Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Imperial Debonair with Rerolled 620 Film


I bought this Imperial Debonair as part of a film camera lot on Ebay.  I don't recall how much it cost but doubt it was more than a couple of dollars.  An unusual looking camera somewhat similar to a Kodak Brownie.  The difference is there is a look through viewfinder.  This is a medium format camera that uses 620 film.  

I knew nothing about the camera, or the company that sold them, Herbert George Co.  It looks cool however.  A very 50's, 60's look.  When purchased it was in rough shape.  Looks like it was either heavily used or just thrown around.  I cleaned it up as much as possible, and put it in my "to be used in the future" box.  

The challenge is unlike my Brownie, I couldn't fit a 120 roll in it.  There was a 620 spool already in the camera, but I didn't want to roll my own, and 620 film is either hard to find or expensive.  About a month ago, I placed an order with The Film Photography Project store and decided to buy a roll or 620 film.  This is rerolled Kodak 400TX 120 film. 

I loaded the camera up which is straight forward and easy to do.  Because of the cracks on the seams I sealed it up with black electrical tape.  After about 4 shots the winding knob was becoming very stiff and ultimately wouldn't turn.  Hmmm, I took it in a dark room and opened the camera up.  The spool had popped off the winder.  I snapped the spool back on and closed it up.  I took 2 more shots and the same thing happened again.  I repeated the open / close routine.  One more shot and the camera was toast.  I couldn't get it back on the winder, so I took the film out and rolled it up.  I think there were at least 2 more photos remaining.

So end result I took at least 5-6 shots that I think will come out.  The film tore slightly at that point (I noticed this when I rewound the film), so I doubt The Darkroom can process the film.  I'll send it in for processing soon and will report back.

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