I've got loads of 620 cameras gathering dust... I thought they were useless, but it's not that hard to get them up and running!
PLEASE NOTE - there’s a pretty big mistake in this video!! 620 film was NOT discontinued in 1955… they were still making it until 1995! I have no idea how I messed that up so bad! Sorry…
This is the first of a series if videos featuring local businesses. I'll be visiting people in my local area of South Gloucestershire, popping in saying hi, taking a look around their business and taking some photos of them in their natural environment! It's an idea I had which will give me some interesting people and places to shoot, and gets me out and doing something positive for the area where I live... hopefully. If I can get the photos right.
So, 620 film. I had been ignoring my 620 cameras on the basis you can't get film for them any more. But first I discovered that the Film Photography Project (filmphotograph...) have started re-rolling Kodak films and you can buy them from places like Analogue Wonderland (analoguewonder...) here in the UK.
You pay a premium for them, of course, because FPP have to be making some money from it somehow, but they deliver to you four ready-rolled 620 films. It actually turned out to be a good way to both get my hands on some 620 spools because I didn't have any, and let me dip my toe in the water of 620 without taking on the seemingly impossible task of re-rolling 120 onto 620 myself.
You see, 620 film and 120 film are identical. The backing paper, the film itself, same size, everything. The only difference is the spools. They're different shapes, and more often than not, a 620 camera won't take a 120 spool. Some do, so it's always worth a try. But in most they won't fit.
As you'll see in the vid, first shoot was a disaster. My fault. I only had four rolls to work with, so I decided not to film test the cameras before the shoot, or I would have only had two rolls to work with.
Big mistake. Total write off. Waste of my time and the subjects. Lesson learned!
The subject for this shoot was the lovely Sue from Trashman Treasures (www.trashmancl...). She and her family run a house clearance business in Gloucestershire, clearing houses and rescuing anything that could be of use to someone. They don't want to throw anything away if they can avoid it. Which is great.
Sue was very patient... allowed me to come back a second time and do the shoot again, after the first one was a disaster. Big thanks to Sue!
I fixed the cameras, they worked second time, lessons learned etc etc.
What do you think of the photos? That Brownie Flash B is actually really good! What amazing photos.
More coming up, I'll do a vid explaining the re-rolling at some point. It really is pretty easy, I was very surprised!
Trashman Treasures on Facebook - / trashmantreasures