By Chris Davenport
Recently, I purchased a box of Kodak Autographic cameras; a Junior Autographic, Kodak Seneca (Canadian) and a regular Autographic No 3. Also in this lot was a Kodak Brownie Vest Pocket No 2. After I examined the whole lot, it was this camera that interested me most. It was a 120mm 6×9 film camera dated 1909 and had a red-coloured bellows.
The bellows on the Vest Pocket No 2 were ripped in places and had many pinholes. The shutter release was slow, and the blades wouldn’t close completely. I was still determined to get pictures from this one. It was my oldest camera, and the red bellows made it especially unique.
It has a dented screw-on lens ring with no glass in it that seems to have no effect on the pictures. I searched online for every picture of a Vest Pocket No 2 I could find. Eventually I just started taking it apart at the lens plate. My thinking was “I can’t hurt it, it already doesn’t work’, and “it was hand-made so it should be able to be hand disassembled”. This thought drove the conquest.
The shutter plate screws were not what released the shutter and aperture from the face. A metal clasp on the upper right pushed downward then the whole mechanism spun clockwise. Three pins sat in channels and then the pin heads lifted out of the channels and lifted off. Very simple and effective.
The next task was fixing the shutter mechanism. I gambled again because everything on this camera was: “I can’t lose.” My go-to for anything stuck is PB Blaster. With a very small amount in a syringe, I applied it near the tops of all the shutter leaves, then clicked the shutter over and over. Sometimes I would just walk around the work bench clicking the shutter. It suddenly loosened up.
Next, I used Dust-Off and blew it clean and dried everything with air. Today, even after several months, it still works great and seems to have been restored to the working shutter speeds; I, B and T. The aperture is numbered 1, 2, 3. These are in great condition as well.
As mentioned, the bellows were bad. I decided to use liquid electrical tape to fix holes and rips. Red bellows are hard to match. The old bellows had darkened, and I wasn’t going to patch it with black liquid rubber. The red electrical liquid tape was a bright fire engine red. I patiently mixed red and black liquid electrical tape to match the old darkened red bellows and applied it thinly with a small paint brush.
In short, it worked. After every coat dried, I would stick a small floodlight in the camera, close it up in a dark room and watch for leaks. Over a couple months of patience, I found and fixed all the leaks. Next was the closing and latching of the bed (face) of the camera. This hasn’t been completed yet, and a thick rubber band holds it shut. This does not affect the camera, just closes it up for transport.
I doubt I will ever get it 100% latched. It doesn’t leak light, it just doesn’t close tight. The leather handle on top was very dry rotted. I’m working to get it replaced.
The film chamber is in excellent condition including patent numbers and dates, and everything works smoothly. I also used a bit of PB Blaster on the spool knobs to loosen them up and they have worked well. PB Blaster should be used VERY sparingly. It can create other issues if applied too liberally.
My first roll of black and white film was in 14F Idaho weather with light snow on the ground. It was extremely cold. It performed very well even though I would guess it had been over 70 years since last used. This camera is over 110 years old and still needs precaution. I put gaffer’s tape on it to make sure it doesn’t pop open. The clasps are tight, but you never know.
I am cautious for light leaks still and put tape here and there to ensure everything stays tight. I keep it in a black bag when it’s not being used, and I make sure the film counter has black gaffer’s tape on the faded red window as well.
My pictures aren’t perfect, and I need to learn the focus plate and distance on the bellows pull. I have an instruction manual and that helps. It has a feet and meter guide, but I haven’t mastered it yet. The camera sits nicely on a tripod and is very stable in the shutter pull. The view finder is a bit frosty but in bright day light it functions.
The 120 film advances smoothly and I have had no problems with the film registration. Finding an old camera that uses 120 film was a huge advantage.
I am very happy with the results, and I am confident in the camera’s abilities. My next spring-time roll will be colour film. It was a real treasure to find and restore this camera to working condition. Also, with this group of cameras was a roll of 124 exposed film in the large No 3 (Seneca) on a wooden spool.
I developed that roll of film and guestimate it was taken in the 1930s. I got a picture from that roll and the print is now an interesting prize as well. Like all my old cameras, this Vest Pocket No 2 is not just a shelf trophy; it gets used and is still a working tool.
