The Nuclear History Museum has added an F-16 to its aircraft collection.
It seemed a good excuse to exercise my Kodak Monitor 620. I had neglected the camera for some time and decided that it was time to rectify that. I adjusted the infinity focus on the camera, and I restored the 620 film carrier which I had previously removed in an ill-conceived effort to force it to use 120 film.
It is hard to believe that the F-16 is already a forty-year-old design. Maybe it's just me.
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6 comments:
My stepson's dad used to fly these. It was a sad time on the local Air National Guard base when they were phased out.
Seems hands-down to be the most aesthetically pleasing of any of the modern fighter aircraft. That is likely due in a large part to the design requirement that the F-16 have a weight to power ratio to permit acceleration in full vertical flight.
Hey Mike,
Nice images from the Monitor! Just more motivation for me to complete the new bellows for mine. :)
I'm curious though, what did you not like about your 120 conversion? I was consdiring converting mine as well, but it sounds like you no longer think it is worth doing?
Jeff
I acquired the Monitor quite a long time ago. I was convinced I'd never be able to master re-rolling 120 onto 620 reels. A few years later I finally realized that it really wasn't difficult and that doing so really resulted in much smoother operation of any of my 620 cameras.
The 120 mod I tried with the Monitor included a couple foam spacers and the film carrier from a Billy Record. It worked ok, but re-rolling only takes a few extra minutes, which I feel is well spent.
Ah, understood. I am still considering doing a conversion for mine, but am on the fence. On the one hand respooling is not really difficult, as you say. But at the same time, I have also had problems with the final result. For example, the film suddenly deciding to unwind from the spool (usually just as I take my fingers off the roll and try to close the camera back), which of course leads to light leaks. And then a more obscure problem - having the film shift during respooling and end up too close to one edge or the other of the paper backing. This can be a problem with some cameras, and/or my scanner.
But either way, its nice to get these great shooters back in service. :)
You're right. Re-spooling is not without hazards. If I get careless in aligning the film on the reel, it is possible to shred the the edges of the paper backing.
The only time I have experienced a problem with the film roll wanting to spring open is actually with regular 120 in the film back for my Patent Etui. The back actually forces the film to wind against normal curl, so I am careful to only unload in the dark bag.
I think that I gain some advantage in my re-rolling by using two 620 reels. I roll the film off the 120 reel onto one 620 reel and back onto another. It seems to me that helps to avoid ending up with a kink at the taping point when the process is complete.
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