Brownie Box Camera No. 2

The Brownie Box Camera No. 2, model "E" was an early portable camera manufactured in 1916 by the Canadian Kodak Corporation. This camera was a second major leap in the development of the Brownie series, and the first to use the 120 film. It has two viewfinders for portrait and landscape photographs, and a nice snap action of the shutter. The camera is made of cardboard and imitation leather, and the film holder is made of metal riveted together. These cameras sold for two dollars when new and were mass-produced. The Brownie series was very popular, with the first design patent registered on April 14, 1903 by Eastman Kodak.

How to Use

The shutter lever operates in either direction to take a picture, so if the shutter lever is up, you push it down, and vice versa. The key on the side was to advance the film to the next frame. There are viewers to the top and side, which consist of prisms to direct the light at 45° angle.

The viewfinder inverted the image and it was very faint, hence, photographers used to cover their heads with a towel to improve the contrast. Ancient though this camera is, the strange thing is that all my pictures came out perfectly. My friends had modern cameras and none of their pictures came out. It just goes to show that if you want a proper picture taken, it is still more reliable to use these old cameras.

How to open the Brownie Box Camera No. 2

Flip over the back latches, and pull the film-winding lever away from the body to disengage it from the film holder cage, then the cage will be able to pull out of the body.

Value / Price

This was a cheap mass manufactured product with well over three million units manufactured worldwide. Usually, they are not worth much unless they are in good condition. Majority of them did not wear well with age, as the metal tends to corrode, the cardboard loses shape, and the imitation leatherette tears.

Hollywood studios use these as film props for authentic period drama, and avid photographers often buy them. The value varies and you can get one of these on eBay for around ten to twenty British pounds, but it all depends upon the day and the number of interested collectors bidding.

Review

This was the first camera I bought when I started secondary school. I took pictures of my teacher during a 1979 School trip to Stonehenge. It used a very wide 120 film that was just available at the chemists back then. My local chemist was an avid photographer and he used to develop prints. He knew all about camera films and could even make you custom rolls of films for vintage cameras.

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