Episode 101: Mike Eckman Man of Mystery

Episode 101 of the Camerosity Podcast flips the usual format by turning the interview lens on co-host Mike Eckman himself, at the suggestion of Anthony, who felt that after 100 episodes it was time to spotlight one of the people most responsible for growing interest in vintage camera collecting. Joining regular hosts Anthony, Paul, Stephen, and Theo are a large group of returning callers, including A.J. Gentile, David Palumbo, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Mark Faulkner, Pat Casey, Rob Lattimer, William Ponder, and Will Pinkham, all taking turns questioning Mike about his history and habits as a collector.

Over the nearly two-hour episode, Mike recounts how his collecting journey began one night on eBay, tracing his path from an early Nikon EL2 and a Kodak No.1 Autographic Special Model A into what he describes as an "avalanche" of acquisitions including an Argus C3, FED-2, and Konica Auto S2. He discusses the origins of his website, MikeEckman.com, and shares stories about "white whale" cameras, cameras that never clicked with him (like the Konica AiBORG and a Leica R8 reference), and continuation/knock-off cameras such as Kiev versus FED and Zorki, Minolta Auto Press versus Plaubel Makina, and Contax versus Nikon rangefinders. He also revisits his 2023 trip to Los Angeles to go through the extensive camera collection of Kurt Ingham, describes damaging a borrowed Pentacon Six TL, and details the challenges of adapting Kilfitt lenses, including clarifying that the so-called "Rear Window" Kilfitt lens was never actually made in an Exakta mount. Other topics include hidden-history cameras like the Clarus MS-35, Vokar II, and King Regula, his approach to favorite films and camera accessories, his wish list of rarities, his favorite cameras overall, and personal interests outside photography such as vinyl records, carbon filament light bulbs, and Nixie tubes—collecting urges he says he's currently resisting.

The episode serves less as a review of a single product and more as a wide-ranging personal retrospective, closing with reflections on the importance of preserving photographic knowledge and speculation about a possible future Camerosity spin-off. The hosts note that despite the long runtime, they managed to avoid repeating too much previously covered ground while touching on a wide swath of camera-collecting culture. The podcast will return with Episode 102, a "holiday eggnog" recap-and-call-in episode, recording December 23rd.

AI-generated summary. May not capture every detail — read the full article below for the complete picture.

When it came time to decide what to follow up our 100th episode with Episode 101, the guys made a comment that we should interview a prominent podcaster and blogger in the vintage camera realm. With a long list of guests already, we thought hard about who we’ve missed, who is one person who has helped grow GAS as much as any one single person can? Anthony spoke up and said, “Hey, it should be Mike”! While I had my doubts about how interesting a whole episode about me could be, I thought that I do like to tell stories, why why not?!

Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike this, our 101st episode are returning callers A.J. Gentile, David Palumbo, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Mark Faulkner, Pat Casey, Rob Lattimer, William Ponder, and Will Pinkham.

Over the course of the episode, I field a variety of questions from how I got started, what is my while whale camera, what cameras never clicked for me, what was an example of a camera that I felt overwhelmed trying to shoot. Paul gets me to revisit my 2023 trip to Los Angeles when I went through the collection of Kurt Ingham and what it was like going through such a large collection.

We get into camera accessories, especially how difficult it is to adapt Kilfitt lenses and that the “Rear Window” Kilfitt lens was never made specifically with an Exakta mount, we talk about what is a good first camera is, and we get into how I am resisting the urge to collect carbon filament light bulbs and Nixie Tubes.

Amazingly, we make it through the nearly 2 hour run time without repeating too much of what’s been covered before, and while doing so managed to cover a whole lot of GAS!

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

We will be back shortly with our next episode, which is going to be two days before Christmas. We’ll call this one our “holiday eggnog episode” where we recap the year and open up the call in lines for whatever you all want to talk about. Episode 102 will be recorded on Tuesday, December 23rd at 7pm Central Standard Time and 8pm Eastern Standard Time. Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

Mike’s T-shirt Sorting Techniques / It was Anthony’s Idea to Interrogate Mike
How did Mike get started? One night on eBay… He shares the cameras he used, and the ones that started his collection
The origins of MikeEckman.com
It all started with a Nikon EL2, then a Kodak No.1 Autographic Special, Model A
An avalanche begins: Argus C3, FED-2, Konica Auto S2
The Meeting of the Bloggers / White Whales Just Keep Coming
‘What the hell is this?” The Hasselblad XPan
Mike Damaged a Pentacon Six TL That Was Loaned to Him
Flying to LA: Kurt Ingham’s Collection
Mike’s Camera room (Cave? Bunker? Subterranean lair?)
Cameras that didn’t click for Mike / Konica AiBORG / Leia R8
Continuation/knock-off/replica cameras… Kiev vs FED and Zorki, Minolta Auto Press vs Plaubel Makina, Contax vs Nikon Rangefinders
Hidden histories Clarus MS-35, Vokar II, thousands of 6×6 TLRs, and the King Regula
Fernando Villava asks Mike about His Favorite Film / Anthony shares his bulk film lucky find
William Ponder wants to know if finding accessories leads to discovering cameras
The Kilfitt Konundrum that Mike created for Paul / Mark Faulkner’s Rear Window Lens / Paul’s NASA Lens
Will Pinkham wants to know what rarities are on Mike’s Wish List
Rob Latimer wants to know Mike’s Favorite Cameras
Vinyl Records, Carbon Filament Bulbs, and Nixie Tubes / Theo wants to know Mike’s other interests
Cameras that can start a collection, and a good first rangefinder for the SLR shooter
Is Mike a foodie? A coffee connoisseur? A traveler?
The importance of keeping photography knowledge alive
Could there be a Camerosity spin-off some day?

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

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