Buried treasures: My grandparents' camera

[toverman]

A few years back I was helping clean out my grandparents' house a little bit and came across their old Kodak camera. Apparently, they bought it right before my grandfather was to report for duty during WWII. They used it on their trip from Virginia to California, and then many times after to document their lives.



Still with original box and instructions, although I think the instructions are from a box of film rather than the camera itself.



These film guides were in the box. Cost 10 cents each.



This roll of film is still in a sealed box. Process before July 1958!



Box open, but the canister of Agfa film is still sealed.

Unused rolls of film are sad, like so much wasted potential. The good news is that there were also albums and even a trunk full of photos in the house, too. Maybe I'll post a few of those some other time.

[David_3]

This is very cool. A great collectable, with some sentimental value too.

[popawalker]

That is cool Todd, a nice personal treasure. Yes, please scan some pictures and post them.
Steve

[laawaaris]

the camera probably still works!

not sure about the film though ... shoot a few rolls and then you'll know !

[AndrewCCM]

I can almost guarantee the camera still works..

I have been collecting old film bodies myself.. Most of mine are only 30 or so years old though. I do have an old Jiffy Kodak Series with a Twindar lens that is in really decent shape for being made sometime in the 1930s.. Ah.. back in the days where cameras were actually made in the USA. Rochester, NY to be exact.

PS: Does anyone know if you can get 620 film anymore? LOL

[mjfalk]

Take a look on the net, there are a bunch of sites that help you convert 120 film to 620 film. Here is just one site:

http://www.bpwltd.com/620120.html.

[Hanky]

Cool find!

[Big Dog]

Originally Posted by AndrewCCM

PS: Does anyone know if you can get 620 film anymore? LOL

Yes. I think B&H sells it. And, there is Film for Classics: http://www.filmforclassics.com/ which has all kinds of old roll film, including 620 and 127. 127 B&W is still manufactored by Efke (Europe), plus they cut and re-roll some Kodak color films.

Plus, as another poster said, one can re-roll 120 film (readily available) onto 620 spools. It's not that hard, and it drops the cost from $10 to $3-4!

See: http://www.inficad.com/~gstewart/respool.htm

Oh, and in spite of the nice pictures, be sure and do that in the dark!

[HutchPhoto]

Todd
That is Fantastic can't wait till you post some of the photos...



.

[snydersnapshots]

Originally Posted by toverman

A few years back I was helping clean out my grandparents' house a little bit and came across their old Kodak camera. Apparently, they bought it right before my grandfather was to report for duty during WWII. They used it on their trip from Virginia to California, and then many times after to document their lives.

That is so cool on a couple of levels. First, with all the technology we have and use--autofocus, auto exposure, and instant gratification through the viewfinder--it's fun to get "back to the basics" and do it the "old fashioned" way with a piece of vintage equipment.

The second level is the more sentimental one. Using the camera that your grandparents used when they were young. I'm sure it wasn't inexpensive. Perhaps your grandfather bought it because he wanted a quality picture of your grandmother to take with him overseas. When you think of all the pictures it's taken and places it's been...

Enjoy--and please do post some pictures!