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20/06/2009: "FathomOz - AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY 1957 (Australia)"

There were two cameras that ordinary Australians owned in the 1950's, both made by Kodak. The more economical was smaller and used film sized 127.

The larger format camera was the common Box Brownie which used film commonly called 620. (6cm x 9cm). The camera is featured in the above left illustration.

In the late 1950's a more compact flash could be attached. Another innovation was a simple close-up lens attachment built-in and activated by a pull-out slide.

In 1957 Kodak was offering mini-enlargements from this 620 film.

Instead of previous "contact" prints which had been on offer for years, the new larger size prints were on 9cm x 13cm paper.

With a good exposure the results were quite nice. The cost was similar to a 5" x 7" color print today, at a guess. Six shillings for 12 prints and processing, plus whatever the film cost had been.

Film and processing was mostly handled by chemist shops (pharmacies or drug stores overseas). Camera shops were few.

The above shots are from three packets of negatives that have survived many relocations from the city to the mid north coast and Queensland over a period of 50 years.

They are my photographic efforts, the negatives were kept safe by my late parents. I'd have probably thrown them away a long time ago. It's a mini miracle these have survived.

With a Canon 9950 digital film and print scanner, results obtained are better than what we would have seen on paper years ago.

(Note: FathomOz was a previous photo blog which now directs inquiries here. I'll attempt to republish some of the professional-quality original pictures again as time goes by).