Kodak Folding Brownie 2A Autographic

Kodak No. 2A Folding Autographic Brownie Camera (circa 1917-1926)

This week I tested a Kodak Folding Brownie 2A Autographic camera which I found in Warracknabeal on a post lockdown road trip at the end of last year. This camera, which dates from 1917-1926, originally took 116 film but can be converted to use 120 film and create 6 x 12cm images so I purchased a conversion kit from the US on ebay. There are three settings on the camera for shutter speed, aperture and the belllows focusing disance. I had to take photos of each, as even with my glasses on I found the writing very difficult to read. The aperture settings are described in words, but from my research (see sources below) found that they equate to:

1 Near View Portrait = f8
2 Average View = f11
3 Distant View = f16
4 Marine Clouds Snow = f22
Unmarked = f32 (the pointer can be pushed one more time past number 4)

There are 3 shutter speeds and two manual exposure settings:

Bright sunshine – 1/25
Unusually bright light – 1/50
Moving objects – 1/100
B (Bulb) – hold down shutter
T (Timed) – shutter stays open until pushed again

The bellows focussing has three options, although on my version of the camera there is no difference between fixed and 30m:

2.5m
Fixed
30m

When I decide to test the camera it was bright and sunny outside, however by the time I finished putting the film in and conversion kit on it had clouded over a bit, but still bright enough to give the test a go. There were a few mistakes and issues as I went along:

I used the original 116 take-up spool instead of a convereted 120 spool. This led to the film moving around a bit inside the camera.
The instructions made no mention of when to install the lens mask and it was only once I’d closed up the camera that I realised I had a piece left over and couldn’t be bothered reopening it all. As a result I ended up taking 12cm images which overlapped as the mask size is 5.5 x 8.3cm, and the instructions for rolling the film on were based on this size image.
The dark slide which is meant to cover up the red window and prevent light leaks was a very tight fit and I only just managed to cover the edge of it.

Separating the film compartment and lens

I took six photos, winding on two full rotations after each one. I followed the Kodak instructions to wind on 12 full rotations to make sure the film was fully wound on before opening, and thankfully it was.

Fully wound up film at the end, showing slippage on the 116 take-up spool

I developed the film in Cinestill Df96 monobath and digitised using my DSLR camera and the Essential Film Holder (EFH). I used Negative Lap Pro to crop the images, convert to negatives and then create positive copies. The EFH 120 mask I was using cut off the ends of the overlapping images (the mask is 6 x 9cm), but some of the overlap can still be seen.

Even after cleaning up the camera, I still found it to be very dusty, so not surprised that there are marks on the negatives. This is definitely one I am going to give another go and see if I can get some cleaner 6 x 12cm images.