The film photography community gets to celebrate and oddball film on June 20th for #620Day. 620 film was invented by Kodak to try to corner a market for medium format film. The film is exactly the same size as 120 medium format, it's the spool that is different and Kodak had hoped to see smaller cameras with the smaller spool. (If you have seen my Kodak Sterling II you will realise how that went...) You can't use a 620 film in a 120 camera and vice versa. I will leave a link below where all is explained.
With the last official Kodak stock of 620 film having run out many years ago, we must look to China where Shanghai Film are willing to make 620 and 127 film available again. I bought a couple of rolls of Shangha GP3 100 620 film from Nik & Trick here in the UK, loaded up a roll into my Kodak Sterling II and went for a wander in my local countryside.
A 100 iso film is ideal for my Kodak Sterling II thanks to the slow shutter speeds it has at 1/25, 1/50th, 1/100th and 1/200th of a second in the Pronto Shutter. The lens is a 105mm f/4.5 and stops down to f/32. This gives me plenty of room to play with and, with a yellow filter on the lens, I can happily shoot it on the slow speeds all day long. To help me keep thing steady I also used an L Bracket and my K&F tripod and a cable release.
As I wandered up to the farms I was thinking about what I could photograph and just picked my favourite compositions to keep it simple. It was a hot day and my brain was pretty fried after a busy morning out shopping with my wife. I was happy to stick with familiar stuff, it was the getting out and about bit that was important on this day. I knew my fellow 620 film photographers around the world would be enjoying themselves immensely and it kept me in good spirits.
After taking my 8th and final frame on the old spoil heap I debated putting a second roll in, but to be fair the shopping expedition earlier in the day had taken a lot of energy out of me. I headed home, snapping a few photos along the way with Donkey for the Frugal Film Project. With that done and home in sight, I couldn't wait to get sat down with a well earned brew.
I developed my film with Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B, for 7 1/2 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I
digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro
lens, Valoi 120 medium format film holder mounted on my Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I
processed the RAW files with Affinity Studio.
By eck it's been a while since I used my Kodak Sterling II and it shows. I made a few mistakes to start with, but once I got into it I really enjoyed myself. Did I get everything in focus with a decent depth of field? Nope, but I was just happy to be out and about using fresh 620 film in a camera made in the 1950's and still going strong.
The best part of a 620 camera is the current price on the used market. My Kodak Sterling II cost me £25, admittedly needing a little fettling, but once I got that figured out It's been fun to use. I enjoyed my afternoon out and about with it and will probably take it out again before the summer ends.
Here's a few favourites from my roll of Shanghai GP1 100 black and white film for #620Day. As always I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Kodak Sterling II - Shanghai GP3 100 - #620Day
Nik & Trick Shanghai GP3 100 620 Film
620 Film Explained
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