I just bought a Brownie No. 2 Model F (UK) at a flea market for $5. I am considering experimenting, taking pictures with it.

Is there any arguable benefits of Brownie images over traditional 35 MM images other than the nostalgia of using a camera from 1924 ? Is it considered a medium format ? What is the quality of the optics of a Brownie?

Thanks for the info. Frank V.

-- Frank Venturella (frank.venturella@msdw.com), November 19, 2000

Answers

Brownie Images

Check out the link at the bottom of http://chuckc.webjump.com/Brownie/hawkeye.htm for the sort of quality a basic box camera can produce. Also http://members.aol.com/chuckgif/brownie/bud.htm and http://members.aol.com/chuckgif/brownie/gallery.htm for other results from similar cameras.

Advantages : Contact prints are a viable proposition as a finished picture

Disadvantages : Contact prints are possibly the only viable proposition as a finished picture ... the lens is of insufficient quality to allow significant enlargement.

6x9cm negatives are usually considered "medium format", but in this comparision, you're likely to get superior technical results with a quality 35mm camera.

-- Chris Eve (kypfer@itl.net), November 21, 2000.