Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

38 22 February 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Technique BOX CAMERAS

Howtousea

box camera

ALMOSTallboxcamerashavea waist-level
viewfinder– youpeerintoit froma longway
above.Becauseof theslowshutterspeed
theyarepronetomovementblur,somust
beheldpressedtightlyagainstyourbody.
Youwillalsoneedtoworkoutyourown
workflowforwindingonasthereis no
doubleexposureprevention– alwayswind
onjustbeforeyoutakea photoorjustafter,
butdon’tforgetwhichyouchoose!Practise
beforeyouactuallyputa filmin it untilyou
canrememberallthequirks.Theyoften
havea ‘fl ip-flop’shutterthatpressesdown
foroneexposureandupforthenext.Many
havea tripodbushthatfits a moderntripod,
if youcan’tholdit stillenough.Somehavea
littlepull-uptabthatholdstheshutter open
untilyoupresstherelease a
secondtime,making
longexposuresor
pinhole
photography
possible.Youcan
usea pairof
rubberbandsto
holda filterover
yourlensforthings
likecloudeffects.
Manymodelshavea
tabwithanextralens
thatdecreasesthe
distanceat whichthe
focusis set– these
oftenhave‘Portrait’
in themodelname

• andtherewere
  push-onaccessorylenses
  doing the same job.

Faircamera,theAll-DistanceEnsign

andtheEnsignFul-Vue,withitshuge

viewfinder,almostfourcentimetres

square,comparedtotheNo2 Kodak’s

thumbnail-sizedfinder.Post-warcameras

usuallyhavelargerviewfindersandsome

comecompletewithpop-upsunshields,a

booninbrightconditions.

If youwanttocollectthem,the1920s

and30ssawmanymanufacturerslaunch

artdecofrontplatesinnewmaterialslike

chromium.Coronetproducedplainmetal

camerasinBritainbutcardboardones

withveryattractiveandcolourfulfrontsin

France,andcoloursrangedfromblackto

green,brown,red,blueandevensilver.Plus,

beingboxshaped,theystackonshelves!

WhichfilmshouldI use?

Don’tusefilmfasterthanISO100,there

areseveralsuitableoptionsonthemarket.

Coveryourredwindowwitha pieceof

blackinsulatingtape,liftingit onlyto

windyourfilmonhavingmadesurethatit

is outofdirectsunlight,otherwiseyou

mayfindthefilmnumbersimprintedon

yournegatives.It is worthcleaningthe

rollersontheendoftheconethatthefilm

travelsoverasanydirtorcorrosionmay

scratchthefilm.Youcanalsotryusing

colourfilm.Inmostboxcamerasthelens

is setwellbackbehindtheshutter, so is

well-protectedfromlensflare.

Negativesandprints

A6x9cmnegativeis bigenoughthata

straightcontactprintservesasa

photograph,andcanbeenlargedtoa size

thatwillgoonthewallthat,unlessyou

pixelpeep,willstilllookgood.Myfirst

photographeverprintedinAPwastaken

witha 1930sCoronetboxcamera,soyou

geta greatsenseofsatisfaction.

Sohowdoyougetit onthatwall?You

can still get 120 fi lm developed and

printed,lesscommonlynowonthe

highstreet,buteasilybypost.Oryou

candoit yourself– everythingto

developfilmis stillavailableand

negativescanbescannedona

transparencyscannerandtreatedas

digitalfiles.If allyouwanttodois play

withyourboxcamerathisis a big

investmentbut,if youintendtousefilm

more,youcansetupforhomedeveloping,

scanningandprintingforlessthan

the cost of a mid-range DLSR.

Fromlefttoright:AnEnsign

Ful-Vue,a CoronetConsulanda

Kodak No 2 Brownie

Don’texpectdigital-cameralevelsofqualityfrom

scanned-infilmimages.It won’tbelongbefore

you discover that it’s both fun and satisfying