This is one of the first folding cameras I got my hands on. The No.1 Junior is a 6x9 folding camera that takes 120 films. Kodak has made several variations of folding cameras that take different formats from 116, 120, and 620, and some of them have the same model number just different film requirements. If you wish to actually use one of the juniors its best to avoid the 116 types. You should also avoid the 620 types if you don't feel like re-spooling 120 films onto a 620 spool in the dark.
In good to excellent condition one of these guys would normally sell for about 50$ in a camera shop. On e-bay they can go from a couple dollars to 30$ on average. Also when buying from eBay one should expect to find least one of the issues mentioned on the previous page, or if it's in surprising good shape, it's probably a 616 (Six-16) or 116 format folder. Both format which hasn't been made since the early 80s. Also I find that even during periods where they were made, the folders don't often seem to have been used much.
Now the particular Kodak folder I have is a No.1 Junior Autographic, kind of a small version of their No.1 6x12 folding camera. Made roughly in 1914 to 1916. It takes 120 roll film, and captures an image size of approximately 6 centimeters by 9 centimeters. While this particular guy was not in the best shape, namely the bellows I obtained it anyways from a local camera shop in my area called the Camera Center (Grand Rapids, Michigan, more near the end of the article).
The unique thing about the Kodak autographic models is that on the back of the camera there is a small door. By opening this door and using the provided metal stylus you can write text in between each shot so that the written text will show up on the developed negative. Useful for recording settings or scene or other short comments.
At first the Junior may confuse some people and make them wonder if the camera is broken on the front. The lens like with many cameras of the time was placed behind the shutter and aperture blades. So some models you may find without any visible glass in the front. The lens is a single piece of glass placed behind the shutter often called a meniscus lens. The shutter is a ball-bearing type, and has only four shutter speeds, 1/25, 1/50, T and B. T is the same as bulb mode except requires you to depress the shutter the second time to close it as opposed to closing when you release the shutter. Such slow and limited shutter speeds are quite common for models of this type. Newer models such as the Kodak No.2 offer slightly higher shutter speeds, and standard aperture numbering.
On the No.1 Junior the apertures are listed simply as 1, 2, 3 and 4. I am not exactly sure what the values represent to an exact number but from running a few rolls thru the camera and a little math, I've determined that the order was f/11, f/16, f/22, and f/32. Which would make sense in daylight shooting conditions you would either have to use extremely slow film speed, or have higher apertures to make up for the slower shutter speeds. Should also note that at Aperture #1 and #2, the image can be considered soft but I have not experienced too much of a problem thru the range.
Focusing is guesswork for the most part, but unless you are shooting a subject that is closer than twelve foot from you, there should be very little problems actually getting the subject within an acceptable focus range. Due to the 6x9 negative size and the 75mm focal length of the lens it is quite easy to get a wide depth of field. The data for the chart below illustrating the calculated depth of field at each distance and aperture was obtained from dofmaster.com and can be a helpful got for any vintage cameras you may have without any depth or field guides located on the camera.
As you can see if the Junior is set to 25 foot for most situations, you can obtain a focused image for just about anything 6 to 12 foot and up. When you want a tack sharp image at something closer than twelve foot setting the focus at 8 foot and calculating the distance yourself on a tripod may be your best bet. But due to the wide depth or field possible, the Kodak No.1 Junior makes for a very easy camera to use regardless if it doesn't have a rangefinder, or thru-the-lens focusing capabilities. The viewfinder present is just a simple framing tool, and it may not be dead-on in terms of what the lens actually captures.
The No.1 Junior in terms of film advance is much like the lubitel 166U in the previous budget article (MF on a Budget: TLRs) and also like most folding cameras of the time. There is a small bakelite window on the back, that when the film is wound thru the 6x9 frame counter on the back of the film paper shows up. You would just simply advance the film till '1' appeared in the window; make your exposure, then wind to the next number and so forth.
As I mentioned earlier the camera was not in the greatest of shape, I learned rather quickly that the bellows were in poor condition, allowing several areas of light leaks. If the exposure was shot quickly without much wait between frames you'd mostly get a white haze over the entire image, or fogging. Of course a longer time waited could potentionally make the entire frame useless due to the leak. I fixed the problem using electrical tape for some of the bigger holes, and attached a piece of black felt over the top of the bellows during shooting held down to the rail board with some butterfly clips. I would have to go in with more tape and a flashlight if I wanted to get every leak. An easier solution would be just to send the camera in for a bellow replacement, which would not only cost money, but I'd be able to get the bellows in a more desirable color.
When closed up the Kodak No.1 Junior fit rather well into my bag and was easy to travel with. Albeit tall but not too tall to fit vertically into a small Lowepro EX 160 mini-trekker along side my Canon FTb 35mm SLR, a Gossen light meter, cloths and some film.
While the 75mm lens on this camera isn't exactly something to brag about, the benefit came in the sheet size of the negative. At 6x9 on most of the images I was easily able to scan in about 20 mega pixels at acceptable sharpness on a cheap flatbed scanner and using 100 speed fine grain black and white films. When the negative size is quite large there can be some slack cut for the quality of the lens. I should also mention that the No.1 Junior had a small amount of fungal growth on the lens, and it did not appear to affect the image in any way.
