Too close for missiles; switching to guns….
The history of the Futura camera line starts during the second World War with Optische Anstalt, an optics factory that produced equipment for the German Military. Unfortunately the factory was destroyed during the war, so after the war ended the founder Fritz Kuhnert built a new factory and by 1947 was producing the Efka 24. … Read more
The Canon F-1 was the camera that led Canon into the professional market with a system of interchangeable lenses and accessories making it one of the best made and most versatile camera systems on the market. Unlike many cameras, the F-1 is not a derivative of another model, it was designed from the ground up … Read more
At this point in 1978, Canon has been making cameras for 45 years when they released the the Kwanon (pronounced kannon), named after the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy of the same name. With the AE-1 having been introduced just two years earlier Canon was setting their sights on users that didn’t need full manual control … Read more
There are a lot of cameras out there, too many at this point, but there are few cameras that have the same notoriety as the Canon AE-1. History Released in 1976, the Canon AE-1 was the first camera produced that was controlled entirely by electronics. Canon also made use of new mass production techniques and … Read more
As far as affordable Leica copies go, you have two choices; Fed and Zorki. Both FED and KMZ were making cameras in the same factory after the war and after the split, KMZ continued to make rangefinders and the Zorki 35mm Rangefinder was born. History Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works or KMZ – was founded as Krasnogorsk … Read more
Introduced in December of 1980, the Mamiya ZE-2 Quartz is definitely a child of the 80s. There’s lots of plastic and cheap material where the leather covering should be. Mamiya has a storied past and a well deserved reputation for building high quality cameras with amazingly sharp optics. Adding that reputation Mamiya seemed to be … Read more
It seems like everyone at one time or another has been in the 35mm business, even Hasselblad had the X-Pan. There are several Mamiya 35mm film cameras, which is no surprise. The NC, with the 1000 and 1000s is one of the most recent lines. The NC 1000 is well built with a lot of … Read more
The Olympus OM10 was the first consumer end camera of the OM series released in 1979. With many of the same design elements and features of their flagship OM-1, the OM10 is a solid performer with a lower price-point designed to get the attention of entry-level photographers. History Olympus is a Japanese company making cameras … Read more
The F3 was Nikon’s third professional film camera and would remain a top-of-line body in the family until it was discontinued in 2000. Even though there were newer cameras with more advanced features like the F4 and F5, Nikon continued to produce the F3. There are several models of the F3, each with their own … Read more
Bronica started designing and producing medium format cameras when it was founded 1958 by Zenzabur Yoshino in Tokyo, Japan. They continued to produce high quality cameras until 2005 when the last model, the RF645 was discontinued and ended their 47 year run. I stumbled onto the Bronica S2 system in 1995 while wandering around a … Read more
The Konica FS-1 35mm film camera is a sturdy, well made camera. With a solid built-in metering system, a huge variety of lenses for it, and a fast motor-drive, the FS-1 is a solid performer. Perfect for photographers of any level. History Konica has been making cameras and photographic materials since 1873 and was Japan’s … Read more
Most of my cameras are manual cameras in that they don’t have auto-focus, a motor to advance the film and they don’t have a bunch of presets for sports, landscape, aperture priority, etc. Honestly, that’s by choice, but there are times that I enjoy being able to just trust the camera and worry about framing; … Read more
I’ve been lusting after a Hasselblad for at least a decade now, and having had several medium format 6×6 cameras over the years. I stumbled across the Salut C a couple of months ago on eBay, so I decided to take a chance on it since it was listed as “in working condition”. Without really … Read more