Softball on Film

For the last game of this year's softball league, I decided to bring my Pentax 6X7, Kodak Brownie Model B Number 3, and my DSLR. I took a single roll of HP5+ (400 ISO) with the 6X7 and a single team photos with the Brownie. I had loaded it the day before with a sheet of 100 ISO Arista 4X5 sheet film. I'd never tried 4X5 film in the Brownie before, and was both nervous about and excited for the results.
Pentax 6X7














Kodak Brownie

To make sure the camera was light-tight, I cut 127 backing paper to fit over the red hole and used mashing tape to hold it on. That large white dot is from when the tape failed overnight, exposing it to a little light from the streetlamp outside my window all night. I also wrapped the junction in backing paper, though in hindsight I think that was silly. In all, I'm really happy with the shot. It proved that the old Model B cameras can use 4X5 film for one-off fill-frame use (respooling any film size onto their paper backing leaves a cropped image.) Also, it showed that, with some care, the camera is lightproof enough to use sheet film. And, it showed that the simple meniscus lens has enough resolving power to provide good photos on modern films.