Agfa Ansco PB20 Plenax

Made: 1934 to 1938
Film: PB20 which equals 620
Lens: Hypar Anastigmat 75mm f6.3
Shutter: Wollensak Plenax 
Shutter speeds: T, B, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100
















Another camera that I got in a box with some other stuff.  It sat around for months before I took a good look at it.  When I did I was most surprised to find that the bellows seemed to still be good.  I couldn't find even a little pinhole.  Considering that this is a cloth bellows and nearly 80 years old that was amazing to me.  The lens was also clear and the shutter sounded okay.  So I realized that there wasn't any reason I could not take some pictures with it. 

The Agfa Ansco PB20 Plenax is one of those cameras that uses the discontinued 620 film.  So I had to wind some 120 film onto a 620 spool. I am actually getting pretty comfortable doing that now that I have some practice.  For this experiment I used Tmax 400.  Because of the slow shutter speeds of the Plenax I would have liked to use a 100 IS0 film, however the Tmax is what I had on hand.  Fortunately the day became cloudy and the light became acceptable for this camera and film combination.

The Plenax may look more imposing in the image at the top than it is in reality. For a medium format camera it is almost pocket size.  The Plenax was an inexpensive camera in its day, however it appears to have been well-made. I suppose some evidence of that is in the fact that it is still functional after almost 80 years.  I have no sales figures, however I would guess that a lot of these were sold.  I have three of them that have been thrown in with other stuff, so I would guess they must be plentiful.  The other two are made for 616 film and are larger than the 620 version.

The Plenax makes 8 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negatives.  That was a common format for snapshot cameras back then.  The reason was that images would be printed directly from the negatives without enlargement.  If you have come across snapshots from that era you might have noticed 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 is a common size. 

I found myself pleasantly surprised by the Agfa Ansco PB20 Plenax.  Especially for a medium format camera it is easy to carry around.  And the images it gives are while not outstanding, are still much better than I expected.  One thing I would like is a faster shutter speed than 1/100.  A funny thing to me at least, is that I have gotten to where the range focusing for this camera isn't much of an issue for me.  I have used enough cameras of this sort that I am now used to it.  At least for general shooting I have found that getting familiar with distant/aperture/depth of field combinations for the camera frees me from having to figure out exactly how far away things are most of the time.  So my conclusion is that I can see why the Agfa Ansco PB20 Plenax was a popular camera back in the day.  And it's not a bad camera to use today.  I honestly don't know if I would ever actually seek one out, however I am glad that this one did turn up.

Anhydrous ammonia tanks are a frequent site in rural Illinois this time of year.

Waiting on Film

For most of my life if I wanted pictures from a camera I would need to either develop them myself or send them out. There always was a time of maybe hours, maybe days before I could see how my pictures turned out.  And for me at least there was a tendency of focusing on the frustration of the wait and forgetting the pleasures of finally seeing how things turned out.  A pleasure that I think was increased by the wait.  When digital came along I embraced no longer having to wait.  Still I have never felt the pleasure in seeing my pictures load onto my computer that I remember from seeing negatives come out of the developing tank, or from getting that fat pack of pictures in the mail.

Saturday I had the pleasure of getting some pictures back that I had sent off in the mail a few days before.  The feeling for me is very much like I can remember as a child opening Christmas presents. The films were from a variety of cameras taken over a few months time. Like Christmas I expected there would be both some wonders and disappointments. 

I have heard others report feelings similar to mine about getting film back. Although I haven't often heard such feelings enter into the film vs digital debate.  Instead I think that it is taken for granted that quicker is better.  And maybe sometimes it is.  However if you have never done so before try taking some pictures on film and send it off somewhere that makes you wait a few days.  Then see if when your results come back if you experience a pleasure and excitement that made the wait worthwhile.

One set of negatives I got back was from a roll that I had taken last summer and forgot for a while that it was in the camera.  The camera is an Argus STL 1000 with a Cosinon 50mm f/1.8 lens. The film is Fuji 200.

I also got some results from the Argus Dual HFM II that I have written about in an earlier post. The film is Fuji 200.  Although 200 ISO is the recommmended film for this camera, I suspect the a 400 ISO film would work better.

Last results for today are from the Sawyer's Nomad 620.  Whoever I bought this from had loaded it with a re-spooled roll of Porta 160.  I took a couple of pictures with it when I first got the camera and didn't get around to finishing the roll until this winter.

I got the results from 11 rolls of film from 11 different cameras so this is just a small sample.  I would recommend the place I sent the film to.  They do a good job and are inexpensive.  Sharp's Photo

My Photography Year in Review - Part Two

As far as a review of last year I think this will be the second and last part.  At least it serves as the title for one more post.  My history in photography goes back to the 1960's.  My first camera was a 127 camera that the Boy Scouts sold.

After my experience with the old box camera  I decided to see what other film equipment I still had.  One of the first things I found was the Boy Scout camera.  I also found a roll of Verichrome Pan film that had expired in December of 1967.  The film has been at room temperature and from what I have read it is possible that images still could be made with it.  My plan has been to try the old roll of film in the Cub Scout camera.  However while I learned about the possibilities with this old film and camera I haven't felt the inspiration yet to test that knowledge.

My mother, aunt, brother and sister from around 1965. Taken with Cub Scout Camera.












Now, while I am aware of the shortcomings of some of the simple cameras, like my Cub Scout one, I actually always kinda liked some of those less than perfect results.  So when I decided to do film again one of the first things I sought to learn about was the other simple cameras.  One thing I found is that there are many people who have the same interest.

I remember spending quite a bit of time looking at the Junk Store Camera site. I also found that there is a Toy Camera group on Flickr. There also is a whole movement called Lomography based on using often simple cameras and almost seeking out less than technically perfect results.

So my first phase in a return to film was getting and trying out several box-type cameras from mostly the 50's and early sixties.  I also got one of the famous Holgas.

Taken with Agfa Clack.  The Clack was a popular family camera in Europe during the 1950's. 

Taken with Imperial Reflex 620 Duo Lens. Another camera from the 1950's.

And here is one from a Holga. 










These are just a few of the cameras I tried.  I learned that each camera has its own character.  And that character can show even more variety as it interacts with different films.  There can be a lot of surprises with these cameras.  They are probably not the best camera to use when you want a reliable predictable result, however if you enjoy image-making they can be a lot of fun. And at least I find that I am much more emotionally engaged by the images these cameras make than I am by my digital images. I suppose part of it is from my love of history and feeling that I am connecting to the photographic past with these cameras.  I wonder who might have used the camera before me and what images they made.  

So this is as much reviewing as I'm going to do.  Hopefully, I can come up with better and more creative titles as this blog grows. 

ANSCO READYFLASH

Roll film size 620; 8 exposures, 2'/4x
3'/4; flash synchronization; fixed focus;
eye-level viewfinder. Price, $5.95; with
gadget bag, flashing unit, flashbulbs,
and three rolls of film, $13.95; Ansco
flash unit, $2.75.

The Ansco Readyflash was the camera that my parents used when I was young. I suppose it says something about my affinity for cameras that I should remember that.  I have not been able to find the camera that they actually used, however I did find that the flash attachment had survived. I bought another Readyflash off Ebay to go with the attachment.  It is likely that the original Readyflash took the photos below:

My brother and sister, who are twins, being baptized in 1959.

Myself with my cousins, Debbie, Rosemary, Sharon, and Pam.

The 1953 Ford that my parents had when they were first married.








Sometime early in the 1960's my Father started recording family events with a movie camera.  The old black & white still images stop around that time.

I made one attempt to take photos with the Ebay ReadyFlash with poor results.  I do believe that the camera has some light leaks.  And so far I haven't had the ambition to do anything about the leaks.  Still I will likely give the ReadyFlash another chance and hopefully I will share the results here.