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Olympus Pen S – The never-ending story
The Olympus Pen S is a tiny little half frame camera, that started popularised the smaller is better concept. I shot everything I could with mine.
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Pigeonflex – Bird of a feather
The Pigeonflex, a 1950s TLR camera, with vintage aesthetics, delivers quality 6x6 frames. Read about my experience with it.
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Agfa Jsolette 4.5 – When J is not a J
The Agfa Isolette range of cameras have a cult following. That includes me as I own both Isolette and Jsolette labelled cameras. The ability to shoot medium format, especially 6×6, with a camera that is small and at a stretch pocketable, is very enticing. Throw in the fact that they look lovely, and you can understand the popularity. I personally like quite a few different “folders” as you can see by another review of the Voigtlander Perkeo I. This model is the Agfa Jsolette 4.5. Agfa has used the names Jsolette and Isolette interchangeably, as the letter J referred to an I in German. There is a misconception that the…
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Watameter – What the?
Scale focus cameras can be fun. There is no precise focusing, you pre-set focus points in advance, allowing a quick “draw” approach, and the viewfinder is very uncluttered. They are also generally cheap, so a very easy way to get into film photography. There is occasion though, where some precise focusing would be helpful, which is where accessories like the Watameter come in. The Watameter is an accessory rangefinder giving you the ability to determine the distance to your subject, which you then apply to your scale focus camera and in theory gives you precise focusing ability. I enjoy using old folding cameras (folders), like the great range of Agfa…
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Ensign Ful-Vue – Is it really the full view?
When does a box camera not look like a box camera? When it is the Ensign Ful-Vue from 1946. Until then most were basically a box with a lens on the front. There were a few variants, including box cameras that had better viewing lenses and looked more like Twin Lens Reflex cameras, but still generally had a box shape. When Ensign released the Ful-Vue they moved to a very modern shape for the period, and I think created one of the most striking looking box cameras ever. I picked this camera up when I was living in London around 1999 and promptly put it on a shelf. While…
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Kodak No. 1 Pocket Autographic – The Original with EXIF Data
It’s 1926, you want to record details about your photo and don’t want to carry a notebook, enter the Kodak No. 1 Pocket Autographic. It might not be automatically recorded, but considering this was 91 years ago, that is quite progressive. Kodak folding cameras had been introduced just over 30 years earlier in 1895 and had slowly been progressing during that period. The other major line of cameras from Kodak at the time was the box cameras which were very basic. You can read more about one of them here. We owe a lot to both cameras, especially the folding Pocket cameras, which introduced the real concept of not only…
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Lomo Smena 8M – The Comrade for the Young Generation
The camera made for the young soviet generation, the Lomo Smena 8M, has made its place in history. Smena (CMEHA) is Russian for “Young Generation” which is the market this camera was aimed at. Production over 35 years ensured millions of soviet families recorded their memories with it. It is somewhat of an enigma though, where it is very easy to classify it as a toy, but it is also part of a photographic movement which was named after the company, namely “Lomography”. A modern-day company is also called Lomography, such is the popularity of that photography style. Lomography tends to divide the photographic community. “Serious” photographers tend to classify…
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Nikon F – Start of a Legacy
The Nikon F started a line of professional SLR cameras which dominated the market for many decades. A quality systems camera had me captured immediately.
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Fuji GS645S – Camera with a Roo Bar
The Fuji GS645S is a medium format fixed lens rangefinder camera shooting in 6x4.5 format. With a great exposure meter and lightweight, ticks all the boxes.
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Kodak Retinette 1B Type 037 – Fat Boy
Secondary lines for cameras in the past have created iconic cameras. The Kodak Retinette series had the pedigree to achieve this, following up from the hugely popular and very well regarded Retina range. The Retinettes were aimed more at the general camera users rather than the enthusiasts, but having been built with some very good and quality parts they are quite well regarded. The Retinette 1B Type 037 is a middle child model of this range. As to why it is called the Fat Boy, I am not sure. I have searched online but while it is called this in many places I cannot find any reason why it is…
