9. Introducing more cameras!

I haven't posted for a while, but that doesn't mean I've been doing nothing. On the contrary, I've been quite busy, and here's why.

It turns out that vintage cameras can be just a little addictive!

My original plan was to renovate a 100yr old camera and use it to learn how to develop my own film. And I have done that with my No.1A Autographic Kodak. But then in blog post 7 I took it on a road trip back to Lacock Abbey, where the earliest known negative was produced. During that trip we visited the Fox Talbot Museum, where I spotted another vintage camera that sparked a new route for this project of mine.

The camera which caught my eye was the Mycro, a Japanese sub-miniature made in the 1940s and 1950s. I just knew I had to have one, it looked so cute!

The Mycro takes 17.5mm film, producing absolutely tiny negatives. It has been a real challenge to source film and I tried expired 17.5mm, before finding another solution.

But, I almost forgot to tell you...

When the camera arrived, there was an exposed film in it! So of course I developed it to see if there was anything on it.

Bearing in mind the negative is approximately the size of a fingernail and had been in the camera for an unknown length of time in unknown conditions, I was delighted to get something recognisable as people!

Since then, I've found another exposed film in a different camera, which also produced degraded but recognisable pictures. I can't help wondering what scenarios would lead to a film being left in a camera for many years. It seems quite sad that the person who took the shots and the subjects of the photographs never got to see the results.

Investigating film for the Mycro led me to look at other sub-miniature and spy cameras. I was particularly interested in those produced by the Soviets during the Cold War period. Let's face it, we're all a little intrigued by Russian spies. Or is that just me?

I kept coming across one called Kiev Vega (Киïв Вега).

This was made by the company Arsenal in Kiev, now Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

It also takes 17.5mm film, coiled in a tiny cartridge, which looks like a precursor of the 110 cartridge I had in my first ever camera in the 1970s. Searching online I found a couple of people in Ukraine selling expired film. I had no idea whether this would work, but thought that I might at least get SOMETHING out of the camera.

Plus, I'll be honest, I liked the look of the film box!!

The results with the expired film were frankly useless, but when I tried fresh cut film (see how below) it was exciting to see something more promising.

And then...

And then I came across a photo taken in the trenches of World War 1. The folding metal-cased Vest Pocket Kodak was introduced in 1912 and was immensely popular.

During the first world war it became known as the soldier's camera. Its small size and relatively rugged construction was a hit with the troops, who used it to document life on the battlefield. Many of these photographs survived to show their families back home and later generations the reality of war.

This camera takes 127 film, yet another challenge to track down. Anything which is rare is expensive, and so it is with 127 film. However, I discovered a device (3d printed by an enthusiast in Italy) which allows me to cut the much cheaper and readily available 120 film down to size. Yes, film numbering is weird! Anyway, what's left over from cutting 120 film down to 127 is a sliver of film which just happens to be pretty close to 17.5mm wide, just perfect for the two sub-miniature cameras above.

How amazing is that?

So that is how one vintage camera became four!