My son gifted me a brownie for Christmas. More specifically, a Kodak Brownie Flashmite 20 camera. Kodak has made tons and tons of Brownies in many varieties, going back to the early 1900’s. Brownies are very basic cameras but were wildy popular among the masses and they’re gaining a new following. My Brownie was made between 1959 and 1962. It’s made almost entirely of plastic and feels like a toy. Heck, it even looks like a toy.

There are no adjustments for shutter speed on this camera. And it’s assumed you’ll be using 100 speed film (or something close). The only means of changing exposure is by selecting one of three Exposure Vaule (EV) settings on the front, ranging from 13 to 15. My research showed the shutter speed is an unchangeable 1/30th of a second, and the EV setting changes the aperature from f11, f16 or f22. And the only means of focusing is selecting one of three distances away your subject is by means of a dial on the lens. You compose your shot through the viewfinder. Bulbs for the built-in flash unit are no longer made.

This camera uses 620 size film, which is also no longer made. The good news is that 620 film was the exact same size as 120 film but just put on a proprietary Kodak spool. This ensured users of Kodak cameras had to also use Kodak film. This was a sneaky business tactic, but one still employed by the likes of Apple products and others.

The way around the film issue these days is to simply trim the spool on a roll of modern 120 film to fit. The trimming can be accomplished with simple toenail clippers. It’s a trick I learned a while back and is super easy.

To load the film, you remove a cartridge from the camera and spool up your film onto it. Then you reinsert the cartridge back into the camera.

I put a roll of Kentmere Pan 100 (with a trimmed spool, of course) into my Brownie and took it out for a test shoot. I developed the film in Rodinal 1:50 for 15 minutes at 68°. I was super excited to have the film actually turn out! Not bad for an all plastic camera that’s 65 years old.

A few of the photos were quite nice. Others, not so much. This has more to do with the user (me) not being familiar with this camera and working within its limitations than it does with the camera itself. But one thing’s for sure, it’s a lot of fun to play with. I wouldn’t rely on it for any serious photography work, but it’s very capable of being a general walk-around camera.