My first proper camera - Kodak Six-20

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

I am brand new to photography and I have decided to go down the route of film, will be looking at moving into wet plate at some point but here is my first camera, here is my greeting thread with some details of some other projects I am thinking about, I will keep this thread as only about my Six-20

http://www.realphotographersforum.com/meet-greet/5478-hi-all-newbie-here-d.html

Its a pre 1953 Kodak Six-20 model C, its in very good condition! I went for the older model of the 2 model Cs due to looking nicer and the fact that there is less plastic used (winding knob for example)

Carry case

Front

Side

Back - exposure number

Other side - winding knob and landscape viewfinder

Inside

Yes....only 620 film

Shutter hold works well, uncoated lens in very good condition

620 reel was on there!

Clean internals

Shot of camera with my HMV 102 (camera is the newest item in the picture)

 

[Brian Moore]

That last picture suggests you'll be getting around with that camera!

Very nice, David. Did you conclude yet whether you can fit a 120 spool into it?

 

[David Mitchell]

Will be nice to go for a picnic with the camera and the HMV 102 its a 78rpm player but pre-vinyl

I will need to get myself some 120 film and check, the good thing is that I have a 620 spool and I know that sometimes you can run the 120 spool feed with the 620 spool take up - the 620 spool has the keyways for the winding knob. I will of course just need to ask for the 620 spool back after I get them developed though! I will also look at developing them myself at some point but will check out the cost of getting them developed elsewhere first so I can get some practice.

I went out in the garden to check the viewers and was amazed at the clarity of the image, also had to get used to the fact there are 2 view finders, one for portrait and one for landscape!

Just need to check that everything is light tight which it seems to be and I will get some film soon, found that Amazon have Ilford FP4 for £4 a roll, not sure how many exposures I will get, im guessing 8?

Ilford FP 4 120: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

There is also some HP4 ISO 400 film as well, I will try the FP 4 first but will get some HP 4 at some point as well to compare

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ilford-1629017-HP-5-120/dp/B00005MEAI/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_text_b

Here is a video regarding 620 and 120 film, I believe that the Hawkeye in this video is later than mine, so it should be ok to do this trick (its why I am happy I have a 620 spool!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a8oEi1d590

 

[Pete Askew]

This is where I buy all my film if it helps.

SDS - ILFORD

It's HP5 and FP4 by the way. Delta 1oo and 400 are very good also.

Nice shots of the camera by the way. I'm looking forward to the results.

My mother had the same record player and camera. I have the camera now but I'm not sure what happened to the record player when she died - must ask my sister - but I know that the box of 78's went to my cousin. She also had a box of brand new needles bought in the 50s which were probably more valuable than the player itself!!

 

[Brian Moore]

I'm guessing its a 6x9 negative and so 8 shots to a roll.

 

[David Mitchell]

Top man, thanks for the link, I knew there must be a site out there who were cheaper sorry about the name mixup, im new to all this lol

Thanks, as I can't seem to find a huge number of close up photos of the camera I thought I would post them up, ive also got one of the shutter mechanism etc:

With regards to the HMV 102, its a 78 but I can't play the 'modern' vinyls on it due to it only taking pre vinyl acoustically recorded records which they stopped making in the 40s really, they are made from Shellac, I have some original HMV loud tone needles and some new soft needles for it just thought it would make a good photo as they have the same sort of case

 

[David Mitchell]

I'm guessing its a 6x9 negative and so 8 shots to a roll.

Yeah, just checked the manual, states an 8 shot roll, which is great as I can't be trigger happy as I would be with a 35mm or a DSLR lol

 

[Nick Johnson]

Nice looking camera. I've gone a bit mad of late buying myself a few little cheap cameras.

My first was a pocket Kodak 1920's ish. Vest pocket Kodak 1912-1914 in process of restoring it. And just got a cosmic 35 zone focussing view finder camera.

Look forward to seeing your pictures. Have you thought of developing your own black and white? Guessing that's what you'll use.

 

[David Mitchell]

Cool, yeah im looking around for some folding cameras myself, although ive just bought a Sputnik stereographic camera to have some fun with as well as it takes 120 roll film. I will be using B&W film, got some Ilford HP5 and some Ilford Delta 400 coming soon, pretty cheap film. I will get the first few rolls developed elsewhere but I will be looking to develop them myself then scan them in to reverse them to positive (bit easier as they aren't going to be colour!)

Get some photos of your cameras up, I do like the old school pre 1950s cameras, theres something more mechanical and honest about an older camera as there weren't as many features and everything was a bit more simple

Edit: just tried to fit a 120 spool into the Six-20 (from the Sputnik camera) it won't fit the take up, so I will have to spool onto a 620 (which I have) it seems that it will fit the top feed spool section, but it pushed out of line due to the extra 1mm lip on the spool vs the thin metal 620 spool, so I think I will try and clip the edges of the 120 spool of a cheap film (apparently nail clippers work well) and see if that fits, looks like it just the extra 1mm lip thats stopping it seating correctly

 

[David Mitchell]

That last picture suggests you'll be getting around with that camera!

Very nice, David. Did you conclude yet whether you can fit a 120 spool into it?

TADA!!!

http://www.realphotographersforum.c...120-film-into-620-camera-guide.html#post51526