Kodak Brownie Bull's Eye

  This year my brother gave me a Brownie 'Bull's Eye' Camera.  This particular model was in production from 1954-1958.  Very simple box design with a eye level view finder, spring loaded shutter release and plastic winding knob.  It takes 620 film, which unfortunately isn't manufactured anymore, in order to compensate you must trim a 120 spool with scissors or re-spool on 620.  The exposure size is pretty large yielding 8 frames at 6x9cm.

  For a long time this camera sat on my shelf as decoration. The other afternoon, mostly out of boredom, I rigged a spool for it and loaded up with Kodak 400TX.  I was curious to see what kind of image it would produce; I figured based on the plastic-like lens and mechanics it might shoot similar to the Holga120N, so I tried to shoot simple scenic photos with a long focal plane.  Then I pushed the exposure by 20-25% trying to add a grainy richness to the waxy blur that is characteristic of toy cameras.
  The photos themselves are fairly simple shots.  The Bull's Eye has a very simple focusing technique, a dial from 4ft to INF, so I was apprehensive of its reliability.  Shooting softly lit stretching landscapes with an expanded focal plane gave me room for error rather than trying to focus on specific objects.  I also enjoyed the weight of the camera, it is much heavier than other toy cameras.  Ergonomically designed, it is comfortable to shoot despite its bulky shape.  The shutter will also lock after release to prevent accidental double exposure; however, once you advance a half turn it releases allowing the ability to double expose in a terraced pattern like this image here.

  Perhaps the soft light of the rainy afternoon is the perfect light for this camera, it produced surprisingly crisp and beautiful photos.  I am glad I found good use for it and highly recommend giving it a try yourself if you find toy cameras fascinating.