KW Reflex Box -- Finally Returning Good Results

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

A year or so ago I picked up a non-functional KW Reflex box. The mirror was desilvered, accidentally, when I brushed my hand against it during cleaning. So I picked up a new one. I also had to diassemble the lens to clean the elements and de-gunk the focusing helicoil. And one of the film rollers was missing, so I had to make a new one out of a paperclip and electrician's tape wound around it until it looked like it was the same size.

I've struggled with a half dozen rolls of film to get some good results. Finally -- FINALLY -- I managed to get some images that let me know this camera still has something left in it.

Here's the best shot from the first roll to, so far, return anything worth looking at:

Here it is straight out of the camera only inverted and contrast-controlled

The latter image is also a single photo of the 6X9 negative. The first is a downscaled 38-megapixel stitch.

This one isn't spectacular, but I took it to see 1- if the lens is sharp and 2- where the lens' weakpoints are. Softness seems to increase to the edge, especially the left (which is off since that's the side of the negative nearest to an actual film roller.) Anyway, the softness is part of why, I think, this si a good portrait camera and also why the portrait of me is particularly soft.

I'm standing right in the lens' softest spot. Oops.

Sometimes, even at 1/100th of a second (the fastest shutter speed), the guillotine shutter just shakes the camera too much.