Fabrice on Film

 When I obtained the old Kodak camera, built around 1920-30, in 2020, roughly a hundred years later give or take, it wasn't in great shape. (I'm saying "obtained" because I didn't buy it knowingly, I bought a camera lot and it happened to come with it). The leather cover was very worn, and the outside as well as the inside of the camera was really dirty and grimy. I had no idea how to proceed, but I knew it was possible, so the thought that I could try and replace the leather covers of the camera to give it a new look, a new life, and possibly feel rewarded by the experience started to appear at the back of my head. I had bought replacement leather covers for my cameras before, from a store that sells precut leather stickers, but I had never been able to remove the old leathers (the timer screw on the Pentax ME super just won't come off), and I felt pretty stressed out thinking I might destroy one of my favorite SLRs. But here, the camera had no emotional or f...

I recently had the idea of using two adapters to put a roll of 35mm into a 616 camera, thus making it almost a medium format 35mm camera. I make the 120 to 616 adapters and sell them here , I'm not sure where I bought the 35mm to 120 adapters. Putting the film in place required a little bit of force, but nothing that would damage the camera. After all the shots were taken, I went into a darkroom and rewinded the film with a pocket electric screwdriver fitted with a flat tip. A very simple, quick process! It also gives me an opportunity to use the camera I repaired and detailed in this post . I really liked the results. I think that elongated formats can be a really fun challenge to frame, either vertically or horizontally.  Moreover, what is really fun with this experimental process is that you're not really sure what you'll get. Trying to do as best as possible and wishing to get interesting results is always a process I enjoy. I also find that it's a good use of 400 s...

I picked up this Kodamatic Nº2 at a flea market for $10, because it looked great and because the shutter fired, but little did I know what challenges it would bring. The bellows had holes in it. The front lens focused at different distances than the ones marked. And it shot 616, a long-lost format. "Challenge accepted" said a little voice inside my head... I tediously sprayed the bellows with black sealant for two months. I measured the focus and corrected the distance markings using a laser rangefinder. Oh, and I designed and 3D printed adapters to fit 120 film inside it. Turns out the hard work paid off: the photos are simply beautiful! Largest negatives I've ever shot (61x108mm).