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Kiev 30 – Spy the grain
The Kiev 30 is a camera that inspires day dreams of cloak and dagger spy games. It belongs to the subminiature class of cameras, which are specifically designed to be as small as possible. In reality, if they were ever used for international espionage they had to be small to stay discreet. You’re not going to get away with breaking into an office, photographing secret documents and escaping a gun fight with a medium or large format camera. To prove the point, there is a version of the Kiev 30 branded the John Player, as in the cigarette brand John Player Special. This particular and rare version is inserted into…
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Kiev 4 – The Non-Clone
The Kiev 4 is a beautiful, silent and graceful camera. It has a classic rangefinder design which just makes you want to pick it up and start shooting with it. Paired up with the well regarded Jupiter 8M Contax mount lens, it forms a formidable team. Especially with a very accurate focus, achieved through one of the widest available rangefinder bases, on paper it should be a dream to use. It is unfair to call it a clone, as it was manufactured using a significant number of tools and machines the Contax originals were made with. That is because it was built with plans and equipment taken from the Carl…
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BelOMO Agat 18K – Plastic Fantastic
The BelOMO Agat 18K is a bit of an oddity. It is a camera that by all intents and purposes sells itself as a toy camera, but has functionality which even some “better” made cameras lack. When you first pick it up is feels very light and is considered one of, if not, the lightest film cameras that use 35mm ever made. As it is a Soviet made camera, it continues the theme of Red October this month. The styling is colourful and playful. The camera does come in different colours to give the impression of fun. It is also the kind of camera that is ideal for not attracting…
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Kodak Retina IIa – Coat Pocket Rocket
The Kodak Retina is a camera that holds a certain amount of mystique. It was made by a company that by the 1930s was more focussed on manufacturing film and generally created cameras to support that and the multiple formats they were introducing. Kodak never seemed to aim for or achieve anything above a second tier camera manufacturer, but the Retina was different. It was an attempt at a quality 35mm rangefinder, to compete on camera sales rather than just a supporting role. The Retina IIa is a 35mm folding rangefinder bellows camera, which fits well into a coat pocket, although it has a fairly solid, yet fiddly, construction. It…
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Minolta 110 Zoom SLR – The flat wonder
To try out 110 film there are only a few higher quality options, with the Minolta 110 Zoom SLR being one of them. This is very distinctive looking camera, possibly designed to resemble an original Cylon Raider! What it does show is that Minolta, in their heyday, was very progressive and not afraid to try new ideas. 110 film is not widely available in 2018, with Lomography being the only company producing this format. It is more of a niche film to try rather than something you would burn through lots of. If you like big grain and small photos, then this is for you. So we have a camera,…
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Nikon Lite.Touch 140 Zoom – A little bit of luxury
Everyone loves a little bit of luxury. The finer things in life. Not that surprising we then have a camera with gold trimmings like the Nikon Lite.Touch 140 Zoom ED AF. A camera that gives the feeling you are using something with leather seats and a top class gold finish. That is if you ignore the fact the camera body is all plastic, lightweight and all electronic. There is a real surge in the world of compact film cameras at the moment, with some models commanding extraordinary prices. This is especially true on some models in demand with either known sharp prime lenses (e.g. Olympus mju) or even some zoom…
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Jupiter 8 – A giant amongst the stars
The Jupiter 8 lens is a cult favourite due to its distinctive rendering. This Leica Thread Mount (LTM/L39) lens has become one of my favourite lenses to use on a variety of cameras.
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Werra 2 – Oh Carl, Werra art thou?
The Werra 2 is an East German fixed lens camera with a very unique film advance mechanism. I had a go at this camera which embodies minimalism.
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Polaroid Spectra – Almost Instant
Square instant photography too limiting? Want a camera that fits nicely on The Love Boat set? You have a preference for the Polaroid integral instant film? There is one camera that fits this bill, it is the Polaroid Spectra! The Spectra uses the same film formula as the Polaroid 600 cameras but is in a wider format rather than the more well known square. The Spectra is more advanced and complicated than the Sun 600 series, and generally produces a better quality result. Aimed at the more advanced user and unlike the 600s and even the 1000 series, it offers quite a few extra controls. It does still maintain the…
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Zorki 4 – Attempted equaliser
The Zorki 4 is a Soviet built rangefinder camera based on the Leica cameras. I shot with this camera to see how it peforms, especially with Soviet glass.
