Kodak Beau Brownie Camera

My Rose Beau Brownie Camera

To end the unofficial box camera month for my blog post, I was thinking about writing about a few different cameras, but my thoughts kept coming back to one specific model of Eastman Kodak camera, one of the most beautiful cameras made, the Beau Brownie camera.

 The two factors of the Beau Brownie line of cameras that I enjoy are the five different colors they come in: black, tan, blue, green, and the most sought-after rose. The art deco design by one of America's outstanding industrial designers, Walter Dorwin Teague, is also bundled into a very uncomplicated camera marketed more as a fashion statement than the ordinary black box camera. 

 George Eastman and his marketing team realized early on that to broaden the photographic marketplace, they needed to expand the scope of photographers using cameras. Until the early 1900s and into the 1910s, the vast majority of photographers were males due to the time-consuming process of making photographs. While Kodak didn't invent photography, much like Henry Ford, he sold cameras to the masses due to the newer methods of making glass plates easier to obtain and process, making roll films, film processing, and printing available to the masses.

My set of Nos. 2 Beau Brownie cameras

 In the late 1920s, Eastman Kodak started a relationship with Edwin Dorwin Teague, which forged a relationship and changed the design and quality of cameras for thirty to forty years until he died in the early 1960s.

The Relationship:

Walter Dorwin Teague, born Dec. 18, 1883, is often regarded as one of the pioneers of industrial design in America. He had a long and influential relationship with the Eastman Kodak Company. His collaboration with Kodak helped shape the visual and functional identity of the company's products, particularly its cameras, during the mid-20th century.

Portrait of Walter Dorwin Teague

 Teague, known for blending aesthetics with functionality, first worked with Kodak in the late 1920s. He continued influencing the company's product designs for several decades until his death on Dec. 5, 1960. His designs embodied the principles of streamlining, an artistic and engineering approach emphasizing smooth, flowing lines and modern, user-friendly aesthetics. Kodak sought to enhance its product appeal in an increasingly competitive market. Teague's expertise gave the company a fresh, contemporary design language that resonated with consumers.

 One of Teague's most iconic contributions to Kodak was the design of the Kodak Bantam Special, introduced in 1936. The Bantam Special was a masterpiece of Art Deco design, featuring a sleek, black enamel and chrome finish. It was visually striking, compact, and easy to use, aligning with Kodak's mission to make photography accessible to a broader audience. The camera became a symbol of modern design and demonstrated how industrial design could elevate consumer products beyond mere functionality.

Walter Teague designed Kodak Super Six-20 camera

 Teague's impact on Kodak extended beyond individual products; he played a key role in shaping the brand's overall aesthetic identity. His work helped Kodak establish a reputation for producing elegantly designed, high-quality, practical, and stylish cameras. His collaboration with Kodak set a precedent for integrating industrial design into mass-market consumer products, influencing Kodak's future designs and the broader field of product design.

 Beyond the Bantam Special, Teague worked on several other Kodak models, including the Kodak Baby Brownie and the Kodak Medalist. These cameras showcased his ability to balance form and function, making photography equipment more appealing and accessible to everyday users. His designs helped Kodak maintain its position as a camera industry leader, reinforcing its image as both innovative and consumer-friendly.

 Walter Dorwin Teague's relationship with Kodak was a testament to the power of industrial design in shaping consumer products. His work not only enhanced the usability and attractiveness of Kodak cameras but also set new standards for the role of design in consumer technology. Through this partnership, Teague left an enduring mark on both Kodak and the history of industrial design.

The Camera:

Beau Brownie cameras came in two sizes: the smaller Nos. 2, which takes 120 film, and the larger No. 2A, which takes 116 film. They were both introduced in October 1930 and ended production in 1933. However, the two rarer versions, the green and rose colors, were in production for 1 year, which ended in 1931. Luckily, I have all five colors in different sizes in my collection. I've had all five for many years, and this is the second time I've owned all five colors in both sizes. 

 The camera that I used for the blog post is the smaller Nos. 2 camera due to the easily accessible 120 film the camera uses. The Beau Brownie No. 2 camera is 4" tall by 3" wide or 3 3/8" wide if you include the film advance knob by 4 3/8" deep. The camera has a 6x9 negative size and weighs 14.1 oz.

 The larger Beau Brownie, Nos. 2A is 5" tall, by 3 3/8" wide, or 3 3/4" wide if you include the film winding knob, by 5" deep. The No. 2A film format is 2.5" x 4.25" on 116 film, weighing 1 lb.—3.8 oz. 

My Nos. 2A Rose Beau Brownie (L) and Nos. 2 (R). Note the size difference

Looking online, I found a Beau Brownie Camera Manual, which is where I look for manuals for the cameras in my collection. It's a fabulous website and something we all should support.

 The front of the camera has a beautiful, enameled Art Deco geometric design that is two-toned with an accent color to enhance the camera's beauty. The black version has a dark burgundy accent color. In contrast, the other colors have a lighter and darker version of the camera's color. The rest of the camera is made of thin metal material covered in pebbled imitation leather, the same color as the camera. The carrying handle is on the top of the camera, which is the same color as the camera's body.

Also, two round windows are used for the viewfinder on the front of the camera. The top circle is for viewing vertical-format photos from the top of the camera, and the bottom is used when you turn the camera on its side for horizontal-format photos. There is no focus on this meniscus doublet lens, so like many box-style cameras, the minimum focus is around 10 feet, but items around 8 feet may still be in focus.

 The Beau Brownie cameras have two latches securing the back of the camera to the front. One latch is on the top of the camera, and one is on the side of the camera. Before you open the camera, you'll need to pull out the winding knob, which is engaged with the film transport. The winding knob needs to be pulled out; otherwise, the camera's front and back won't slide apart easily.

Once you have the camera apart, you can load the roll of film into the camera. Take the empty film spool from the top of the camera and move it to the bottom. Ensure it's adequately engaged, which will move the film from frame to frame. The fresh, unexposed roll now gets loaded into the camera's top film holder. Break the tape holding the film together and pull the leader over the opening with the paper backing looking outwards. Feed the leader into the empty spool on the bottom and wind a bit so you know the film is transporting properly. Also, check that the film fits within the walls of the spool so it can be transported easily. Wind the film until you see arrows pointing outwards. Ince you see the arrows, put the back onto the camera, press the winding knob, and secure the two latches. Now wind the film until you see the #1 in the red window. That's the indication that you're ready to make the first exposures.

 There are only two controls for the camera, located on the top of the camera. There are two levers just in front of the handle. One is on the left, and the shutter speed controller is the smaller of the two controls. There are only two settings. When the lever is down, the camera is in "instant" mode and has a shutter speed of around 1/100 sec. Pulling that small lever up puts the camera in "B" or timed exposure mode. In this setting, you'll need to set the camera on some camera tripod or bracket to hold the camera still so as not to cause a blurry photo.

The other controller is the larger of the two levers that control the aperture settings. The lever can be in three positions to change the different apertures. When the lever is down, the camera has an approximate aperture of F11, the middle position is approximately F16, and the top position is approximately F22.

 

My Results:

I loaded the camera with Ilford 400 ISO/ASA film and walked through the neighborhood on a very overcast and sometimes rainy afternoon in February. The neighbors are getting used to the old man walking through the streets with an odd-looking camera in his hand, taking photos of houses, objects, or other items I find on my walks.

 Here's what I took.

Conclusion:

Other than the stunning beauty of this camera, it's a fundamental camera with minimal controls and a fixed Meniscus Doublet lens that takes a significant negative. According to the manual, the minimum focus is approximately 8-10 feet. My judgment of distance was off in some photos, as the images are out of focus.

 Overall, it was a fun camera to shoot with, and I'll need to take it out on a sunnier day to get more contrast images. There are a couple of filters available for the Beau Brownie, one of which is a portrait filter that allows for closer focus for portrait photos, so I'll need to dig through the box of old filters to see if I have one of the recommended filters to try on the camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about one of the most beautiful cameras ever made. I'm truly honored to have one in my collection.

 Until next week, please be safe.

R. F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera

The cameras that caught my eye early in my collecting years were mainly colored cameras. Red, blue, green, brown tan cameras were the cameras I enjoy. If they had the original color bellows, it was that much better, or If the cameras had some design, even better still. Then I started to add red bellows cameras, as well as the odd and unusual cameras. When I first got a look at the Gilbert Box camera, which had the name R. F. Hunter LTD. London, under the lens, I knew I needed to own one. I thought it was not only a great camera but close to a work of art and a mid-century masterpiece.

R.F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera with filter

R.F. Hunter, Gilbert Box Camera with filter

Company Background

R. F. Hunter, LTD. London was an importing and distribution company which was initially located at 40 Doughty St., in central London, England. In their later days before going out of business, they were located at 51 Gray's Inn Road, London. They started in the early 1930s, mainly distributing cine projectors and cameras.

Their main claim to fame was Franke & Heidecke Rollei products in the UK in the 1930s. This was the first distribution of their products outside of Germany, mainly due to Cyril Hunter, the Managing Director of R. F. Hunter's close relationship with Herr Franke. The story goes that Herr Franke brought his son to the UK just before WWII and asked Cyril Hunter to watch him in the UK during the wartime. He did so but needed to report to the authorities frequently with his son.

After the war, Franke & Heidecke went back into full production, but licensing the UK's distribution was limited. It wasn't until 1950 that the country changed the licenses, and robust distribution could of the product started to flow freely. According to advertising for the Gilbert camera, R.F. Hunter introduced it in 1953.

The Camera

The brushed stainless steel body with lizard skin sides are what drew me to this camera. When I first saw it, I needed to have it for my collection, just for the camera's refined look, the shine, the color, and Lizard skin sides. It had everything someone like me coveted. It had it all. Once I bought it and received it and started to play with it, I knew I had a superb camera. The whole viewfinder rotates for vertical or horizontal photos. The camera has a double exposure lock, so you can't take multiple images on the same frame. It takes 8-6x9 negatives on 120 film.

The camera measures 4.5" tall by 3.5" wide by 5" deep, including the lens. The lens is an approximate 105mm lens with two aperture setting (Dull) F5.6 or (Sunny) F11. The aperture settings are controlled by lifting or depressing a tab on the camera's upper right, next to the viewfinder. There are two shutter speeds for taking photos (fast) 1/50 and (slow) 1/30, a tab on the camera's left side. My camera doesn't allow me to pull up the tab to get the "slow" settings, so mine is 1/50. There is another setting located on the shutter release of the camera. If you pull the shutter release away from the body, there s an option for "T" or time exposure if needed. Another oddity about this camera is on the side where you focus the lens. As you rotate the lens, there are settings for 8,12, or 20 feet. I wonder why this was in feet as opposed to meters? Was this made for the US market?

On the left side of the camera is the film advance knob, which also cock the shutter, preventing double exposure. Behind the film advance wheel is a liftable latch that holds the camera's body portion to the lens/shutter area. Lifting the latch and pulling the body away from the lens, opens the camera for film loading. The camera's back has a slight curve outwards to replicate the film plane's arc, and there's a window that opens/closes so the photographer can see the frame numbers pass by when advancing the film.

Looking at the top's rotating viewfinder, you can see the etched line for registering your image for vertical or horizontal photos. I prefer the etched lines instead of the cropped corners many other box cameras have. My camera also came with the yellow filter, which fits snuggly into the lens. Next to the shutter release is a couple of flash sync posts. The camera's bottom has a tripod socket in the middle of 3 legs that prevent the camera from sitting directly on a table or ledge, which keeps the bottom from getting scuffed up.

Images

I loaded the camera up with Ilford Delta 125, black and white film. I only wished I had a faster film to shoot as the day I went to shoot was very overcast, so the photos are a bit dark, but not too bad. These images are also unretouched and quickly scanned for the post.

Conclusion

I've enjoyed this camera for many years from afar as it was sitting with my other cameras, but I am happy that I took it off the shelf and took photos with it. To me, it's a beautiful camera. I love the design, the look, and the lizard skin coverings. It is a mid-century beauty that I intend to cherish for many more years for an almost seventy-year-old camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to look this over. I'd love to hear from you about your experience with the camera and if you've taken it out to use. If you have questions or comments about this or any of the other cameras I've written about, drop me a line. Until next week, please be safe.