Tag: BHF

  • Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Chatter, Expired film, flipped lens, Hawaii, Kodak Ektachrome, Landscapes, Lo-fi, Nature, O'ahu, Plants, Slide Film, Vintage Cameras

    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 of processing the rough scans into pretty pictures. At first glance, there are several frames that have caught my eye that I can’t wait to […]

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  • Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Camera, Canon 40d, Chatter, Color Film, Digital, flipped lens, Hawaii, Kodak Ektar 100, Landscapes, Lo-fi, Nature, O'ahu, Vintage Cameras

    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 my part. From sea to summit, Diamond Head rises 762 feet; fortunately, the hiking trail inside the crater already spots you two-hundred feet of elevation […]

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  • Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Color Film, Hawaii, Kodak Ektar 100, Lo-fi, O'ahu, Vintage Cameras

    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 front of us. We playfully envisioned them as though we were staring thirty-or-so years into our future: still in Hawaii, still madly in love, flaunting […]

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  • Brownie Hawkeye Flash, Color Film, Hawaii, Kodak Ektar 100, Lo-fi, O'ahu, Trees

    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 cocktails, after spending a little bit too long at the beach that day. We had just started our mile-long stroll when I startled my wife […]

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  • Brownie Hawkeye Flash, flipped lens, How-to, Kodak Ektar 100, Lo-fi, Rollei Retro, Vintage Cameras

    How to flip a Brownie Hawkeye Flash lens

    [caption id="attachment_165" align="alignleft" width="249" caption="Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash"]Brownie Hawkeye Flash[/caption]

    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.

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