Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Looking through the viewfinder




On my most recent trip to the Long Beach flea market I picked up several vintage cameras.  My current favorite is this Kodak Duaflex twin lens.  Kodak produced this model from 1947-1950, the original US selling price was $17.50. It has a f/15 Kodet lens and takes 620 film. I'm not sure if everything is still in working order, as I haven't yet tried it out with film, but this super cool camera is perfect for ttv (through the viewfinder) photography or for display. 






The Kodak duaflex is the most popular camera used for ttv (through the viewfinder) photography. This style of photography, which is gaining popularity with professional and amateur photographers alike, uses one camera to take a picture through another camera's viewfinder, most commonly a twin lens reflex. Twin lens cameras have two lenses of the same focal length. One lens is used for taking the picture while the other is used at waist-level to give a close approximation through the viewfinder of what will appear on film. The Kodak Duaflex is a favorite of ttv photographers due to the large bubble glass on the top of the camera and a phenomenon called ghosting, a faint, transparent, and slightly offset repeat of the image, which is specific to the camera. The pictures have a great vintage quality to them owing to the above mentioned, as well as the dust and grime that has collected on the mirror and lens of the vintage cameras used. Might be something fun to play with in your extra time.... 



more images courtesy of Analogist's flickr photostream


If you are looking for more information check out these links:


A great tutorial from Russ Morris on how to get started taking your own ttv photos:


Some of my favorite flickr photostreams of ttv:


Too busy to take your own photos?  There are several photographers featuring fun ttv prints on etsy.com:


















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