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RETRO PHOTOGRAPHY
Box cameras in the digital age
By James Booth
Do you have one of those old box cameras sitting on your shelf? Maybe you found it in the basement, garage, attic, or thrift shop. It makes a nice little knick-knack doesn't it? But surely it isn't worth anything in this day and age? It doesn't even work, does it? Well, that may not necessarily be so. Wouldn't you like to find out?
For a glorified pinhole camera, when in working condition, these cameras actually take pretty good pictures, as you can see in Figure A
FIGURE A
 
The old box cameras can still take pretty decent pictures. Roll over picture for a larger image.
Here's an interesting question, though. Can you still get film for them? The answer is Yes -- and no.
These little box cameras, like the Target Brownie 620 in Figure B, used 620 roll film, which is no longer available. But, you can reroll 120 film onto the 620 spindles for use in these cameras, and I'm going to show you how.
FIGURE B
 
The Brownie line of box cameras was an inexpensive introduction to photography. Roll over picture for a larger image.
Brownie, and other manufacturers, made a long list of box cameras that took 620 film, so this tutorial isn't just for the Target 620. That just happens to be the box camera that I have.
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