On a recent vacation I had an instant old-fashioned photograph taken at a tourist area that I found to be quite interesting.　 The photograph was appearantly taken using a 100-year old Kodak and instant process paper (Agfa).　 I am a novice when it comes to cameras, but would like to try to duplicate that process.

What type of view camera would you recommend (moderate price, easy to operate)?

Is it difficult to reproduce instant photographs that have an old-fashioned appearance?

-- Randy Nelms (rnelms@mail.dewa.or.jp), September 13, 1997

Answers

The only instant process I am familiar with are the polaroid films. They come in 4x5 and 8x10 sizes in different varieties. There is a recent film which gives you sepia prints which would certainly look old-fashioned.

When I visited Virginia City, NV last year I noticed that at a store they were making instant old-fashioned photos, using a material which was not polaroid. it might be the agfa material that you've seen, but i have no details about that.

A view camera which could work well for doing this kind of work 4x5 is the speed graphic. It's straighforward to use and very cheap compared to the other cameras. It lacks the adjustment capacities of more sophisticated cameras, but you won't need them if your goal is to produce an instant print. See the link on my page for a lot of information.

-- Quang-Tuan Luong (luong@ai.sri.com), September 14, 1997.