29th February is 'Take Your Box Camera To Work Day'

The Box Camera Revolution group on Flickr has announced that Wednesday 29th February is to be 'Take Your Box Camera To Work Day'. Like the 127 Days, it's an excuse to get people using box cameras. These were the snapshot cameras for much of the 20th century, only being supplanted by the Instamatic in the early 1960s; box cameras were produced in many millions, and unsurprisingly they are very easy to find today. Unless in exceptional condition or a rare model, they really should be dirt cheap.

The image below was taken with a Kodak No.2 Brownie, the camera first manufactured in 1901, for which the 120 roll film format was created. Despite very limited user controls (the No.2 Brownie had a single shutter speed and three apertures) and simple glass meniscus lenses, the size of the 6x9cm negatives, along with modern film emulsions, actually produces very credible results.

Southampton Central, shot with a Kodak No.2 Brownie on HP5 film