Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic 127 roll film camera, iconic and fun to use
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2022
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This video is another in the classic cameras from the past the Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic 127 roll film camera, the video includes a brief history, how I got it working and pictures taken with it. A fun and easy camera to use, see the results and make your own mind up if its worth buying and trying.
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My grandma had this camera forgotten on a drawer and when I mentioned to her that I was into analog photography, she kindly gifted it to me. Shoot a first roll but all the pictures came out blurry and didn't know why, I even thought the camera was somehow broken. Now thanks to you I know it was my fault for not pulling the bellows all the way out. Really really thankful for your video! Grettings from Spain 😊
Better results than I'd have expected. Stopping down certainly helps.
Yes I was pleased with the simple lens , thanks
I'm 76 and been shooting film since the 50's. I enjoyed your video. The cleaning information was invaluable. I too own this camera plus about 100 other antique/vintage models. I really wish someone would find a way to replicate the old film backing with Autographic ability. Thanks
OMG❤❤❤❤ I bought mine in the mid 80’s and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Thanks to the internet and serial numbers it turns out my camera was assembled in 1961. I was born in 1961!!!❤
Great video. Thanks. There is a much easier way of getting to the lens. Unscrew the 2 screws at the bottom of the camera and then slide the whole lens and bellow assembly up and then out from the top. This works for my 1916 version (enamel Autographic s/n ~500,000), and I believe for later versions.
Perhaps the best set of photos I've ever seen from a vintage camera test/review. Very impressive photography. Thank you for sharing them, and the information about this camera.
Martin, I love your enthusiasm for vintage cameras and the beautiful images that they capture.
Excellent review of old camera. I now know how to clean prism finder and lens on my old Kodak Jr. camera. The shot looking under the flowering tree is magical. All shots are so good. Classic character. Thank you. Your enthusiasm is wonderful.
Thank you your comments are really appreciated
Martin, this video is fantastic. I have found my great grandads VPK and sought out info on restoring it....your video perfectly showed me everything I needed to know. I ordered 127 film and am excited for its arrival to begin practicing with this great piece of history. You have a great eye for composition and I thoroghly enjoyed watching you work.
Good one. Thank you. Pictures are much better than I expected .
I am fan of „dead formats” and successfully restore them from existing materials. 127 is not so hard to prepare from 120.
Some very crisp and good contrast. Very nice photos.
Going through the unenviable task of clearing my late mother's house. And just found my grandfathers Vest Pocket no 8 from early 30s I think. It's in beautiful condition so I'm going to get it cleaned up and take some shots in his and my mum's memory this summer 👍
I've recently been using my box brownie no.2, its amazing how reliable such old technology can still be, i've only had some very minute light leaks on some photos, otherwise its still an amazing piece of engineering
Martin proves once again that it is the vision of the person behind the camera that produces beautiful images.
Thank you
I have recently acquired one of these Kodaks too [They hated it being called a camera lol]. Delightful.
Thank you for an excellent review. I was particularly interested in your comments regarding the history of the camera, and who may have used it during its lifetime.
One of my Exaktas is circa 1938. I bought it because my Dad had an identical model that he used as his personal camera when he was stationed in Egypt, and serving with the RAF, during WW2. I look at my camera and wonder where it has been, who used it, and what photographs were taken with it. Somehow, it just seems to inspire me to go out as many times as I can with one of these wonderful old picture making machines.
The history is something really overlooked, and makes these classic cameras a desirable thing to use, thanks
I am watching your fantastic video and wanted to mention a really great hack for fixing bellows. There is a spray called flex seal and it comes in black. Spray it into a little dish and use a qtip to paint it all over the bellows. It looks just like the bellows and it is thin and strong and works perfectly. I have fixed many bellows cameras this way. Try it and let me know.
Fantastic! One can see and feel the soul of the camera and the photographer.
Thank you
I have one of these. I need to CLA it, including patching up the bellows a bit but I was able to find 127 film and now I’m going to use it. Thank you!
Great video. I just acquired a working 1916 model (the serial number is on the leg stand). Had been painted over at the back but found this was covering a scratched in name. T Carvey … Like to think it might have been used in WW1. Stripping it down and refurbishing as will try it out 👍😉
Just got one yesterday for 5 Euro. I love it ! Thank you again Martin for your excellent review. I can't wait to use this one :)
Absolutely beautiful images.
Beautiful photos.
Beautiful photos, thanks for the video. I learned a lot.
Lovely photos you've made with the Kodak!
Wonderful walk through. Thank you.
Beautiful work! Compositions are wonderful!
Truly inspiring as always! Thank you very much Martin!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video
Great video! Best of all are your stunning, thoughtfully composed images. Not just a video about that particular camera but an indispensable lesson in photography itself.
Great presentation! You take excellent photographs!
So thorough and informative. I recently acquired a VPK and now having watched your video, I feel I’ll have more success with it. I’m sure I’ll reference this video of yours again. Excited to try the camera out! Thanks!
You are marvelous, Sir...simply LOVE all your videos. God Bless you !
Thank you for another dose of photographic inspiration! I love your work, it hits really close to the heart. All the best!
Thank you
Thanks for making these great, informative videos Martin. They’re very inspirational.
Your welcome
Fantastic and so enjoyable to watch as well as doffing the cap to not only the manufacturer, but also those that let us look back on history Good & Bad, warts en all, all those memories that otherwise would have been lost. DG UK
Lovely, so many memories registered by these Kodaks
Thank you
Your channel brings be a lot of joy. I love the TLC approach you take to reviving these old cameras.
Thank you
Thanks 🙏 so much for sharing this Martin. My friend gave me one that needs some TLC and you showed me how. You are a true film photographer treasure my friend. Merry merry Christmas 🎄
Great video! learned a lot.
The red window was fine for the Ortho film available at the time. Not red sensitive.
Hi Martin, im sitting on my couch watching a documentary of the history of photography in th UK, it's very interesting! It starting to discuss about this Vest Pocket Kodak and im just falling in love with it 😍
I do some research on it and i see that you made a video on it, what a perfect day ! Also thanks for your another videos, very nice, i love old cameras and i recently bought a 1956 Voigtlander Vito B, working perfectly.
Now im about to bought a VPK for sure 😃
Keep on, keepin on !
Best regards from Switzerland
Ben
Just bought one of these in very good working condition. Film on the way. Looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks for the hints about light leaks and bellow extension. If I can get anywhere near the results you did, I will be very happy.
Enjoyed that very much thankyou Martin. I think it’s wonderful that some of these old cameras have survived so well. It must have been very satisfying for you to get it working properly again. You got some lovely pictures too.
They are great fun to use , thanks
Lovely photos. Thank you for video.
Your welcome
Thanks for this and all your other videos. I like that you explain in detail how you get these old cameras operational again. I don't have a camera that old, but I do have an inherited Agfa Billy Zero from the early 30s in working condition. Great little camera. By the way, your previous videos on the Holga inspired me to get one. Enjoying it so far.
Glad yo enjoyed the video, thank you
more than fantastic.
Your comment on using cameraswith a 'history,' was well said, Martin! The images taken on it had flaws, and not as modern as a digital one might, but the camera produces fine images, as it did over 100 years ago. Eminently enjoyable!
Thank you for such a nice presentation
Your welcome
Many thanks for another great video Martin, very enjoyable. As part of my growing vintage and antique Kodak camera collection I have three VPKs, one with a meniscus, one with a rectilinear and a special with a Kodak anastigmat f/6.9 lens. However the camera with the meniscus lens had a couple of light leaks in the bellows. After a bit of research I discovered Plastic Dip, which is a rubber based paint and goes on very easily with a small paint brush. When you spoke about the problem you had with your cameras bellows I thought I would mention this stuff. I have used it now on the folds of the bellows on a couple of my old Kodak's with great success. Oh it also comes in different colours including red. Like you, the immense joy I get from using these old cameras I just can't put into words. Anyway, keep up the good work and looking forward to the next video.
Regards
Cameron
I have just acquired a special that you can "focus" made by Kodak Canada, the bellows are like new,
Thanks Martin, I’ve very interested in the story of Mallory and Irving climbing Everest in 1923, they carried a camera like yours, I don’t know if it was a Kodak or not but still very interesting and the pictures are amazing
Nice review. You clean the backlens easier, to take remove the plate for (loading a fiilm) and on top you see that the camera is made from two part. One part is the frame and the bellows and the other part is the body. Both are connected by a sliding. You can remove those part by sliding of them, so they are separate them so you can much easier and fixed things.
Great to know , very helpful, thanks
Lovely images and great work servicing that camera. In a lot I picked up a while back, the most exciting find for me was an old Kodak No. 2 Folding Hawkeye camera. I keep putting it off but I need to lubricate it's movement, patch up the damaged bellows and clean the lens like you did here and see how it rolls. These old things are lovely especially if the film is still available (I'm super fortunate in that mine takes 120 film)
There are some great Kodak cameras out there and most are relatively cheap to buy, thanks
Thank you for sharing your know how to show how inspirational video.
Your welcome
Very much enjoyed your review in regards to this little vintage camera, love the history and time period....I've recently acquired one of my own, which seems in very similar condition as yours, so il be following your instructions carefully to clean and dust away.
I've just one of the 10 small screws missing from the front plate you mentioned....would you know where I could find a replacement?
Very pretty camera and very nice pictures ! Their quality is amazing. You are totally right, Martin, all these old cameras must live. In 100 years, no one of the digital devices we use will take any shot, because they will be impossible to fix, with all their electronic circuits.
Currently I'm restoring a Mamiya Six IVB (you're not stanger to my choice !), it has still some light leaks, but soon it will be able to produce nice pictures, not perfect, but full of charm. Best regards from France, and thanks for your videos.
Your welcome, your Mamiya is a great camera
Hi Martin I have the same camera with a different shutter. I also had a light leak in my bellows, I used liquid tape to repair mine, but its not a good solution really. I have now got a another new bellows for it and I am going to strip it down and replace the bellows and give everything a good clean. I have put a few rolls through mine and some of the pictures are good for such a cheap lens.
Were did you get the new bellows from, thanks
@@martinhensonphotography Hi Martin They are not new, new bellows I bought a second Vest pocket that was listed as not working, I was going to fix it and use it, but the shutter was destroyed, some animal had been in and butcherd it, but it had a bellows that is in very good condition, it looks like it has been replaced.
These little camera's are very easy to strip and change the bellows, I have the old/new one out ready to go in to my usable Vest Pocket. great video Martin.
@@martinhensonphotography camera bellows in Birmingham will make new bellows for any camera that needs them. The name changed but Google it. They made me a new one for a Fujica super six and 6 mamiya 6 models. I paid around £45 per bellows so the camera needs to be worth a lot to justify it.
Really enjoyable Martin and a lovely insight. I have the No. 1A AUTOGRAPHIC KODAK JR, Martin. She looks to be in fine condition but I have yet to shoot with her given the number of other projects I have underway. Since I have now started developing my own B&W film it might be time to pick up some 120 to 116 film adapters and give it a go.
Thanks, hope you get your cameras working again
Thank you for an inspiring video. I came across one of these in my Dad's lab and was just going to sell it, but after your video I'm inspired to take care of it and keep it. I wonder if you might have some advice - mine is missing two small screws that would have been on either side of the lens and hold the bellows and lens to the front plate. Any advice on how I can replace these or at least figure out the size and pitch of the screws?
Thanks for the video, very enjoyable.
Bought one of these a while ago for my analogue camera collection in amazing condition (apart from some bellows light leak) Not repaired the leaks yet but you've made me want to get it sorted. Lastly you made me feel homesick listening to your voice. New subscriber to your channel.👍
I take it your from Yorkshire ?, thanks for commenting
@@martinhensonphotography Leeds lad :-)
Well done! Good , thoughtfully composed photos! I was gifted one of these cameras. The bellows are not in good shape and I'm not sure they can be rehabbed. Be funny if I can get back to photo quality and take pictures of my grand daughters... on a 100 year old camera.
i think thats a saying photographers should use more often , To see the beauty in imperfection .
Old saying but very true,
Excellent as ever! ❤ I have one just like it. I shot a roll of film through it, but mislaid it😢! I'll dev it when (if) it shows up.
Your welcome
I have a camera of the same concept, a Kochmann Korelle. It was gifted to me by a class mate of my late mum. It was the camera of her father and he had used it in WW2 (we were the bad ones then and not Russia). It has an opening back and shoots 4x3cm - really 127 half frame. Not shot it yet but it's next in line (or so). Very interesting video as always, thanks for sharing!
So interesting, if only vintage cameras could tell us there history, thanks
@@martinhensonphotography Yes, but not sure if we want to know all they saw.
@Martin Siegel true
Great video! What app did you use to test the shutter speed?
Excellent review. Your training and experience is obvious in these superb photos. I wish 127 film were still readily available. It was the film I used most in the 50's when I was a child. Like you, I like to use historical cameras. That is, those that have a special association. My latest experiment is the 8 mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Model 414 PD. The exact model Zapruder used in Dealey Plaza where the motorcade would be passing. Everything seems to be functioning so I'll give it a go with film. If it turns out I'll post the digitalized form. Thanks
I also wish it was still made, small cameras and a big negative compared to 35mm
@@martinhensonphotography Here in the states we had low cost developing with returned negatives up to a few years ago. It was almost like the old days. This was through our Walmart store chain.I guess this was unprofitable for them so now they just destroy the negatives which defeats the whole idea. As you know, one can still shoot 127 made from cut down 120 but here in America the whole process is very expensive. If you want economical film shooting you have to do your own developing. To me, sending the film off and picking the pictures up (with negatives) was a big part of the fun of the old days.
@@dalehammond1704 yes it’s not cheap even in uk, I have a kit we’re I can cut down 120 roll film which makes it more viable to use
Amazing results Martin, but again as I told you before (it’s not the Camera, but the Person behind it).
Thank you Georgios
Great video thanks , have you any advice on how to clean the shutter? Mine works on all settings but is slow, so I think its dirty?
Thank you Phil
Give it a good soak in lighter fluid, preferably not near a naked flame 🔥 😉
There are two 127 Facebook groups for those that wish to follow.
Thanks
Hi Martin, excellent video thanks! I have some HP400 127 film. As Dev times are the same for 135 and 120 HP5 400 film, is it safe to asume I can use the same process for 127 film?
Yes I would think it is
Where did you get the light seal mentioned at 20:50?
What kind of tape used for bellows?
It's worth looking for the version with anastigmat lens.
I have one it’s a special vest pocket made in Canada, in the process of getting the shutter working
@@martinhensonphotography Excellent.
Thank you, Martin for a fantastic video on this camera. I acquired one of these recently as part of a bundle of cameras, but unfortunately the bellows is beyond repair. Do you know if spares are available? Or who I could send this camera to for repair?
I don't think it would be cost effective to have bellows made, your best bet is to try and find one that has good bellows, would be cheaper than having them made and fitted to your old one
@@martinhensonphotography thank you, I will try to do that.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hi my dear friend 😄 I am 21 years old and I really love old cameras , I am from Mexico 🇲🇽and It's a pity that in Mexico there's no more rolls and films in photography stores , it's something imposible to make analog photos again 😞 could you teach me how to make an analog photo with a homemade Cyanotype please ? Greetings , Jehovah bless you
Your welcome
@@martinhensonphotography ?????
i think its for me to believe cameras like this in the 1900's had great quality? I have some photos of soldiers from ww1 and when i zoom in, its more clear then modern cameras.
Sir, I am a researcher. Just curious and urgently in need to know that did professionals use it in around 1914 ? Because it sold in 1914 just in the beginning of WWI .
What were the films and papers available at the time. Gelatin paper ?
Dear Mr. Martin I want to ask to you how to cut the roll 120?
www.camerhack.it/product/fck127-mk-3/
where is the viewfinder
Just had a question, is it ok to advance to the next frame on the backing paper or will that result in overlapping frames? I'm not certain if the backing paper markings are for 4x4 rather than the aspect ratio of the VPK
If your using 127 film the numbers will give you correct spacing
@martinhensonphotography Perfect, thank you so much! Loved the video :)
If you happen to recall..what kind of tape did you use to patch up the bellows?
It was gorilla tape , a bit thick but all I had at the time
@@martinhensonphotography thank you!
Did you try the Piccolette as well?
Not sure what your meaning, thanks
The german copy
@@clotwich ah right , I have a Canadian special but not a German copy
I saw one today for 50 I did not buy it I should buy it.