Wednesday, 14 November 2012

World Toy Camera Day

Someone (not sure who) decided that 20th October 2012 would be World Toy Camera Day. The idea being that we should all go out with very simple cameras on that day and take some photos.
The only camera I have that counts as a 'toy' is my Brownie Reflex 20. Only problem was, I heard about this rather late and I don't have any 620 film for my Brownie (even if you can get it - you can sometimes get 620 film in the UK here). So I decided to use some 35mm film, which, with a bit of 'gaffer' tape and some foam, does fit (sort of):
By experimentation with a old film I found that 1 and a half turns are required to wind each frame on.
All well and good but the 20th October the weather was pretty awful in the UK! I ended up taking the photos around that weekend, rather than on the day. The Brownie shutter sounded very slow to me, maybe 1/15th sec. Photos are a bit variable. I used 200ASA Kodak 'Poundland' film which the camera tends to overexpose when the sun is out, so it worked best when it wasn't sunny!
This is one of the better ones, self portrait in a mirror. 
Not great composition but shows that with a very steady hand you can get quite a sharp picture.
Center Point Building in London, on a very grey day...

Well I had fun, even if the results are not great!