Grandma’s Camera
The camera
This, the Coronet Super-Flash, was my maternal grandmother’s camera. It’s from around about 1955, and comes from that most glamourous place, Birmingham. Through my childhood I can remember my grandmother with her Nikon SLR, which I was very envious of. The camera itself was probably the first thing that made me interested in photography, not what it did. This camera is the one that was used through my mother’s childhood, and probably explains why she seems to have an allergy to cameras that need anymore work than just pointing and pressing a button.
I inherited the Nikon prior to my gandmother’s death, once she was unable to use it anymore, and part-exchanged it at Jessops for my Canon (which seems to have run away). This one I had to wait until she was gone, and unable to growl “don’t touch” before I could get my mitts on it.
Where the film sits
It had pretty much welded itself together with rust, and at some stage I think my grandmother had attempted to repair it with the wax rind from an Edam (this is the woman who taught me Babybel construction so it isn’t as unlikely as it seems). This is all it’s innards, being cleaned, prodded and poked.
The shutter
The very rusty and wobbly electrical bits
It’s all back together again. I’m now just waiting for the film to go in it. It takes 127, which isn’t something you find on many high streets (unless you do where you live, and if so pleeeease be my film shopper). Then I get to see if it actually works. Despite the Edam, and my interfering with it.
