[Taken 24 January 2011]
The last roll of film I took with this camera was back in 2005, and that test roll wasn’t terribly successful. This one was much more so, and I’ve decided that I do, in fact, like my Brownie Bullet.
Read on for more commentary and photos…
Overall, we’ve got the typical “box camera” limitations: no subject too close (say, closer than five feet), and no lighting conditions too extreme. We also have some light vignetting around the edges, which I personally think adds character.
As usual when working in black and white, I was forced to think more in terms of composition and contrast, rather than just, “Hey, neat subject! [click!]”
The only real technical weirdness came at the end of the roll. Firstly, I hadn’t realized how much light I would lose by shooting through a window. These last two took a lot of level-bumping in Photoshop to make them look closer to how I remembered them.
Secondly, I really, REALLY need to take that “unload in subdued light” advice seriously with these paper-backed films. If you look closely, you can see the imprint of the exposure numbers in the sky — that’s through the paper on the back of the film. Less challenging to spot is the major light leakage from the edges of the film. That’s totally operator error.
So, I’d like to revise my initial opinion of the Brownie Bullet: it’s not just a neat art-deco piece that happens to be functional; rather, it’s a functional camera that creates unique photos, and just happens to also be rather stylish.