#1 Autographic Kodak Jr.

Not long ago, I blogged about an old 6x9 camera I'd gotten my hands on, the #1 Autographic Kodak Jr..  Well, with uncharacteristic speed, I've actually gotten a roll of film through it.  I was happy to find that it is in as good a shape as it seemed to be.  Worked like a charm.

My family and I went to a horse show as part of my older son's birthday gift. That seemed like a perfect chance to put this old camera to use.  So, I loaded up a roll of Ilford FP4+ (125 iso) black and white film.  This seemed the logical choice, considering the camera's capabilities and limitations.  Shutter speeds are limited to 1/25th, 1/50th, T and B.  I'd rather not shoot at 1/25th, so that left 1/50th.  Apertures ranged from f8 to f32 and considering the guess and go 4 position focusing, I'd rather be stopped down. 

Sunny 16 told me that 1/50th with 125 iso film would need f22 for "Winter" skies in AZ, so I took a chance, left the light meter at home, and shot at those settings.

With nine shots toa roll of 120 film on a 6x9 camera, how did I do?  Well, I've got 2 to show you and I'm pretty happy about that. 

I took 2 shots each of the ones I'm calling keepers, so that's 4 frames down.  One shot was so badly framed that it was tossed, blame that one on the very challenging little finder...that's 5.  One shot looks like I didn't get the front standard locked in to place correctly...that's 6.  Three shots were so dull I wonder why I pulled the trigger...that's all 9.

Here are the two I'm at least willing to share.  I like the virtual silhouette of this cowboy, walking over the show grounds.

 

I wish I'd pointed down just a touch on this one, it bugs me that I've cut off the bike tire.  Even so, I like the old time feeling.  The streaks of light showed only on this frame and the one right before it.  Not sure of the source, but must be light from somewhere.

 

Overall, a fun camera to shoot and far more capable than you might guess, considering the age of the thing.  I still see it as something of a miracle that the bellows was not rotted out after all those years...not to mention the still snappy shutter.

Comments

[Pete]

Hi Steve,
I just got one of these myself, and while mine does have the autographic feature, the name plate says merely, "No. 1 Kodak Junior". I got it from a fellow collector in a trade. The pics I have shot can be seen here: http://www.f6point3studio.com/kodak_jr/

I shot Ilford Pan F + film and went with Sunny 16 for the most part, but kept my shutter speed at 50 or 25 due to the slow film speed.

Thanks for sharing your pics and this camera!
Pete

[James N]

Great pictures!

I got my daughter a A1 Jr from a second hand store.
Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to open the front to see what the inside is. There is a "Kodak" tab in the front I try to pull but no help.

Any idea?

Thanks

[SteveM]

Hi James,
Yea, the latch is hard to find.
If you look at the top (flat) part of the camera, right next to one of the chrome disks, there is a slight indentation and a circle scribed in to the leather.
Push down on that point. That releases the front door.