The anatomy of a 1930 Kodak Brownie Camera

[spystyle]

The Kodak Brownie camera from 1930. Made of some aluminum, some wood, but mostly 'hard cover book' type cardboard. It smells like an old library book. The name 'brownie box' may have referred to the material as much as the shape.

Here is the front of the camera.



Here is the back of the camera.



Here is a closeup of the stamp on the back of the camera.



The front of the camera, opened.





The back of the camera, opened.



Closeup of the text on the inside of the back door.



The guts removed.







Old and new. A Kodak pocket camera from 2008 (which was used to take these pics) next to the 1930 Kodak. Also an American quarter for scale.



Thanks for looking,
Craig

[Colby]

Craig,
Interesting series. My Mum had a Kodak camera very much like the one you have posted. It is the first camera I can remember. My first camera was Kodak Brownie. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Colby

[spystyle]

The Kodak Brownies are so cool If I had a huge amount of space I'd probably collect them all. I got this one and another for $20 shipped off eBay. Between the two I had enough parts to complete this one. I gave the other one to my neice as a gift - a thought provoking paper weight. Apparently these can be converted to shoot 35mm film :

YouTube - Using 35mm color slide film in a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

brownie house on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I have also seen people making custom spindles to shoot 35mm film in a 120mm film format brownie.

I'm so lazy though - I can't be bothered to stray from digital

Cheers,
Craig

[tharper]

Cool! My sis picked up a Brownie at an antique camera store she found for almost nothing. She found another old school camera, don't remember the type though. She thinks the Brownie might actually work.

[spystyle]

The brownies are such simple devices, hardly more than a 'pinhole camera' - if it doesn't work it can be fixed easily I'm sure.

Cheers,
Craig

[andrejan]

I've bought one of those ( the No. 2) in an antiques shop a long time ago. I actually took pictures with it when I was young. It's a great camera to learn how to take pictures, because you really can see how it works. No high tech.

[spystyle]

Originally Posted by andrejan

I've bought one of those ( the No. 2) in an antiques shop a long time ago. I actually took pictures with it when I was young. It's a great camera to learn how to take pictures, because you really can see how it works. No high tech.

This is probably an absurd request but ...

Do you have any of those pictures to scan and upload? That would be cool to see pictures from this type of camera in this thread

It is easy to Google up some Brownie pics made with recently manufactured film, but it would be more interesting to see some actual vintage pics.

Cheers,
Craig

[andrejan]

Vintage... I'm not that old .

I found one and scanned it, no PP except for a tiny bit of unsharp mask and resizing.
According to the stamp on the back of the picture it's from 1975. This means I was 10 when I took this picture. It's one of the rare ones where my finger was not in front of the lens...

Andre

[spystyle]

Fantastic! A thread about a particular camera and an authentic sample pic Good job!

[manorphotographer]

I'm glad he's having a go at you too...he's even accused me of being in WW1...no pleasing some people.
Also says he gets a kick out of brownies...I don't know how he gets into the uniform.
Just kidding Craig. Brian.

[manorphotographer]

Brown Owl will do it ! Brian.

[manorphotographer]

I was diving off Stoke Beach nr Plymouth (UK) with my brother... some 40 years ago now ...when our inflatable started to sink.
The only camera I had was a box brownie type device...may even have been a genuine example, I dont know..anyway it was floating around in the boat and filled with water and we had to pour the sea-water out of it once we got ashore. We sent the film off to the lab more in hope than expectation but got the reply...sorry your results are not too good... this can happen if your film gets damp !!
So hats off to Mr Eastman... or his collaborater...the first unintentional underwater shots.Eat your heart out Jacques !!

[spystyle]

Funny

Keep up the good work Brian

-----------

Also, I can translate English to English :

Originally Posted by manorphotographer

I'm glad he's having a go at you too...

I'm glad Craig is teasing you as well

Originally Posted by manorphotographer

(Craig) says he gets a kick out of brownies...I don't know how he gets into the uniform.

(Brownies are the name of junior girl scouts, aged 7 - 10)

I don't know how Craig fits into a junior girl scout's uniform!

Originally Posted by manorphotographer

Brown Owl will do it !

"Brown Owl" is what they call the leader of a junior girl scout group in UK.

------------

There is a lot of info about Kodak Brownies here : http://www.brownie-camera.com/

Cheers,
Craig

[manorphotographer]

You mean american to the mother tongue! Are you listening Bill ?... you've got competition. Brian.

[spystyle]

Truly, but I felt the term "English to English" was funny

[andrejan]

Thanks for the translation, Craig. I needed it.
For me Brownies are camera's or chocolate cakes. Didn't know about the girl scouts..

Andre