What are my options for buying and developing film for a vintage 1913 Kodak camera?

Question

Today I was given a vintage 1913 Kodak camera, a Kodak Premoette Junior. What sort of film was it originally designed for and where can I buy it and have it developed?

Can I improvise with some sort of modern medium format film?

Answer

The manual (linked from the camerapedia page) says it takes a particular kind of 2^1/4 x 3^1/2 pack film, which (like I think you guessed) isn't made anymore.

It's hard to say without being able to look at the camera, but I'd suggest there are two main options:

The first is to use 2^1/4x3^1/4 sheet film, which should fit. You'd likely have to rig up some sort of way to keep the film in the right position, but that's usually fairly simple and non-destructive (like a piece of foam, or taping the film to a piece of card, etc). This size isn't particularly common, but is still available (e.g., from Freestyle). This would make it into a simple one-shot camera that you'd have to reload in the dark.

The second option, if you're particularly handy, is to modify the camera. You may not want to do this if the camera is particularly valuable (I don't think it is, but I'm far from an expert on how collectable this type of camera is, so best to find out for yourself). This is all very speculative, you'll have to judge for yourself if any of it feasible, but hopefully it gets you started:

• Modify the camera to take a 2x3 film holder. Remove (partially?) the back of the camera so that you can attach a normal 2x3 film holder.

• Fuji (and Polaroid until recently) makes instant pack films that are the appropriate size. Similar to the sheet film holder, maybe graft a Polaroid back in place of the current back of the camera.

• Modify the camera to use medium-format roll film. This would be simpler if this was a roll-film camera to begin with. You'll need to find out if there's space for the spools; it's certainly wide enough, but possibly not deep enough. You'll likely also have to rig up guides to keep the film at the correct distance.

As for development, medium format is by far the simplest: if there's noone locally, there's still lots of send-away options. 2x3 sheet film is trickier; not a lot of places develop sheet film these days, and 2x3 is a "weird" size - 4x5 is far more typical. I'd plan on doing that yourself, especially if you opted for the simple one-shot method. Instant film, obviously, wouldn't be a problem to develop.

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