Third Grade Camera Day

I had the idea from the beginning to get the Leica into the hands of photographers much younger than myself. Having a camera day with my son's third-grade class was a perfect idea. Of course, I never think small, and I thought this would be a great time to clean up and get working a few of my other vintage cameras.
I began to disassemble and clean the cameras and research online on how to use 120mm film (the only easy to find large format film still being produced) in the old cameras. Installing film in the cameras required sanding, cutting the film rolls, and using adaptors to make the film fit.

Here I am sanding a roll of 120mm film to fit in the Kodak Duraflex II camera

Cleaning the Vintage Cameras

Completed Cameras

List of cameras loaded with some film:
1. 1920's Kodak No 2 Brownie Box Camera
2. 1920's Kodak Folding Pocket Autographic Camera
3. 1930's Kodak Six-16 Brownie Box Camera
4. 1937 Leica IIIA
5. 1950's Brownie Hawkeye
6. 1950's Kodak Duraflex II
7. 1980's Nikon FM2
8. 1990's Nikon N6006
List of cameras without film:
1. 1920's Autographic Kodak Junior Folding Camera
2. 1920's Vest Pocket Cameras (2)
3. 1940's Kodak Baby Brownie
4. 1970's Kodak 110 Instamatic
5. 1990's Polaroid Camera
List of Digital Cameras:
1. 2005 Nikon D50
2. 2010 Nikon D3100
3. 2013 Nikon D7100
4. 2019 Nikon D500
5. 2012 GoPro Hero 2
6. 2017 GoPro Hero 5
The big day came and was able to set up the cameras on two tables while the class was at recess.

We were also joined by James Patterson, a photographer with the Valley News. They will be doing a feature article on the Leica Project.

I put together a twenty-minute powerpoint presentation on a brief history of photography. The children seemed to enjoy it, but I am glad it was not longer.

After the presentation, the children were able to use the cameras taking pictures of some static objects. They all seemed to enjoy it and asked many questions.

The young photographers that were not taking pictures were being entertained by looking at Brent's online blog.

The day was a huge success!

Here is some of the film that they took drying at the Vermont Darkroom.