Kodak Vigilant Six-20 | This Old Camera #12

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OVERVIEW
In the 1940's the Kodak Vigilant Series was a solid choice for the mid level consumer. The Six-20 in particular spent a decade on the market and was touted as being the "master of just about every picture you'll meet."

CREATED BY
Azriel Knight

MUSIC BY
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[hotcocoandart]

I have the slightly larger Vigilant six-16. It's a pain in the butt to use, mainly because the film it takes doesn't have a modern equivalent and its a big camera. I have recently gotten a few 620 cameras, including what I think may be a Vigilant, so thank you very much for the information! And thank you for explaining how to unload the cameras, I've been too nervous to try lol.

[iainmc]

That shot at 6:06 of the bus lights is still my favourite shot of yours. I've just been asked to price five or six of these folding cameras at a charity shop (thrift store) and was pleased that I got the price about right £15 -£20, condition as is. Bought a Kodak 3A from them, any advice on film other than 120?

[donaldlampert]

I have a late Vollenda 620, and they are equal with the Vigilant, I’d say, spec, and operation wise. The Vollenda though had that nice 30’s Art Deco styling, that we all love.

[DaisyReynaFilm]

I just bought one for $10 US dollars hoping it works. Will be testing it soon but this video helped me figuring out how to open it, closing it etc. =)

[rmoretz]

The T on the camera is for a Timed exposure. Works best with a shutter release cable and the camera mounted on a tripod. I have been shooting antique cameras for some time and the T setting is common. It was used most frequently for portrait exposures indoors. Enjoyed the video.

[chrismccartney]

My late father had Ross just after war then various TLRs then onto 35mm with a couple of oldish rangefinders then onto early Practicas !

[MrMarkpoole]

I love folding cameras.I don't have that one yet, but I have a Vigilant 620 Junior, bought in almost mint condition and in the original box.To check bellows, I open the camera in a dark room and shine a light inside the bellows.Any leaks are obvious.I use a changing bag and respool 120 onto 620 spools.Much cheaper than buying it already done.I have some cameras that need a 620 spool.They are so precise that even a modified 120 spool won't work.

[sophrapsune]

You’re absolutely right about dealers overpricing these cameras.
Today I dropped into an antique store to find them offering a very similar Kodak folding camera. It was lightly corroded, and the shutter interval lever would not shift into the slower speeds, yet they were asking AUD$119 (about USD$90) for the unusable camera.
Who was ever going to pay that much for a camera that doesn’t work, except to use it as an expensive decoration?

[jaybabcock]

Just picked one up in the original box with book in VG cond. for 25 bucks at an antique store. It looks like a bit of filing on the edges of a 120 roll will let it run to a 620 take up. My camera does not focus and goes from 32 to F 12.5 shutter speed is T B and I . Bellows seems to be good, Think I will run a roll through it.

[Otokichi]

I'd recommend what Hipsters call a "Barnack Leica" as something as simple/classic/compact as the Kodak Vigilant Six-20. Which one is the hard question, since any model after the III/IIIa/IIIb would be the (somewhat) easiest to find among pre-World-War-II models. Otherwise, the IIIc or IIIf would be the next most common Leica on eBay. The family Leica IIIa is a 1938 model that came with an uncoated 50mm f/1.5-9 Taylor Hobson Xenon, which produced hazy/fuzzy images. As soon as I could, I replaced that paperweight with a 1950's 50mm f/3.5 collapsible Elmar, which produced sharp and crisp Kodachrome slides and great monochrome images.

[chrisp]

I have a Kodak SENIOR six-20 and I can't find any information on that particular model? Very similar, but no view finder and I cant close it. can you help?

[iminthatweirdpartofyoutube]

Two this old camera videos in a row! You really are spoiling us! Does this camera have a sharp lens? I really want to try medium format, large format is a lot of setup for a few photos and this would be a nice middle ground!

[beaucorr]

Thank you for your great review! I like yourself would be more inclined to use one of these cameras but for you having to modify the 120 spool :( All the very best to you!!

[MrCharlesLeonard]

Really cool photos. Goes to show equipment doesn't matter.

[janhoogendijk]

Great light and background blure looks classic too.What lens/camera you use for record video?Good story thanks again.

[aleve]

Hi, I've a similar camera with a Diomatic len. Do you know how to open the len to clean the shutter? Thanks

[nancylee]

A friend gave me a kodak brownie 620. I really want to use it. Sin 620 film is no longer available, I'm planing to use a 120 film, Will I need to respool the film into a 620 spool in a dark room in order to be able to use?

[CelloLinuxFellow]

Do you have or plan to do a review of a Moskva 2/4/5? Similar camera, except Russian, 120 instead of 620, and a coupled rangefinder, and faster f/3.5 lens.

I have one but Ukrainian ebay purchases are pretty shoddy. The focus doesn't work at all, turn the lens all day and it doesn't move forward/back. I really would like a good one.

[mamiyapress]

Nice video, why not just re-spool 120 film on to a 620 spool, that is what I do for my Brownie 620's, not very difficult.

[Napoleon-Blownapart]

Excellent work dude, a step up in production values too. Don't leave it so long between videos next time 😉👍