I’m happy to report that a project that I’ve been proud to be a part of has finally come to fruition: TOYCAM is finally available on Blurb. Andrew has more […]
Lo-fi
May flies & June bugs….
Hello Internet, It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I know, I know, I’m a bad friend leaving you hanging like that. Not a word or a peep or even just a […]
Diana F – Surfer Lanikai
Lanikai Beach, on O’ahu’s windward coast, is a place that existed in my imagination well before I ever knew it actually existed. It has a beauty that makes any words […]
BHF – A couple more from Hawaii
As I twittered (tweeted, twooted, twinkled, twunctated or twhat-have-you) yesterday, I’ve finally finished scanning all the 120 rolls from my December trip to O’ahu; now I face the Herculean task […]
Holga Hike – Another Beaver Lake Shot
Another image from the Holga Hike / Beaver Lake shoot. The recent snow melt had created a temporary pond around two winter-barren bushes. There were all kinds of little birds […]
Holga Hike – Beaver Lake Nature Center
Alas & alack, it just wasn’t meant to be… I didn’t submit my Holga Hike image in time due to a mix of FedEx fumbling the delivery date of my […]
Diamond Head
Diamond Head, the iconic Hawaiian volcano, is probably one of the most photographed mountains in the world and, as a good tourist on O’ahu, I tried my best to do […]
BHF – Aging Gracefully
Ah… this has to be one of my favorite shots from our last Hawaiian adventure. My wife and I waxed poetic about this older couple walking Waikiki beach hand-in-hand in […]
Sometimes the magic gives you toads
Somewhere along the way, my vintage Diana F developed a dastardly light leak in the upper left-hand side of the frame (lower-right image). As opposed to a beneficial or relatively […]
My Favorite Photographer
So apparently I’m not above a little bit of open pandering for free film. UPDATE 03.16.10: I didn’t win the free film. Oh well. Who is my favorite photographer? I’m […]
BHF – Waikiki Sunset
Another image from my trip to O’ahu this past December. My wife & I were hurrying along, trying to get from the hotel to the House Without a Key for […]
Smashing Magazine
Smashing Magazine has an article on ‘Toy Cameras’ featuring a piece of my Holga work. The article is a general survey of toy cameras for the uninitiated (generally sticking to […]
How to flip a Brownie Hawkeye Flash lens

I’ve noticed a lot of search traffic hitting my site specifically looking for information on how to flip the lens of a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash (BHF). While there are probably multitudes of other resources on the interwebs, I figure I’ll just throw my two-cents out there.
For those who don’t know, the BHF is a black bakelite beauty with a top-down viewfinder, single element meniscus lens, shutter speed somewhere around 1/30 to 1/60 & a bulb setting, while it lacks a tripod mount, it has a nifty handle. In it’s heyday, the BHF was a very popular camera. Your grandparents most likely had one. Nowadays, you can find them cheaply at thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, and eBay, or for a higher premium decorating shelves in antique stores & hipster boutiques.
I, personally, got mine for free on Craigslist thanks to a kind-hearted Samaritan who was donating several cameras to anyone who could justify receiving one. I simply wrote “I’ll use it.” It arrived in the mail a couple days later and I’ve been enthralled with it ever since.
Anywho, an unmodified BHF takes a relatively normal photograph, but something magical happens when you flip the lens. It’s like the soft focus of a vintage Diana multiplied to the Nth degree. The lens’ focal point shifts from infinity to about 3 feet in the center, while the edges just melt away into blurry goodness. The effect can be quite surreal.
Flipping the lens of a BHF is actually a simple procedure with a very low-risk of permanently #@$%-ing anything up and is easily reversible. That said, I assume no responsibility with these directions if you somehow manage to accidentally bork your favorite family heirloom.
Ready? Let’s get flipping.
Pali Pano
I’m starting to process some of the multitudes of images I captured on O’ahu this past December. The above photograph was taken at a tourist pull-off on the Pali Highway, […]
Polaroid PoGo ‘mobile’ printer
Last year, I received a Polaroid PoGo printer for Christmas and with it came daydreams of creating a photo-a-day journal in a series of Moleskine Cahier notebooks…. I never made […]
BHF – Bridge to the Adirondacks
Yet another flipped lens Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Rollei Retro 400 developed in Diafine. Tinted in PS.
BHF – More from the Adirondacks
NY 86, near Lake Placid, NY. Ausable River. High Falls Gorge. All taken with a flipped lens Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Rollei Retro 400 developed in Diafine.
BHF – Ausable River
The western branch of the Ausable River, near Lake Placid, NY. Flipped lens Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Rollei Retro 400 developed in Diafine.
Phantastic Phear
Serendipitous Holga double-exposure. Kodak BW400CN.
Expired Film – Dragonfly
Taken with a Kodak Brownie Fiesta on expired (Nov 1962) Montgomery Ward Panchromatic 127 film, developed in Diafine.
BHF – Strawberry Picking
Bucket of strawberries @ Hafner’s Farm, Baldwinsville, NY. Kodak Brownie Haweye Flash with a flipped lens; Ilford HP5 Plus developed in Diafine.
Diana F – Tree bark
Tree root on the shore of Onondaga Lake. Shot with a vintage Diana F on Fuji Neopan 400 developed in Diafine.
Haudenosaunee Peace Tree
The Haudenosaunee Peace Tree in Onondaga Lake Park. Holga with red filter, Ilford HP5 Plus developed in Diafine.