2A Autographic apertures

[Tom Nutter]

So...I took apart my grandmother's 2A Autographic, cannibalized the 122mm lens, and got the shutter working. I'm gonna put it on a lensboard and see what I get with my Toyo field camera. The lens is one of the really old ones....apertures are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 with "T" "B" 1/25th and 1/50th..the speeds seem reasonably accurate and since "B" and "T" are working, they are what I am most interested in.

It's one of those lenses with a single element situated behind the aperture..so It should be interesting.

So....any ideas? I'm thinking f8, f11, f16, f22......before I burn up any film, does anybody know for sure?

[MattKing]

Above courtesy of Wikipedia's article on "F-numbers"

[Tom Nutter]

Hmmm...I think Kodak was using a non-standard system for their consumer cameras prior to 1920. At least. this is what i read on the internet. Thanks for the chart though.

[Tom Nutter]

From Camerapedia:

"Aperture: "1", "2", "3," "4" (f/8, f/16, f/32, and f/64)"

Here's a link to that article:
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ko...raphic_Brownie

I guess I answered my own question, unless somebody else has other ideas.

[Jim Jones]

Other ideas: The achromatic meniscus lens on the slightly earlier folding Kodak No. 2A with a TBI shutter that started me in photography long ago measures f/14 at no. 1, f/16 at no. 2, f/22 at no. 3, and f/32 at no. 4. If your camera has the popular Ball Bearing shutter, don't rely it to be accurate. It's an example of a clever idea that didn't seem to work so well in practice. However, the idea did give the ad writers something to crow about. At least stopping that meniscus lens down to f/32 does permit rather sharp contact prints. In 1913 the non-autographic Kodak No. 2A sold for $7.The No. 2 Brownie box camera cost $2, the cheapest box camera cost $1, and the Special Kodak for 116 film with a B&L Zeiss Tessar f/6.3 lens cost $62.50! A later undated catalog lists the No. 2A Autographic at $10 with an achromatic meniscus lens and $12 with the faster and better Rapid Rectilinear.

[Tom Nutter]

How do I tell if it is a ball bearing shutter? When I opened it up, I didn't strip it down to the shuter blades, but got them going with some lighter fluid.

the problem seemed to be with the springs. I re-tensioned them to the best of my ability and it works....not terribly worried about the speeds.

Thanks for the F numbers!

[BrianShaw]

I've used a B&L RR lens in TBI shutter from a 3A on my 4x5 quite effectively. The shutter when rebuilt snaps at 1/50 and is quite reliable.

There are plenty of pictures of the ball bearing shutter on the internet. Ether look them up or post a pioctrue of your shutter and someone will tell you what it is.

[Tom Nutter]

yeah, I'm surprised that the lens seems to cover 4X5. I am afraid however that it won't be quirky enough for me to bother with. Perhaps if I install it backwards on the board I will get something interesting. Time will tell.

[BrianShaw]

I ended up putting the RR back on the Kodak. It wasn't quirky at all. In fact, it was quite acceptable... which isn't what I hoped for. I'm thinking that when I have time I'll convert the Kodak from 122 film to 120. At least I'll have a quirky camera with which to take panoramas.

[Tom Nutter]

...can't even do that without a hassle...mine is a 116 format. Oh well...maybe I'll go back to my holga lens...just wish it was a telephoto instead of a wide.