Bullseye! Results of the First Brownie Bull’s-Eye Test

Got my pics back yesterday, and was somewhat pleased and confused all at the same time.

I loaded the Bull’s-Eye with Kodak Portra 400 film, knowing that it was on the fast side for a sunny day, but wanting to see the real-world results anyway. Afterwards, I had regrets, thinking that the images would be way overexposed. Film favors overexposure over digital, but two stops is asking a lot.

Daisies, Kodak Brownie Bull’s-Eye, 1/50 s, f/16, ISO 400. Kodak Portra.

Tudor House, Kodak Brownie Bull’s-Eye, 1/50 s, f/16, ISO 400. Kodak Portra.

I was both happy and surprised to learn that for the most part, ISO 400 was a good choice. Only the most brightly-lit scenes were moderately overexposed, but for the most part they were in the ballpark. Meaning that a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 probably wouldn’t have faired too well.

This is confusing, since the original user manual suggests Kodak Verichrome Pan, which was ISO 125, and the shutter is rated at 1/50 s with an aperture of f/16. If you follow the Sunny 16 rule, that would suggest overexposure by about a stop, yet with ISO 400, they were pretty much underexposed by a stop.

Portra is relatively low in contrast, so the images were a bit flat. I had them processed, scanned and burned to CD at Livingston Camera, and they did a great job; their standard resolution yields a 6MP file, and they were all quite workable in Adobe Camera Raw. With the right film, and a tripod, I should be able to get some nice images. The images did not seem particularly sharp, but this was due to camera movement, which confirms the 1/50 s shutter speed.

I have these films in mind for the next time:

For color:

• Fujifilm Pro 400H
• Lomography Lomographic ISO 400

For redscale:

• Lomography Redscale XR 50-200

For X-Pro:

• Fujifilm Provia 400X
• Lomobraphy X-Pro 200

For Black and White:

• Kodak Tri-X
• Kodak T-Max 400

The latter is where I think this camera will shine. It was always my plan that this camera would be a foray back into Black and White photography, with its enormous frame size. And it will be easy to develop, scan and digitally process these images.

So, this project is just starting. It could give away to some Bull’s-Eye mods; adding a filter ring, cable release, possibly adjusting the flash sync for electronic flash, multiple exposure capability. I could see myself using infrared film with time exposure to produce some interesting black and whites. A dark red filter, polarizer, ND filter combo could push the exposure time long, and with a cable release, I’d have more control that I do with the existing fixed shutter. I could wind up really loving this camera yet.