New (Antique) Camera....

sarah-bear

Hi All,
I got a camera off my boyfriend for christmas, its a GAP (Made in France) camera. From looking online it seems to have been made in the 1940's. I was just wondering if it would be possible to even find film for it, or is it more of a 'decorative' thing now!

Thanks in advance for the help,
Sarah-Bear

Heebie

if you let us know exactly what hte model number is etc.. we'll probably (the boards.ie phootgraphy community that is.) will probably be able to come up with something.

I did a quick search for GAP, and didn't see anything.

Looking at the inner workings of the camera would probably give us all a clue, too. If you could snap a digital picture of the camera.

I look forward to hearing what it's like.. I have a fondness for antique cameras! (Just ask Zerohamster..he's seen 2 of mine.)

sarah-bear

Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me!

Heres a pic I found online, can't find my digital camera anywhere. http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspiredphotosdotcom/3696387610/

On the back of the camera are 2 red virlve windows, and inside just seems to be where you would put the film. Sorry for sounding so thick trying to explain it!

Sarah-Bear

Heebie

If there are two red windows, it might very well be a dual-format medium-format camera. From the age, it probably takes 620 film.. but it could be 120. If it's 620, it's possible to buy 120 and re-spool it onto 620 spools in a dark bag before shooting with it. (I have to do this with one of my cameras which is a very similar design.)
The caption under the picture actually says "6x6 on 120 roll film) which is killer.. at the very least the owner of that one is able to take pictures with it.
It probably has a fixed shutter speed of 1/100th of a second. (Most of the box cameras of that era did.)
It's nice that is actually has two image boxes. (spots to look through to compose your image) one for wide and one for tall.

If there are two sets of red windows on the back, there might be some adjustment to switch between 6x9 and some other format, maybe 6x7 or 6x6. 6x9 is "widescreen" for a camera of that era.. you should be able to get some pretty cool images from it!

sarah-bear

Brilliant! Thanks so much for this, it really helps. Where would I be able to buy film for a camera like this? Really looking forward to taking some pictures with it now

Heebie

Most any halfway decent camera shop. They probably wouldn't have it at the pharmacy. I'd imagine some of the places where you can get film developed should have it as well.
Gunn's, Conn's Birmingham.. all those places should have it in-stock.
But.. you do want to check the spools before you assume they're 120.. Hopefully they are! If you need 620 spools, those might be a alittle harder to come by if it doesn't already have 1-2 with it.

sarah-bear wrote: »

Brilliant! Thanks so much for this, it really helps. Where would I be able to buy film for a camera like this? Really looking forward to taking some pictures with it now

Fnergg

sarah-bear wrote: »

...I got a camera off my boyfriend for christmas, its a GAP (Made in France) camera. From looking online it seems to have been made in the 1940's...

Get a new boyfriend. That guy is a cheapskate.


Regards,

Fnergg

Heebie

Wow. What a Grinch!

Fnergg wrote: »

Get a new boyfriend. That guy is a cheapskate.


Regards,

Fnergg

DaireQuinlan

first port of call in these situations is always camerapedia ...
http://camerapedia.org/wiki/Gap_6%C3%979_box_cameras

which brings us to Sylvain Halgand's excellent site ...

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/listeG_imagettes.php#Gap

All the extant GAP models are probably there. They all seem to take 120 so you're probably in luck.

I have a similar (well, all box cameras are kinda similar :-) ) camera from kodak that takes 620 and shoots 6x9. Interesting story behind it as well (click through the image).



Some shots ...

sarah-bear

Haha well I got more than just the camera, sheesh! :rolleyes:
Thanks for all the advice, gonna try and get some film for it this week.

Sarah-Bear