DGermany is derailed. The pandemic caused one or the other to rummaged through many boxes and boxes in the attic or basement, which had been stored there for a long time without being moved. Obviously there are many old cameras that are no longer in use, too bad for trash cans, and are now available on flea market platforms on the Internet. Among the ancient treasures, there are a staggering number of cameras from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many old flat cameras that are looking for a new owner are provided as decorations.
As a decoration? In fact, they are too suitable for display. Can you still use it to take pictures? The answer is: Yes, as long as there is a little luck. Many cameras that are about a century old have survived for decades in dry conditions and are protected in suitable leather cases. At present, there are many wooden cameras and folding cameras in the format of 13×18 cm, mostly in the format of 9×12 cm. The wooden camera, known as the travel camera, usually dates back to the turn of the last century and was a camera commonly used by amateur photographers at that time. Professionals use heavier and larger cameras and formats. After 1900, folding cameras became more popular. With a 9 × 12 cm format, it also provides good image quality suitable for the prevailing conditions. It can be handheld and does not necessarily require a large tripod. Photo materials are cheaper, and the camera is more convenient to use and transport. It was simply folded up so that the lens and bellows were perfectly protected from all external influences like a protective cover, to this day.
It is recommended to check the camera quickly when using it now after so many years. Is the bellows tight, does the shutter work, and is the lens clean? The folding camera can open the top with a button hidden under the leather cover, and then fold the floor. It is locked in place, and then carefully pull out the lens slide rail on the rail until it also clicks into place. In principle, the camera can now take pictures. Visual inspection from the outside revealed cracks and damaged corners on the bellows. Checking with a flashlight in the dark will reveal hidden damage. The lens shutter should be carefully tilted and released. Sometimes the lock is made of resin and can only be used a few times to restart.
Using the focusing screen, you can check the picture before shooting, reverse and invert it. Usually, a folding camera has an anti-glare hood for the focusing screen, which can evaluate the image in the sun, so no black cloth is needed. Most cameras also have a viewfinder or a bright viewfinder, and they can also display the correct part of the image. Then estimate the distance. To record, you now need a recording box, a so-called disk box. Flat-panel cameras usually include three or six flat-panel ink cartridges with negative glass plates. These negative plates are sold in a box of a dozen, and there are also half boxes of six. There are different versions to choose from, for flat and sheet films, packaging films and roll films. Cassette tapes with sheet film can only be used with sheet film inserts. This is important because the position of the emulsion must be consistent with the screen, otherwise the photo will be blurred.
How to get from here? From this point on, it requires more than basic film and camera skills and the ability to use various possibilities for creativity. The photo board for the 9 × 12 folding camera and the larger 13 × 18 wooden travel camera was no longer available for a long time. Now there is a photographer in the United States who coats photos with his hands and also produces various formats (J. Lane Dry Plates from Pictoriographica, LLC.). In Germany, the products are manufactured by the Black and White Photo Lab-Du The simulation craft studio in Seldorf was expelled. There are two versions, as in the early days of photography, insensitive to red light, that is, orthochromatic, with different sensitivity: 2 ASA and 15 ASA, with different contrast behavior. Advantages: The old camera can be used as it was a century ago without modification. You only need a dark room or a dark pocket to insert the printing plate, and the printing plate is placed in the cassette with the layer facing up. The slider is closed and ready. The light meter is very helpful for time and aperture. Insert the cassette, pull the cassette slide and expose.
Then you either go to your own darkroom or send the cassette with the exposed printing plate to the black and white photo laboratory in Düsseldorf. Its owner Thomas Ochs then professionally develops the negatives and can also scan them so that the photographer can receive not only the developed negatives, but also the digital files of his images. The file can be processed further without a special darkroom. For photography enthusiasts with darkrooms: You don’t necessarily need an amplifier to convert large negatives into positives. The contact method produces good and sufficiently large images. The 6×9 format is not very suitable for contacts. The 13×18 format is better for contacts, but it is also more expensive. 9 × 12 and larger format magnifiers are expensive, because technically it is not easy to achieve good film transparency. There are also solar devices with fixed magnification, but these devices are only used and are rarely fully provided.
