One of the greatest benefits of the content on this site is the preservation of information regarding photography and old cameras. From my camera reviews to the 100+ Keppler’s Vault articles and Zeiss Historica newsletters to the interviews in my One Hour Photo series, the Rotoloni Report, and the many…
This is a Zeiss-Ikon Super Nettel, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Zeiss-Ikon AG Dresden between the years 1934 and 1936. It was built to be a more affordable alternative to the more expensive Contax rangefinder which was introduced in 1932. The Super Nettel shares a similar vertically traveling focal…
This is a No. 1A Automatic Ansco, a folding roll film camera made by the Ansco Company of Binghamton, New York starting in 1924. The Automatic Ansco was Ansco’s top of the line camera in the 1920s, featuring a faster f/6.3 Anastigmat lens, a 7 speed Universal Ilex shutter, and…
This is a Fujica ST801, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by Fuji Photo in Tokyo, Japan between 1972 and 1978. The Fujica ST801 was a very popular mid range 35mm SLR during a transitional era where cameras were moving more and more towards electronic shutters and exposure automation. …
With my recent review of the underwhelming Yashica digiFilm camera Y35, I started to wonder about the fate of some of the other crowdfunded cameras I remember reading about over the years. While the Yashica digiFilm camera Y35 was funded, released, and technically did everything that the creators promised it…
This is a Yashica digiFilm camera Y35, a compact digital camera made by 100 Enterprises International Group Company Limited in Hong Kong, China. The camera was announced and crowdfunded on Kickstarter from October 2017 until its release in 2018. The Yashica digiFilm camera Y35 evokes nostalgia through use of the…
This is an Olympus Ace, a 35mm interchangeable lens rangefinder camera produced by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd starting in 1958. The Ace was the first and only rangefinder camera produced by Olympus with interchangeable lenses and had features like an automatic exposure counter, rapid wind lever, projected frame lines, and…
This is an Argus Autronic II, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan starting in March 1962. The Autronic II was a slight upgrade to the original Autronic 35, adding a faster f/2.8 Cintar lens and a bright frame viewfinder. The Autronic series shares a design…
This is a Tomioka Lausar, an interchangeable lens roll film camera made by Tomioka Kōgaku Kenkyūjo in Tokyo, Japan in 1937. The Lausar has a focal plane shutter and a body that is modeled to look like the Leica rangefinder, except it doesn’t have a rangefinder and it shoots 3cm…
This is a Zenit-6, a 35mm SLR camera made by Krasnogorski Mekhanicheskii Zavod (KMZ) in the former Soviet Union between the years of 1964 and 1968. The Zenit-6 was part of a series of new leaf shutter SLR cameras produced by KMZ that use the Zenit C-mount which is a…
This is a Minolta V3, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko K.K. starting in September 1960. The Minolta V3 was the follow up to the earlier Minolta V2 from 1958, expanding the top shutter speed to a record high 1/3000 with the clever use of its Optiper-Citizen-HS…
This is a PCA Prismat V-90, a 35mm SLR made by Mamiya Camera Co. Ltd. for the Photronic Corporation of America of Takoma Park, MD starting in 1961. The PCA Prismat V-90 is a rebadge of the Mamiya Prismat PH, which itself was part of Mamiya’s robust Prismat SLR family. …
