I shy away from cameras that take 620 film. I own a few, as they’re plentiful; Kodak and other manufacturers puked out bazillions of them. But in 1995 Kodak discontinued 620 film, instantly orphaning them all.

620 film is nothing more than still-available 120 film wound onto thinner spools. This makes it still possible to shoot with 620 cameras, as all you need to do is re-roll 120 film onto a 620 spool (instructions here). You can also take your chances with expired 620 film, which can be found on eBay. Or you can buy fresh, hand-respooled 620 film, such as from the Film Photography Project (here).

The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye takes 620 film. It is a glorified box camera, but such was the state of proletarian photography for much of the 20th century. Many collectors report that some Brownie Hawkeyes accept 120 film on the supply spool, which would certainly make it less of a hassle to shoot with this camera.

I love it when a simple camera gets good results, and so I was charmed when I saw the great images well-known camera guy Ken Rockwell got with a Brownie Hawkeye on Route 66. I immediately bought one.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, Flash Model

The Brownie Hawkeye was introduced in 1949; the flash model followed in 1950. They cost $5.50 and $7, respectively, which is about $60 and $75 today. Its Bakelite plastic body probably looked modern and pleasant in those days, but certainly looked outdated in 1961 when this camera finally went out of production. It sports a single-element meniscus lens with an aperture somewhere around f/14 or f/16. Pressing the ridged gray button that wraps around the camera’s top right corner fires the shutter, which stays open for about 1/30 second. If you pull up the smooth gray button that wraps around the camera’s top left corner, the shutter stays open as long as you hold the shutter button down. The flash model has two pins on the side that accept several Kodak flash units.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, Flash Model

To load film, clip in a new roll up top, thread the film around the back, and insert the film leader into a takeup spool on the bottom. Put the back on the camera, lock it closed with the little slider on top under the handle, and slowly turn the winding knob until 1 appears in the little red window on the camera’s back. To frame a shot, hold the camera in front of your torso and look down into the viewfinder. Press the shutter button when you’re ready. The shutter button doesn’t lock after you press it, so if you press it again you’ll get a double exposure.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, Flash Model

The Brownie Hawkeye had a number of running changes during its 11-year run. Early cameras had metal winding knobs and little rivets next to the flash pins. Kodak fitted glass lenses and viewfinders at first, but switched to plastic in later cameras. The button for long exposures has various markings, from B (for bulb) to L (for long) to LONG, depending on when the camera was made. Mine has a CAMEROSITY code of CYRM, meaning it was made in November, 1953. Its winding knob is plastic, and its lens and viewfinder are glass. Its long exposure button is marked L.

If you like simple cameras like this, check out my reviews of the Agfa Clack (here), the Ansco B-2 Cadet (here), the Kodak Duaflex II (here), the Kodak No. 2 Brownie, Model D (here), and the Kodak Six-20 Brownie (here). Or check out all of my camera reviews here.

A special gift was hidden inside this Brownie Hawkeye – a roll of exposed Verichrome Pan film. I sent it right off to Film Rescue International, which specializes in getting images from long-expired film. I was delighted when they returned several good images. Judging by the cars and the scenery, it appears that this family visited Niagara Falls in the late 1960s.

Rescued film

The roll features several shots of the falls. My experience with small waist-level viewfinders is that framing a level shot can be challenging. This photographer would probably agree – if he or she could see these photos.

Rescued film

I hope someone someday comes upon this post and recognizes this family. I’d like to reconnect them with their photographs!

Rescued film

When I took my sons on a Route 66 vacation, I thought I’d follow in Ken Rockwell’s footsteps and bring the Brownie Hawkeye along. I first loaded some 620 Kodak Verichrome Pan that expired in September of 1985. I…did not get the stunning results Rockwell did. Here’s the Standard service station in Odell, IL.

1932 Standard station

Ah, the vagaries of expired film. The Brownie Hawkeye was pleasant to use, though: walk up, frame the shot, push the button. The button has nice travel and requires only moderate finger pressure. The below photo from the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, MO, looks like an illustration from a dystopian novel.

Wagon Wheel Motel

I also shot a roll of 620 Kodak Gold 200 expired since June of 1996, making this among the last rolls of 620 film Kodak produced. These look better to me than any of my Verichrome Pan work, but they are all underexposed and suffer from heavy color shifting. This is the Wagon Wheel Motel again, with our car parked outside.

Wagon Wheel Motel

My film choices aside, the Brownie Hawkeye did its job fine, delivering good sharpness even out into the corners.

66 Drive-In

This is the best photo I made with the Brownie Hawkeye. I tweaked it heavily in Photoshop to reduce haze and boost contrast. The color shifts make the shot in this case. You’ll find this sign in Springfield, MO.

Rest Haven Court

To see more from this camera, check out my Brownie Hawkeye gallery.

If you like simple box cameras and are willing to deal with the 620 film problem, you’ll like the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. It’s a pleasant shooter that delivers good results.

If you like old film cameras, check out all of my reviews here!
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Comments

34 responses to “Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, Flash Model”

  1. gaycarboys Avatar

    This camera and its type bring back very happy memories!

    1. Jim Avatar

      This kind of camera was in Everyman’s hands for many decades!

  2. jacullman Avatar

    Jim, I love this post! I picked up one of those cameras at a junk store in the1970’s – and had a blast using it! The pictures have an almost dreamlike quality. Will post the one surviving shot later. Your photos are great. When I get home from work today I’m checking out the photo rescue international link.

    Sadly, my mother got rid of the camera when I left home for college. My dad had a Minox, and that one disappeared, too. Still have a few old cameras — and they aren’t going anywhere ;-). Old cameras rock!

    1. Jim Avatar

      These cameras are as plentiful as pennies even now! You should check out the link in the post above to the photos Ken Rockwell took with his — you’d never believe they came out of a simple box camera!

  3. Todd Pack Avatar

    That’s so neat, finding a family’s old pictures in your camera. I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t take the film to the drugstore.

    P.S. I have a Brownie Hawkeye, but it doesn’t look as new as yours.

    1. Jim Avatar

      My secret hope is that the family in these photos will stumble upon this one day!

  4. Mike Avatar

    Nice review of this great little box camera, and wonderful recovered images.

    The biggest problem with the Hawkeye Flash, or any box camera, is holding it steady during the exposure, and the lack of a cable release and tripod socket don’t help. The lens is capable of surprising sharpness if you can overcome the wiggle.

    It is worth looking for the no.13 close-up attachment which makes portraits possible at about 3.5 feet distance. Otherwise, one wants to stay no closer than about 8 feet from the subject. Closer shots and interesting effects can also be had by reversing the lens.

    1. Jim Avatar

      Fortunately, the shutter button works smoothly. My experience has been that a stiff shutter button is the leading cause of camera shake on these simple cameras!

      My Internet research on this camera echoes what you say about how close to get with this camera. It allegedly focuses from 5 feet, but others say that the focus is soft between 5 and 10 feet. This camera is all about group and landscape shots.

  5. Lone Primate Avatar
    Lone Primate

    The woman in the middle of the group shot in front of the Falls looks like she’s saying “Wait a minute… where’s Bobby?” ?:D

    You’d have to be right about the time period. Those shots are on the Ontarian side of the river and predate the adoption of Metric in the early 70s. For a long time afterwards the signs would have had “km/h” under the numerals. Some still do.

    1. Jim Avatar

      I’m guessing you’re concluding that these shots are from Ontario by the speed limit sign. I’m not wise to the ways of Canadian signage, and in the US things were a lot less standard then, so I wasn’t ready to make that leap. So your perspective is very helpful here.

      1. Lone Primate Avatar
        Lone Primate

        No, it’s the angles. For on thing, you can’t really see American Falls from the United States; they face Ontario. :) Facing the Falls, the view of Horseshoe Falls is on the left in Ontario, on the right in New York. I’ve been to the Falls over half a dozen times since the 80s and I know the views reasonably well… that’s why that golden shot of the Falls with just grass and trees and nothing else is just so jaw-dropping… it really looks like a shot from the 19th Century.

        1. Jim Avatar

          Ah, clearly you are wise in the ways of the Falls. I only drove through the once, 20 years ago, and didn’t spend very much time.

  6. Scott Palmer Avatar

    I know very little about photography, but I had a Brownie and a couple other cameras of that type.

    For me, it’s less about the mechanics of the cameras than about a smaller, friendlier, more intimate America that seems to have disappeared. I miss it sometimes. Your blog brought back fond memories.

    1. Jim Avatar

      I miss that America all the time!

  7. ryoko861 Avatar

    Oh oh, I have one of those!!! It was my father in laws. It sits in our curio cabinet. I took it out and snapped a picture of it for you. You can check it out here:
    http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e193/ib30667/100_0426.jpg

    Glad you shared this. I’ve learned something about this little camera! Thank you!

    1. Jim Avatar

      Sweet! If you take off the back, look for a four-letter code printed on the inner works somewhere. (Mine is on the bottom where the film stretches past on its way to the takeup spool.) Then click the CAMEROSITY link in my post above and use it to decode when your Brownie Hawkeye was made!

      1. ryoko861 Avatar

        Cool, I’ll do that now! Thanks!

  8. ryoko861 Avatar

    Here’s a pic of the label that’s inside: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e193/ib30667/100_0439.jpg The word “YARM” is what I’m looking for, right?
    So if I’m reading the code right, it was manufactured “0253” or February, 1953. Is this correct?

    1. Jim Avatar

      Yup, YARM is Feb. ’53! Yours is the slightly older brother of mine. Whenever you come across an old Kodak, if it has a four-letter code hidden within (many didn’t), you can know when it was made.

      1. ryoko861 Avatar

        Thank you! That was interesting! You’re a wealth of knowledge!!

  9. Lynn Avatar
    Lynn

    Wait… Film expires? So what is the average shelf life of film? What happens when it expires?

    1. Jim Avatar

      Film does expire. Post expiration it begins to degrade. If you shoot expired film, or shoot film and allow it to expire, you can get interesting results. The more expired, the more interesting the results. There are photographers who are totally into expired film. Here’s a Flickr group some of them post to.

      http://www.flickr.com/groups/expired/

      1. Lynn Avatar
        Lynn

        Silly question time. Does anyone use expired film on purpose for the nifty effects?

        1. Jim Avatar

          That’s the whole point.

  10. Logan Avatar
    Logan

    I ended up buying one of these at a thrift store a month or so back, it seems to be the same model as yours (plastic winding knob.) Is it supposed to have only one spool inside? or two?

    1. Jim Avatar

      Just one. A roll of film supplies the other.

  11. M Styborski Avatar
    M Styborski

    You can probably use 120 film in this camera straight out of the box. I just picked one up at a thrift store and it looks as if the clearance is good for the wider spool ends. I can’t wait to try it!

    However, you’ll notice two bent tabs on the metal “spring” arms which hold the film in place. Kodak added these because back in the Fifties people were still buying and using the cheaper 120 film in this camera instead of the newer 620. The tabs prevent the camera from properly closing with 120 loaded but clipping or bending the tabs out of the way will allow the slightly longer spool to fit in the camera! It really depends on the brand of film.

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Kodak tweaked the insides of this camera a couple times during its manufacturing run, I gather, and it is easier to use 120 in the earlier cameras than the later. That said, I have an Agfa Clack, a similar camera, that natively takes 120 — I’m inclined to just use it!

      1. Ric Avatar
        Ric

        I just recovered the one that my parents used starting at least from the mid- fifties. It’s the first caméra that I ever used as a boy . First generation, with the metal knob. However, no inscription inside to date it ! Thank you for the infos. I will try to use it, probably with 120 film. I also found two of these that expired in 1973. Might join the ” expired gang ” !!

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          Good luck! If yours is one of the early ones I’d think it should take 120 no problem.

  12. Dan James Avatar

    Love the old 60s found photographs Jim, what an unexpected treasure, especially the first one of the family!

    I like your b/w shots, very moody and timeless, and the grain just emphasises this.

    (PS/ You repeated a paragraph about the waist level finder.)

    1. Jim Grey Avatar

      Those b/w shots are moody to the max! I was hoping for the classic Verichrome Pan look. That film is very hardy so I was surprised by these results.

      I hope someday the family who is in the Niagara Falls photos finds them here.

      Thanks for catching the repeated text, which I have fixed.

      1. Dan James Avatar

        That would be amazing if any of the people in the photo recognised themselves!

        In a similar vein, are you aware of Simon Hawkett’s fascinating “Found Film” blog?

        https://found-film.co.uk/photo/

        1. Jim Grey Avatar

          I think I’ve seen that site before but I do think I knew it was Simon’s. Thanks for reintroducing me to it!

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