I am not sure of Kodak’s intentions with the 620 format, as its width is the same as 120 film made today, a format that was quite commonplace back when the Brownie Hawkeye was popular. There is one slight snag in this whole process, relating to the camera taking 620-sized film. In short, the only thing you can do with this camera is push the shutter button down, make a snapshot, and then advance the film to the next exposure by viewing the numbers through the red window.Ĭatherine dressed in cowboy garb as a snapshot recreation from the 1960s.

There is something delightfully reassuring about this simple process, which is remarkably low tech, reliable, and unchanged since George Eastman introduced it over 100 years ago. Loading the camera with film is straightforward: load the unexposed roll into the space at the top, drag out the paper backing to the take-up spool at the bottom and wind it a turn or two to make sure it “catches,” then close and latch the back and wind the film until you see the number “1” in the little red window. None of these dismantling steps requires any more skill level than being able to use a small Phillips screwdriver, but be careful that you don’t misplace the screws as they are quite small. I took the trouble of unscrewing the screws holding the cover glass in place so I could clean it you may or may not need to do this. The lens sits behind a flat glass cover plate, which in my camera had become cloudy with age. The lens is a plastic single element, which is set at a focus point somewhere between five feet and infinity.

Shot with Ektar 100 film.Īs best as I can determine, the shutter goes off at about 1/50 second and the aperture is fixed at around f/16. With a little surplus clothing and some 1940s hair styling and makeup, the resulting photo looks quite retro. Using the Brownie Hawkeye at a local air show of WWII bombers.

Shutterbug vintage clothes