Kodak No. 2 Brownie Camera Model D

 

Jumping into 2025 with an iconic camera series and also the new record holder of oldest camera on this blog. No, it isn’t another Agfa, as in the past, but a Kodak, specifically the Kodak No. 2 Brownie Camera Model D.

I already went over the history of Kodak in the Kodak 200 Color Plus Film post and I went over the history of the Kodak Brownie series in the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera post. So, I will be jumping directly into the camera concerned. 

The Brownie No. 2 was produced from 1901-1935, and came in different models (A-F) and appears to be the first camera to use 120 film (Peggy 2019). These cameras “are pretty hard to kill. They’re both so simple and robustly enough manufactured that even the jankiest one you find in the back of some dumpy junk store can probably still make images…” (Grey 2019). With even BCG Film and Photography noting that “The No.2 Brownie was a fantastic addition to the Brownie line, they just don't seem to stop working.” This camera and its five variations were a runaway hit with the public, with the No. 2 holding a world record of 2.5 million units sold all over the world (Solomon 2017). 

Speaking of the variations, they all seem to be the same, but with minor changes (except for the Model F). The Model A, first had a detachable winding key, but that was replaced with a pull-out winding key that most box cameras have (BCG Film and Photography). It should be noted that the first No. 2 is not the No. 2 A, because the No. 2 A worked that same as the first No. 2, but it used 116 film instead of 120 (Film Cameras 2019). But I will be referring to the No. 2 (120 film camera) as Model A, even though this doesn’t matter because it seems to be working the same way as the Model D, which I will be getting to shortly.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 (A). Image Source: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5935fa15579fb38a23d59301/1508110614324-NOKFVHM4YJG42CG67CA5/Kodak+Brownie+No+2+medium+format

 

BCG Film and Photography further writes that by 1904, the Model B was released and the only change was that the fine grain leatherette was replaced with a coarser one and the lens and viewfinders were fitted with metal eyelets. It also seems that its film compartment and film carrier was opened from the front. Then by 1907 the Model C were made with spoolcenters.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model B & C. Image Source: https://www.brownie-camera.com/56.jpg

Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model B. Image Source: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/IVsAAOSwwYlh8ZT~/s-l400.jpg

And then with the Model D (1914), this camera is the variation that had a clamp (Purcell 2020) or “the sliding latch for hinged back was replaced by a spring catch” (BCG Film and Photography). The winder key was also changed to a “bar style” (Purcell 2020). By 1917, a metal name plate was added to the back (BCG Film and Photography). 

The later versions of the Model D also saw the exclusion of the back mask (Grey 2014), which was a piece of cardboard that is a frame guide that covers up the excess film, held the film in place and possibly protected the film from light.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model A-C Back Mask. Image Source: https://shutterlogue.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2050016-768x576.jpg

Kodak Brownie No. 2 early Model D, with Back Mask attached to Film Carrier/Holder.
Image Source: https://live.staticflickr.com/2934/14615455123_6771a982dd_c.jpg

Then according to BCG Film and Photography, by 1919, the Model E was released and the wooden film carrier was replaced by metal and the camera had a trigger guard.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model E. Image Source: https://i0.wp.com/photothinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/pt-KodakNo2BrownieModelE-01.jpg?resize=960%2C721&ssl=1

Then the final model, the Model F was released in 1924 and unlike the previous models, that were all made out of cardboard, the Model F was made from aluminum. The trigger guard was removed, tripod sockets were added and the leatherette was changed back to a fine grain. (BCG Film and Photography) 

Kodak Brownie No. 2 Model F. Image Source: https://foticoscollection.com/storage/media/18819/conversions/hmrwY_orig-zoom.jpg

Over the years, the Model F came in different colours and some of these colours were made for special occasions, such as the 1930 Christmas model that had a “special Modernist finish, black with slight relief, wax-like feel…” and the 1935 version that came in silver to celebrate King George V of the UKs silver jubilee. There were also the 1931 models that “had rectangular line decoration of earlier models…” It also had the winding key replaced by a knob. (BCG Film and Photography)

Now let’s have a closer look at the Model D, starting with the body.

The No. 2 Brownie Model D is made out of cardboard, covered in a coarse grain leatherette and is slightly bigger than the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera, but functions in a similar way.

The front of the camera is interesting because unlike other cameras, there is no lens in the front, only the shutter. That is because the lens is behind the shutter, instead of in front of it.

The shutter is a rotary shutter (see Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera post), with a speed of what is assumed to be 1/50 of a second (Eckman 2016) and this is probably the same for all the variations.

Then in the left top corner, are the viewfinders or brilliant finders. Top finder is to help take a picture in portrait mode and the bottom finder is for landscape, the same as the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera.

 

But as many reviewers point out these “brilliant finders” aren’t really brilliant. As Kohl (2017), points out that the finders are very dim and hard to frame due to the small size, by writing that “There are small viewfinder lenses on the front of the camera and a small ground glass on the side and top of the camera. Not sure if it's due to age, the mirrors coming unsilvered, or by design but the viewfinders are really dim. They're almost usable with a loupe.” It gets worse when dirty, with Grey (2019) writing: “Any No. 2 Brownie’s viewfinders will be dim even when clean, but when they’re dirty they’re useless.” 

Now for the left side…

There is the small landscape (or horizontal) brilliant finder. Underneath that is the shutter lever or shutter rocker (Eckman 2016). This shutter lever is interesting because the user must move the lever down to take an exposure and unlike other cameras, the lever doesn't jump back into place.

Instead it stays down and if the user wants to take another exposure, then the lever must be pulled up. In other words: “… you move the rocker in either up or down position.  The shutter fires regardless of the original orientation of this rocker…” (Eckman 2016).

Then underneath the shutter rocker, is the winding key, that advances the film and keeps the film holder (or carrier) in place by locking into the take-up spool (see Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera).

Now on top…

Is the vertical or portrait brilliant finder.

Next to that are two slides. The wide one is the aperture settings and the narrow one is the exposure or shutter speed settings.

The exposure slide has three settings. According to Eckman (2016), Kodak never made any indications of what each aperture setting is, but that many people have speculated that it is either f/8, f/11 or f/16 on the widest and the other two is f/22 and f/32.

 

Solomon (2017) seems to agree that the last two f/stops are correct. But it is still unclear, with even the Brownie No. 2 manual giving no clue to the aperture size:

Page 20 from the Brownie No.2 manual

What is also interesting, is that like the Sinpo PQ-3 Point and Shoot Film Camera and Agfa Clack Film camera, the camera doesn’t use aperture pedals, but instead a plate that has three holes punched in it.

The shutter slide has two settings. An “I” setting when down and a “B” setting when it is pulled out (see Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera).

 Then there are the two studs that held the strap, that like the Model 1, is missing.

Kodak Brownie No. 2 (Model A) with Strap. Image Source: https://shutterlogue.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2050026-768x576.jpg

And behind that is the latch that locks the film compartment cover in place.

Now for the back…

This is where the cover or hatch is covering the film compartment. On this hatch, top right corner, is the red film window, used to tell what number frame the film is on.

Inside the film compartment is the film holder/carrier, also made from cardboard and has some damage.

 And just like the Model 1, the user must pull the winding key out to release the holder, so that it can be taken out and loaded with film. Loading the film seems to be similar to loading film into the Model 1.

Then inside the film compartment is the lens, behind the shutter as mentioned above. According to Eckman (2016), the lens is a single element meniscus lens (see KODAK Pocket Instamatic 10 Camera post), with an unknown focal length.

 But according to Solomon (2017), that is a fixed focus lens, that “can only shoot from ten feet onwards…” but if we go back to Eckman (2016), who states that the focal length probably is 75mm, with a focus range of eight feet to infinity on the smallest f/stop and only goes up to ten feet to infinity when on the last two large f/stop settings. But both focus ranges of eight and ten aren’t exactly the best, because as both Eckman (2016) and Solomon (2017) agree, this makes close up or portraits impossible (or at least incredibly difficult) to shoot.

The camera uses 120 film (see Agfa Clack Film camera post for more information) with “eight 2¼” x 3¼” exposures” (Eckman 2016). To learn how film works please see the Kodak 200 Color Plus Film post.

Now it doesn’t seem that the Brownie No. 2 had a flash mount, but according to the manual, using a flash was possible with Kodak Flash Sheets, an equivalent to flash powder (Aperture Preview 2023). A flash sheet is a piece of paper, coated in highly flammable chemicals, that the user ignites with a match. Once the match touches the sheet it instantaneously burns up creating a bright flash.

Kodak Flash Sheets. Image Source: https://nwmangum.com/Kodak/images/FSheets-1.jpg

For more information on this camera, please check out the manual here:

https://www.cameramanuals.org/kodak_pdf/kodak_brownie_2.pdf 

And there it is, an amazing example of a box camera and a literal box at that. Simple and easy to use, with some drawbacks, but the design has definitely influenced the new brownie cameras. This camera is the perfect representation of the old saying of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (just add “only improve on it”).

And as always, thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.    

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List of sources:

Aperture Preview. 2023. Kodak Vest Pocket Model B. https://www.aperturepreview.com/kodak-vest-pocket-model-b#:~:text=The%20shutter%20speeds%20were%20reduced,/11%20to%20f/32.&text=That%20is%20all%20for%20the,including%20a%20case%20and%20cosmetics.

BCG Film and Photography. No. 2 Brownie. https://www.brownie-camera.com/53.shtml

Eckman, M. 2016. Kodak No. 2 Brownie Model D (1914). https://mikeeckman.com/2016/10/kodak-no-2-brownie-model-d-1914/

Film Cameras. 2019. Kodak No. 2 and No. 2A Brownie: How to use - Video manual. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nk2jPa53kA

Grey, J. 2014. Kodak No. 2 Brownie, Model D. https://blog.jimgrey.net/2014/08/18/kodak-no-2-brownie-model-d/

Grey, J. 2019. Kodak No. 2 Brownie, Model F. https://blog.jimgrey.net/2019/02/15/kodak-no-2-brownie-model-f/

Kohl, N. 2017. Kodak No. 2 Brownie. https://kohlweb.com/essays/2017/10/kodak-no-2-brownie/

Peggy. 2019. Kodak Browne No. 2. https://cameragocamera.com/2019/07/27/kodak-box-brownie-no-2/

Purcell, D. 2020. No 2 Brownie Camera Eastman Kodak Co. / Canadian Kodak Co. / Kodak Ltd. http://redbellows.co.uk/CameraCollection/Kodak/No2Brownie_gen.htm

Solomon, J. 2017. Kodak Brownie No. 2 Camera Review – Shooting a Hundred-Year-Old Film Camera. https://casualphotophile.com/2017/02/05/kodak-brownie-no-2-camera-review-shooting-a-hundred-year-old-film-camera/