I had some fun with the Birdseye camera today. Took my friend’s eagle sculpture out for a photo opp. (That’s at the bottom of the page.) The original review is here:
Cam McCubbin sent the Birdseye to me, all the way from Canada. It accepts 620 film, so I re-loaded some 120 onto 620 spools. (Here’s a link to how to respool 120 film onto a 620 spool.) As I picked the camera up to load it, I had this eerie feeling of deja vu. That film advance knob… hmm… somehow so familiar. That pointy shutter button … the metal clip on the bottom … I’ve walked down this road before. This bad boy’s got Herbert George DNA all over it! And to prove it, I dug out an Imperial Mark XII. Slicker’n snot, the XII’s back fit the front of the Birdseye, and the Birdseye’s back snapped onto the XII’S front without a hitch. There’s no mention of Herbert’s involvement in this camera’s conception, but the resemblance is unmistakable. After I used the camera, I switched the backs again, just to spice up my shelf with a little mix ‘n match action.
I kept to a Birdseye theme and took the camera flying. In another life, I operate a Hasselblad (but don’t tell anyone) for a guy who owns an aerial photography business. He flies the plane and I load film backs and feed the camera. I haven’t mentioned that I bring along Junk Store Cameras on these “missions”, as he calls them. I’ve only recently come out of the Barbie closet with him and have started packing my personal gear in my Barbie backpack. But anyway, the camera performed well at altitude, though I photographed mainly through the window. I knew I’d get distortion because of it, so I shot a few images at sea level as well, just to measure the amount of actual distortion.
Click on any image for a larger view.
