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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
Two days ago, on the 12th, I shot some film with a Kodak Instamatic 277X to mark June's '
126 Day'. Unlike 127 Day, or some of the other calendrical photography days, I'm not aware that anyone really observes a 126 Day. Reasons for this doubtless include the fact that no new 126 format film has been produced for years, although rumours of its resurrection do occasionally surface. I would not have predicted that the 110 format would reappear after the major manufacturers stopped production, so 126 film's re-emergence is not an impossibility; new 127 format rollfilm did disappear for a time, but is now more available, and the demand must in part be due to the fact that there were a number of well-designed cameras produced for the format, particularly during the popularity of the 4x4 twin lens reflex in 1950s. There were a small handful of relatively higher-specification 126 cameras, but most were simple point-and-shoot models, plastic equivalents of the box cameras of a generation before. I shot with the Instamatic 277X on 126 Day, as, although basic, it does have a relatively wide range of aperture settings and it is also better at handling perforated 35mm film loaded into original 126 cartridges than other 126 cameras I've used. I shot a couple of cartridges loaded with Ilford FP4 on the day, and wasn't quite as careful as I might have been in advancing the film, with the result of several overlapping exposures.
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
In developing the film, conversely, I was too cautious. Using Ilfotec LC29 which had been mixed from stock at a dilution of 1+9 three months earlier, I extended developing time by another minute on top of the extra time, factored for pushing it one stop, as I wasn't sure how well the developer was going to work, as the developer was looking quite discoloured. The resulting negatives were quite dense as a result, and should clearly have been developed as if rated at box speed for the correct time. As a result the midtones to highlights were compressed, and meant careful scanning was needed to recover as much range as possible, as well as some digital dodging and burning to help separate tones.
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Ilford FP4 Plus |
In addition to the cartridges loaded with 35mm FP4 Plus, I also shot a cartridge of
Kodak Verichrome Pan. I (nominally) rated this at box speed, originally 125 ISO: with the Kodak Instamatic 277X, this meant simply following the pictograms for the lighting conditions. The cartridge had a develop before date of 06/1986; often with film this old, I would increase exposure to compensate for the loss of sensitivity due to age, but my previous experiences with Verichrome Pan suggested that I could risk not doing this with thirty-odd year old film. It might have been wise to bracket the exposures, but with only 12 frames in the cartridge, I didn't do this. I also shot the film with a yellow filter (as I had done with the FP4 Plus), which I might not have adequately accounted for in exposure; however, I stand developed the Verichrome Pan, which is generally very forgiving in terms of variations in exposure, and, although the resulting negatives had a moderate level of base fog due to age, the results were pretty good for a 34-year-old black and white film.
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
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| Kodak Instamatic 277X with Kodak Verichrome Pan |
