When I bought this camera at a garage sale in Midland, MI for $2.75, the older fella asked me, “You’re one of those people that buys it and sells it on the internet aren’t you?” I replied,”No sir, I’m a photographer, I’ll clean it up, fix it, and use it.” Its time for you to wake up from your 50 years of hibernation, camera!
Even though I’m running short on 120 film, under peer pressure, I decided to take the camera for a test run today with a roll of Kodak TMY 6053, expired for 7 years.
The negative seems under developed and fogged, due to its age, but, this is only a test run, nothing serious. Lets look at some images.
Both shots are shot around f16-f22. 1/25 on a tripod using a cable release.
Everything looks ok except for the tree in the left background. The right background looks plenty sharp. I’m impressed by this Kodak Anastigmat.
This time the whole left frame looks softer than the right. That tells me the film is not sitting flat. Either I need to add a pressure plate and make the roll tighter, or probably both. There are also scratches on the emulsion. A bit of electrical tape should provide a smooth enough surface to fix that.
The camera makes 5 exposures on 120 film instead of 4, which was my miscalculation. But everything else wound right, and spaced properly. This 152mm lens turned out almost like a wide-angle lens. Maybe next time when i get a chance, I’ll load some fresh film in there. By the way, I need a bigger darkbag, mine is not big enough with that camera and a tank in it. NOT BAD FOR $2.75!
Previous Blog Entry For The Conversion
Developing The Original 130 Film For This Camera
Straight, No Chaser. 
no, not bad at all. good show with the pano. they look a little dark but i’ve figured out that’s just the screen.
My negs are pretty thin yea. ________________________________
Hi, I’m finally going to be modifying my camera to use, but i’m wondering how many turns you were winding the film? Since you can’t see the numbers on the backing..
https://dehk.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/converting-a-kodak-2c-autographic-jr-into-a-120-panoramic-camera/ Info will be here.
I suggest you rig up a pressure plate with like a piece of foam and cardboard.
Loading: Line up the start line to the right edge of the metal frame (Pretty much right next to the feeding spool.
Turn 17 half-turns and you will be at frame one.
6 half-turns to the next frame.
You should get 5 frames from a roll of 120.
Awesome! Thanks for the quick response.
fyi you can get adhesive-backed Teflon tape (how does the adhesive stick to it? I don’t know). Google for it. One source is a “traditional archery” supplier.
Good Idea I will have to look it up.