Cleaning & Using Kodak Junior Six-20 Series II

[Joeywhat]

I came across a Kodak Junior Six-20 Series II today, and would like to try and use it if possible. Still very new to the world film (the little I do know is mostly about 35mm), so I'm trying to see what I can do with this.

It's a bit dirty, and could use a good cleaning. Are there any resources out there for cleaning the lens of this? I don't want to completely take it apart...just need to clean up the lens. It looks to be in good condition, just very dusty. Rest of the camera looks good too, but the insides could also use a good dusting. I also noticed that the shutter speed seems "off", the selections are T, B, 25, 50 & 100. I presumed the numbers to mean 1/x, however 100 seems to keep it open for a full second, 50 for half a second and 25 a quarter. Is that typical? T & B settings work as intended. I looked up an original manual for this, however the lens on mine appears to be slightly different (different markings and not the same aperture settings), and the manual seems to indicate that the 100 shutter speed is best for moving objects.

It's my understanding this uses 620 film. How easy is it to swap out the spools for a beginner? Or how about modifying the 120 spools? Any shops sell it already converted so I can get a roll or two through the camera just to see if it all works as it should?

Also, the viewfinder doesn't have any glass it in, there are just two bare metal frames. Presumably there should be glass in there, yes? Don't think it'll be a huge issue shooting without it, but was just wondering. There is also a small viewfinder right by the lens (it looks like it's there for shooting in portrait orientation), but it is very dirty inside. I can't seem to find any way to open it (it looks sealed). Can this be cleaned at all?

Thanks for the help.

 

[limr]

Clean the lens with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. As for the rest, I can get back to you after I ask my bf who has much more experience with cleaning the insides of a camera. I know he uses rubbing alcohol for a lot of it, but I'll see if there's anything else he recommends or if there are parts you shouldn't clean with the alcohol.

120 film can be used but you have to trim the ends. If you get the film developed locally, make sure they return your 620 spool. You can also get 120 film that's already rolled on 620 spools I think from Film Photography Project. It ain't cheap but it could get you started: Film | Film Photography Project

I don't know that the missing glass in the viewfinder is a huge deal. The only thing is if maybe there were frame lines, but I doubt they would have had those on a Junior.

The shutter is a bit beyond my current mechanical understanding, so I can't help ya there. Sorry :/

 

[Joeywhat]

Thanks for the help! Luckily it's not too dirty inside, so hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult to clean. The lenses look the worst, and they're not even that bad.

I'll have to get a couple of already converted film just to try out and get my feet wet, at least to make sure I'm not screwing something up during the conversion, should something go awry.

 

[minicoop1985]

I'm interested in this, since my wife has a Junior Six-20 in her collection. If you get the chance to use it and get some images from it, if you don't mind sharing them I would like to show her what it can do. Unfortunately ours isn't functional-shutter doesn't work at all. Good luck!

 

[Joeywhat]

Looks like the inside of the lens is dirty...so the difficult part will be getting to that. Will have to figure out a way to take it apart and then get it all back together again.

 

[compur]

I also noticed that the shutter speed seems "off", the selections are T, B, 25, 50 & 100. I presumed the numbers to mean 1/x, however 100 seems to keep it open for a full second, 50 for half a second and 25 a quarter. Is that typical?

It's typical for an old camera. It means the shutter is gummed up and needs cleaning.

 

[Joeywhat]

OK, I opened everything up to take a look. Easy enough, although two of the screw heads stripped...will have to find a way to replace those. After opening it up, I cleaned the shutter mechanism and aperture as best I could without taking everything apart (it looks WAY too complicated to take apart). That seemed to help considerably with the shutter sticking.