1921 Ansco 3A - Shooting 50-year-old film in a 100-year-old camera

[@robertyoung1777]

The first two blurred pictures reminded me of the great Hiroshi Sugimo’s pictures of significant structures in decay.

[@oddballcamera]

Oh that's an interesting comparison, thank you!

[@carrieclemons1131]

I just received an Ansco No.9 folding camera from my father-in-law who has had it in the family since early 1900s. It is a little more simplistic than this, and wasn’t sure if you happen to have a video on how to operate it! I would love to figure out how this camera works, and possibly use it.

[@oddballcamera]

Awesome camera! I don't have a video for that specific camera but it should be pretty similar to the 3A, just oriented horizontally. There is a manual available for it here: www.cameramanuals.org/agfa_ansco/ansco_no_9.pdf You will need to source some vintage 122 film like I've used in this video, or buy a set of 122-to-120 adapters so that you can use modern 120 film in the camera. Super cool camera, I hope you enjoy it!

Very interesting camera. I like the engineering of the little details like the geared rotating finder or the table stands. It was especially interesting as I was scanning this week some glass plate negatives from 1922-1924 and I was wondering what kind of camera might have taken them. Though the size of the plates are smaller only 6x9cm. But I digress. Thx for the video.

[@oddballcamera]

Agreed--I'm such a sucker for all the little engineering details in these old cameras! For me it's what makes them so unique now. That's really cool that you're scanning some old glass plate negatives from that time period. Where did you find the plates?

[@flyingo]

I’m consistently amazed at how well some films that are 40 to 80 years old turn out. Very nice Ansco 3A you have there! I am curious if you intentionally over exposed these because of the age of the film.

[@oddballcamera]

Thanks for your comments! I don't know what Kodak did with Verichrome Pan, but for some reason this particular emulsion has incredible shelf life. I typically shoot even very old VP with just a minor over-exposure...usually 1/2 to 1 stop overexposed. However, in this case I think this particular roll could have used more light, maybe two to three stops overexposed would have been better. You can see at the end that there is a light leak in the rebate of the film that is very black, while the exposed frame does not have any real blacks showing. There was more tonal latitude available in the film that I didn't take full advantage of. It's always a bit of a gamble, but that's half the fun of shooting really old film.

[@donaldcongdon9095]

Great video! Love the comparison with the Kodak 3A. I have my great grandmother's Kodak 1A in my collection. I'd love to shoot it, although I'd have to find a roll of 116 film or make an adapter to use 120. Plus the bellows are in pretty poor condition. Probably should replace them since I think they're past the simpler fixes. You've certainly inspired me to try some expired film. I shot a lot of Verichrome Pan back in the 70's and early 80's. It might be fun to give it a whirl now. What's your development procedure with it? I normally do 1:100 stand development in Rodinal, which is pretty bulletproof. Thanks for the video!

[@oddballcamera]

Thank you! That's fantastic that you're thinking about using your great grandmother's Kodak 1A. Original 116 film is a little easier to find than 122 because Kodak continued making it up into the mid-1980s. I think you might also be able to use 616 film in the 1A (which is even easier to find than 116), though I'm not certain about that. The other option is to adapt 120 film, as you mentioned. The Film Photography Project sells adapter kits if you're not interested in making your own. I have used one of these kits and it works pretty well...the one thing to be aware of is that the long edges of the film frame will not be in contact with the film gate and sometimes have a tendency to curl and thus bring the edges of the film out of the focus plane. As for developing, yes stand development at low concentrations with a classic developer works well. I use HC110 but Rodinal would work great also!

[@williamthompson5929]

Happy new year. What a fantastic camera. It is a pity that new film is not available, but you have done well with the expired stuff. How did you develop the film? I suspect you would not have been able to use a Paterson tank.

[@oddballcamera]

Happy new year to you as well! As far as developing goes, I have two options that I use for 122. The first option is home development--I searched for quite a while to find an original Nikor 122 developing reel, which I use with a medium size Nikor tank. The other option is to send it out--The Darkroom Lab in California still develops 122 size film, if you can believe it! They do charge a $10 premium for the odd size film, but they provide excellent developing services.

[@StuartHerrington]

You just made me check the aperture on my Kodak 3A and it's widest is f4

[@oddballcamera]

Hi Stuart! If your 3A has a "4" marked at the wide end of the aperture scale, that is actually from the U.S. ("Uniform System") scale of aperture markings. That aperture system was used on some early models. If you look closely you'll probably see a "U.S." somewhere along the aperture scale markings. In the U.S. aperture system, U.S. 4 equals f/8. This was the typical speed for standard lenses back in those days. The "Special" versions of the 3A with "high-speed" lenses were still only f/6.3 back then!

[@StuartHerrington]

@@oddballcamera Ah, that's good to know thanks. Hopefully I'll remember that 😅 Also there's no shame in not focusing the camera correctly, when it's hard enough to compose without seeing through the camera it's also easy to forget the focusing. Obviously I've done it as well lol

[@oddballcamera]

@@StuartHerrington Thanks! Yes it's all too easy to make mistakes when using these old cameras with their arcane controls. Also, regarding the U.S. aperture system, the one good thing about it is that it is very easy to convert between the U.S. system and standard f-stop apertures. The two systems are equivalent at "16" (i.e., U.S. 16 equals f/16). From there, the U.S. system simply divides or multiplies the U.S. aperture number by two for full stops up and down the aperture scale. So U.S. 4 equals f/8, U.S. 8 equals f/11, U.S. 32 equals f/22, etc. If you want to shoot with your 3A with U.S. apertures all you have to remember is that the two aperture scales are the same at "16", then count up or down by full stops from there based on your metering.

[@StuartHerrington]

@@oddballcamera Needless to say, the uniform system didn't take off 😅 I managed to download a PDF booklet from Kodak in the UK when the camera was released and it goes over this and other functions and using the camera. I may have to write it down and put it on the inside of the camera. Fortunately been about one stop off shouldn't really make much difference shooting large format film. I'd been shooting paper negatives with it, and rated it as iso 3 and those have come out fine, considering there's no exposure latitude

[@kevinthephotographer9346]

I want one ! You mentioned that there was a different focus scale for plates; can the camera shoot plates as it is, or does it need a seperate back?

[@oddballcamera]

The Ansco 3A uses a separate back for plates, very similar to the Kodak 3A. As a result, the focus plane for plates is farther back than the focus plane for film, which is why there are two different focus scales. The Kodak 3A also has separate scales for film vs plates, although I forgot to cover that in my Kodak 3A video. I recently located a plate back for my Ansco 3A and hope to put it to use at some point. It's actually a better system than the Kodak 3A plate back, because the ground glass on the Ansco back is on a sprung frame that remains attached to the back and moves out of the way when you slide a plate holder in, similar to a Graflex back (unlike the Kodak back, in which the ground glass is in a loose frame that you have to remove entirely before putting the plate frame in). I just need to find some Ansco plate holders to use with the back.

[@wcrofford]

Could you talk about metering, especially for this expired film? Thanks

[@oddballcamera]

Absolutely...for Verichrome Pan I often shoot at just 1/2 to one stop overexposure compared to the original box speed (box speed is ASA 125). VP seems to have an amazing shelf life compared to other emulsions. However, for this particular roll I think I should have shot at two to three stops slower than box speed--I believe there was more tonal latitude available in the film than what I was able to take advantage of. Probably should have shot at ASA 25 or so.

[@Hector_Malot]

Try doing the same thing a century from now with today's plastic digital junk.