At the beginning of February 2025 I shared my thoughts about using my Kodak Brownie 127 and shooting a roll of Rera Pan 400 film for 127 day on January 27th 2025. I shared some photos on social media and my friend Tom suggested that maybe we should adapt that idea and have a 620 day on June 20th. I agreed it was a great idea, but there was a slight snag. I didn't own a 620 format camera. It was time to go hunting.
I am often idly searching through ebay to check what kind of prices various cameras are selling for. One thing I noticed a few years ago was that folding cameras are disgracefully cheap. Many of you will now be saying "they are cheap for a reason" and list several of them. On occasion I will happily agree with that sentiment as there's some right chancers on the bay selling what can only be described as "fungus farms" for exorbitant sums of money. However, there are bargains on there if you are patient.
Thus it was that I found a good looking Kodak Sterling II for sale with a starting price of £24.99. I figured it would go for more, so I put a bid in at the starting price and left it to run. A few days later I got an email, I was the only bidder and the new owner of the Kodak Sterling II 620 film camera. I duly paid for it and a few days later the seller messaged me to tell me it was on its way and to enjoy my camera. I promptly ordered some Shanghai 620 black and white film from Nik & Trick to try it out.
620 format film is the same as 120 format film with a subtle difference, the size of the film spool. This is important as you cannot fit a 120 film into a 620 camera without a fair bit of bodging. For many years 620 film had been discontinued. You couldn't buy it fresh, but it didn't stop a few determined folk re-spooling 120 film onto 3D printed 620 spools. Nik & Trick offered that service and were amongst interested parties who lobbied Shanghai Film in China to bring factory spooled 620 film back to the market.
Shanghai Film in China took a leap of faith and produced a short run of 620 B&W film to see if the folks lobbying for its return were truly serious. It sold out very quickly. Nik & Trick were fortunate enough to get some and it sold out almost as soon as they added it to their website. The leap of faith paid off and Shanghai now have 620 film as a part of their production roster.
I shot a couple of rolls of film during the spring just to get used to using the camera and I wasn't altogether impressed with my efforts on my first roll, but my second roll was better. It still wasn't perfect, but I was slowly getting the hang of the camera. As it turned out I didn't get to shoot a third roll until the June 20th 2025, 620 day.
June 20th was hot and humid and I got bitten by just about every horsefly I encountered on my walk. I didn't care as I was out and about with a camera and grimly determined to finish the task I had set myself. I had also fitted the yellow filter I had bought for my Kodak Retina 1a. It's a versatile little addition to my kit and I figured it would help me get my exposures looking decent. With just 8 frames per roll, I was taking care of my film and went for familiar compositions. Also, to help me get my exposures right, I used my trusty Gossen Trisix selenium light meter.
I had an enjoyable wander, despite being dinner for a multitude of horseflies. My photos are all of things I have photographed to death, but that's ok. It's all part of my ongoing therapy as I keep my brain and my aching body exercised. I'm not healthy by a long way, but getting out once a week with a camera is helping me enormously. By the time I had captured my last frame, I was ready for home.
I developed my 620 roll of Shanghai GP3 100 iso medium format black and white film a few days later in Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, my Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.
One thing I noticed right away was my images are nice in the centre and very blurry around the edges. Is it me just not getting my depth of field right or has an element on the lens been reversed at some point in the past? I definitely need to investigate it as these should have been decent photos. They are nicely exposed, but... well. Some folk may like the blurring around the edge, the effect can be done with a spot filter or a very thin smear of lip balm around a UV filter. It certainly makes them stand out.
It hasn't put me off the camera, in fact it has piqued my OCD. It makes me want to understand it and maybe even live with it, much like I live with the fact that I always seem to forget where I am up to and get that inevitable "double exposure". Here's a few of my photos from my roll of Shanghai GP100 620 B&W film shot with my Kodak Sterling II for 620 Day. I have placed them all in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Shanghai 620 Film
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