Valiant 620 Camera

One of my new favorite web sites is “shopgoodwill.com.” I bought my current favorite 35mm SLR, the Pentax ZX-7 there, as well as my favorite “pocket film camera,” the Olympus XA2. I was “surfing” through their offerings recently when what should my eyes behold but a vintage Valiant 620 roll film camera. 

The Valiant is a typical 1950’s – 1960’s style box camera except that it came in a multitude of colors instead of the usual black. This one was pale (1950/60’s) green, my wife’s favorite color for collectibles. What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t seize the moment and help her add this gem to her collection of “green things.” I did what any good husband would do. I conquered the competing hoard of bidders with an extravagant (nothing is too good for my wife) offer ($ 20) and was soon cleaning it up to present it to her. Oh, by the way, the auction I won included some other items too, but that is a story for another blog post, maybe a couple!

Believe it or not the Valiant came to me in its original box with a flash unit that attaches to the side of the camera. I was also gratified to discover that once it was cleaned up the lens was clear and the shutter seemed to work fine. The flash unit also looked to be in decent shape other than some discoloration on the reflector. There was a pair of vintage and slightly corroded AA batteries in the flash holder but they seem to have done no real damage to the unit.

Next I turned to my good friends at the FPP (https://filmphotographyproject.com/) Store to see if I could purchase a couple rolls of 620 film and a 12-pack of vintage M2 flash bulbs. The FPP Store not only had the film and the flash bulbs but had a selection of eight different films to choose from.  A couple days later (I’ve already extolled the virtue of FPP’s speedy service in another blog post) I had what I needed and my wallet was just a tad lighter. 

Michael Rasso of the FPP assured me I could expect a couple duds in the pack of 12 flash bulbs I bought. After all they are likely at least 20 years old. The film wasn’t cheap either ($10) but considering that they hand roll 120 film onto 620 film spools at the FPP it’s easily worth the couple extra bucks.

I took the camera, the flash, film and bulbs and put everything in the original box with some fancy blue tissue paper and presented it to my lovely wife as a gift. She was immediately thrilled and just this past weekend we loaded it with color film and started shooting photos with it. The photo above is her with her new/old camera!

Considering that these old box cameras generally had fixed lenses with apertures of somewhere between f8 and f16 with single shutter speeds of 1/50 to 1/100, these are “sunny day cameras.” Unfortunately ever since I loaded it with film it’s been cloudy and raining. 

Finally, tired of waiting for a sunny day we decided to try it out inside with the flash. After making sure the contacts were clean and putting fresh “AA” batteries in it, I licked the M2 flash bulb as I recall doing many years ago when such things were common and inserted it into the bulb holder. Then I carefully composed the shot and gently pressed the shutter button.

I was immediately rewarded with a quiet “click” of the shutter and a bright flash letting me know that everything had gone exactly as it was supposed to. 

I then advanced the film to the next frame and loaded another flash bulb into the holder for my wife to try. This time I was the subject and once again as she pressed the shutter button I heard the “click” of the shutter and this time I was blinded by the flash bulb going off.

Unless you have ever taken a 50 or 60 year old camera and 20 to 30 year old flash bulbs, snapped a picture on supposedly obsolete film and had everything work just as it was supposed to, just as it did a half a century ago, you have no idea what a thrill it can be. I can’t wait to finish the roll and get the pictures back. Be sure I will share there here with you as soon as I do!