On 1/27, 7/12, and 12/7 each year it’s 127 Day, and photographers are encouraged to shoot a roll in their 127 cameras. J.M. Golding collects images from these days and shares them on his Web site.
The last time I was in Chicago I stepped into Central Camera, and they had fresh 127 film hand cut and spooled by Film For Classics. I bought a single roll of Kodak Ektar just for the next 127 Day, which was July 12 (or 12/7 in European date notation).
I used my Kodak Brownie Starmatic, as always. The Brownie Star line of 127 cameras were all simple machines, but the Starmatic added a selenium light meter. The meter fed a simple mechanical system that adjusted the aperture. Wide open is only f/8, the limit of its plastic Kodar lens, and the shutter fires at only one speed, but at least the Starmatic let you set film speed. This was pretty heady stuff for the world’s leading line of inexpensive cameras!
My Starmatic continues to work well even though it’s about 60 years old. I got twelve fine exposures from the roll, which I shot in the shopping centers near my home. Here are the most interesting of them.
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