Revisiting the Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic camera

Revisiting the Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic camera

You're probably wondering why the sudden rash or revisiting old cameras? Well just starting is the latest instalment of the Shitty Camera Challenge and I'm hoping that I can actually get around to using some of the vintage cameras that I've  collected over the past year.

Back in May I posted about one of my 'filling in the gaps' cameras, the Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK). The camera was in nice condition, although the only shutter speed that was working was 1/50s, but what tipped the scales for me with this VPK was that it came with the autographic pen, a little steel stylus that was used to write details on the film between frames.

After cleaning the body and lens I had discovered that the bellows had a few pinholes in them, so I filled these with a little StarBrite Liquid Electrical Tape, a thick rubberised paint. I left the liquid electrical tape to dry thoroughly before closing the bellows. At this point I fully intended to reassemble the camera and then spool some 35mm film onto a home-made 127 paper backing. 

However, I didn't actually get around to putting the VPK back together again,  and I was mortified to discover it still disassembled in a box and not in a storage case as I had imagined. Fortunately, reassembly of the Vest Pocket Kodak was simply a matter of sliding the strut-folding lens assembly into the body and tightening two screws. 

Now that the VPK is back together I took a fresh look at the front plate of the camera. It was quite complicated really, and not easy to read. Nominally the shutter speeds are 1/50s, 1/25s, B, and T, but since only the 1/50s speed is working we can ignore that and concentrate on the apertures

The aperture selection lever is situated below the lens. Instead of f-numbers for the apertures, as is the custom today, the apertures are numbered 1-4, together with a short description of the aperture to use in a particular situation.  These are:

1. near view/portrait;

2. average view;

3. distant view;

4. clouds / marine.

My understanding is that these are equivalent to f11 (1), f16 (2), f22 (3), and f32 (4). Since I will be using the camera with a fixed shutter speed I will need to adjust the aperture accordingly depending on the film being used.

As mentioned before, the intention is to make a couple of rolls of 127 paper backing in spool some 35mm film into this. I actually have a couple of rolls of 127 film, but the snag is I'm not sure if my local laboratories are able to develop 127 film. That's a job for this week. Instead the meantime I have plenty of other folding cameras to play with.

If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com@keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.

#Kodak, #Autographic, #VestPocket, #127Film, #Bellows, #Experimental, #Film, #ShittyCameraChallenge, #Retro, #Vintage, #ArtDeco,