No. 2 Brownie Model D

This camera was a surprise gift from my partner. We'd gone into an antique shop near their house and I'd been looking at the two Brownies they had, this one and a Brownie Reflex, but being a broke college student I hadn't bought either. So imagine my surprise when they turned up at my house a week or so later carrying that very same Brownie box! After a bit of cleaning, it looks and shoots great, so long as you're very gentle, as it is still over 100 years old.

This camera is a Model D, though as far as I can tell most of the changes between this model and the 1901 Model A are aesthetic. There aren't exactly a lot of features to add or remove. The lens is a single glass element, a so-called meniscus lens. There are three apertures, set by moving a metal strip to place one of three different sized holes in behind the lens. The shutter has two settings, I for instant and T for time, set by pulling up another metal tab. There are two viewfinders, one on top and one on the side, both of which are essentially a mirror at a 45 degree angle covered on either side by glass. Beyond that, there's not a ton going on.

Loading the camera is definitely an odd experience. Once you pop the back open, you have to pull out this big wooden contraption, then thread your film over and around it. When I first opened it I found a film spool left by the previous owner, but unlike all my others, this spool was made of metal. Besides just being a cool thing to find, it also means that the camera was last hadn't been used since at least the early 70s. When I got those photos developed, the guy at the lab held onto the spool and gave it back when I picked my photos up, so I still have it hanging around.

Shooting this camera is a completely different experience to anything else I've shot. To start with, the leather covered cardboard body genuinely feels like it might give way at any moment, which may or may not be related to the age. The winding key on mine has also come loose, so you have to hold it in while you wind. Framing is quite vague, and it really makes you take your time. That all sounds like a lot of complaining, and I suppose it is, but I do genuinely like shooting it. I don't often get a chance to take it out, but whenever I see it it does make me regret that a bit. I'm hoping to take it out again soon, maybe with color film, but first I need to really clean it, because my roll came back with scratches all over last time.