Herco Imperial 620 Snap Shot Camera

Herco Imperial 620 Snap Shot Camera FujiFilm Neopan Acros 100 Caffenol-C-M -  A failed experiment of sorts, but with some interesting results. The Herco Imperial is designed to use 620 film. Those of you who have ever done it, know the re-spooling a 120 roll onto a 620 spool can be tricky and time consuming. I always seem to have issues getting the anchor tape to reattach, or worse, tear the paper backing when peeling the tape in the 1st place. The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye will use 120 film without issue as long as you use a 620 take up spool. I was hoping the same would be true for this little box camera.

The 120 feed spool, did fit, it was a little tight but seemed to be ok. I was able to mount the back and advance the film to the 1st frame. The advance knob seemed tight and there were some concerning "crinkling" noise coming from inside the camera, but what the hell, at this point, I am committed. I managed to get 4 shots off and give myself a blister on my thumb trying to turn the tight advance knob, before the film would go no further. I had to unload the film in the dark and roll it the rests of the way onto the take up spool by hand. More cause for concern came while loading the film onto the reel for developing, the edges of the portion of the film that was exposed, felt very similar to the edges of a lasagna noodle. I was able to get the roll loaded, but not without a little more force that I normally like to exert on a roll of film.

I developed the roll and proceeded to scan the negatives. Two samples of which you can see above. The stress on the film causes it to ripple on the film plane causing some interesting distortion. If you look closely you can see the fountain rim around the Dough Boy Monument looks like it caves in on the right side and the stairs on the second image seem to have a wave in them. Not a complete disaster, but next time I will make the effort to re-spool.