toy camera exclusive project and I’ve heard so many “OMG, is that a Diana?  Can I hold it.  I have to get one of these!” 

Or, there are the people who are around when I’m taking a pinhole photo that are generally confused (and a little nosy) and want to know what you’re doing – only to be confused further when you say, “I’m taking a picture.  That’s a camera.”  I know what they’re thinking… “that box/paint can/lifesavers tin/insert random object is a camera?  Okay, I’m just going to walk away slow.”

But my best advice is to take it all in stride.  Or educate people.  I found a lot of people were fairly astonished to know that I spent $70 on a multi-colored Holga.  “But, why, isn’t it just plastic?”  Well, yeah, but it’s the most amazing plastic I can possibly get my hands on.

I love it.  If you see me on the street with a toy camera, feel free to ask “Is that a camera?”  I’ll tell you all about it!

Kelly

Cyanotypes

Cyanotypes are an interesting, very very old photographic process. They’re super accessible for people who don’t have a darkroom. All you need is a UV light source (PS, the sun counts), a negative and water.

Step one, take a nifty looking photo with fairly high contrast and convert it to black and white in a photo editing program. Then invert the image to create a negative. Or you could use a real negative. Or you could do a Rayogram, which I’ll save for another time.

Print it out. Normal printer paper works fine. Printable overhead transparency paper works better. Cut out your negative.

Obtain a light source. The sun is a great one, but when it’s cloudy (or night) or rainy, sometimes it’s nice to move the process inside. I found out that CFL light bulbs leak UV light (in safe amounts, according to various websites). The less coated or covered the bulb, the better. I went with the raw spiral kind (packaging shown below).

Finally, obtain some cyanotype sensitized material. You can go the easy route and by a Sunprint Kit like I did. They come in 4” and 12” size squares and include a piece of plexiglass.

While you are not under a UV light source, take a piece of paper out and layer as follows:

Flat surface, cyanotype paper (blue side up), negative, plexiglass.

Expose to your light source. With the CFL bulb, it was between 15-30 min. The nice thing about these is as they expose, the white parts of the negative turn white on the paper. When your exposure is done, you will have a negative image on your paper.

Wash it under normal tap water, and a positive print will magically appear. Lay it flat to dry.

As each print dries, the blue color will darken.

All done. Now I’ve converted an Instragram style cell phone pic to an age old analog print. Plus, it’s a picture of film which just sweetens the whole thing for me.

That was simple, and addictive. I’m out of transparency paper or I’d still be making prints.

Kelly

Choosing Film

Buying film can be intimidating if you’re not familiar with the process.  C-41, black and white, C-41 black and white, infrared, 35mm or 120…

Whatever your film needs, the first step is to buy from Freestyle Photo.  They are trying to support analog photography and will continue to make film products until they go broke!  Support Freestyle who supports keeping film alive!

Whether you buy 120 or 35 will depend on your camera - that should be pretty straight forward.  Picking a film processing type will be a different thing.

Black and white professional films (I heart Kodak Tri-X, which isn’t shown here because I shot all of it) need to either be processed by hand using black and white developing chemicals or taken to/sent to a lab that has the chemicals.  In Siskiyou County, you have a couple places in Medford, Crown Camera in Redding or you can send away to Photoworks in SF, who doesn’t charge very much to process film.

Black and white film also varies in price, just like black and white darkroom paper.  It has to do with the amount of silver in it.  Images are created using silver halide, and since silver is spendy, more silver = better film = more money.

On a totally unrelated note, this is why I love Ilford Warmtone paper even though it’s more than a dollar a sheet.

Next, we have C41 process film.  This is basic color film processing.  They happen to make black and white film that can be processed in C41 chemicals, but most of the prints will have a tint and you can’t hand print from them in a black and white darkroom.  C41 processing is simple.  Drop it off at Rite Aid, Crown Camera or (if you have time) send it away to Photoworks.  Rite Aid sometimes abuses my film, so a professional lab is preferable.

Infrared film works just like black and white film, only you pre-soak it in water.  Oh, and it records a totally different spectrum of light, has to be loaded and unloaded in total darkness and requires an R72 filter to get those neat IR effects.

Weird film is weird.  So weird, I couldn’t get a clear shot of it.  Rollei, Holga and Lomography make some great stuff.  Just follow the directions.

Finally, if you’re not cross processing, slide film is processed in E6 chemicals and gives you a positive slide (instead of a negative).  This is one to send to Photoworks as well.

That’s about it.  Finding a film you love has a lot to do with personal taste.  I like Tri-X because I like grain, but it’s not for everyone.  The reason I have all these film types is because I intend to shoot all of them and compare and understand them all.  Look for more on that in… a long time… there’s a lot of film there!

Cross Processing

Everyone with an iphone or a Droid with a funky camera phone app has probably heard of Cross Processing (aka X-Pro) and knows the photos come out greenish/yellowish/bluish depending on the app.  But did you know there is a whole film developing process behind cross processing that created the inspiration behind the apps?

Cross Processing is when you take color slide film (usually a positive film that is developed in E6 chemicals) and develop it in color negative developers (your normal negative film is developed in C41 chemicals) or visa versa.  I recently bought slide film with this specific intention.

First, I want to point out that whatever chemicals you use to develop will dictate whether the film comes back as negatives or positives.

Second, the X-pro slide film comes back a weird color.  I knew even before I got this in the darkroom that things were going to be interesting…  Left, normal negative.  Right, X-pro slide film.

 

I processed these by adding a lot of yellow to the color filter pack (which removes yellow from the print), but you can see how green these are.

Just for comparison, I took a “cross processed” photo with the Vignette app on my phone.

Hmmm… well, that’s neat.  It’s missing the grain and texture of the film.  But I still don’t think digital is anywhere close to being on the same level as film as far as printing and effects.  I love the cell phone apps, and they’re plenty cute, but if you like the look I highly suggest shooting a roll of film and having it cross processed at your local photo lab.  There is nothing like it.

Kelly

Side lighting

I wrote a post about this about a year ago, but I decided to take down the original post so I could go back and tackle this subject again.

I really love side lighting.  It’s really wonderful for shooting indoors in black and white and creating a wonderful, moody photo.

So much of how your photo’s mood is seen has to do with lighting.  I think side lighting can be somber, pensive, quiet and deeply emotional.

This shot takes an interesting turn on child portraiture.  She’s cute as a doll, but it’s a sweet, quiet, pensive shot - which I feel comes from the shadows and contrast.

Same idea, different day.  I shot with the light of a glass door between her and I, then bumped the contrast even more in post processing.

The moodiness the light lends puts her deep in thought.

This also reads as a somber mood to me, even though the light is more behind him than to the side.

So, what do we take out of all this?  First, use natural light.  Second, break all the rules for using light!  Put the light behind your subject, next to it.  Experiment.  Photography isn’t a science, it’s an art and you will need to break rules and experiment to find your personal style.

Kelly