As the holiday season approaches, you might be on the look out for some “offline” reading material for yourself or your favorite camera collector. There are many resources online for great information on what to buy the collector who has everything. Rather than just make a list of a bunch…
This is a Chaika (ЧАЙКА) 3, a compact 35mm scale focus camera made between the years 1971 and 1973 in Minsk, Belarus during the reign of the Soviet Union by Вelаrusiаn Оpticаl and Mеchaniсаl Аssоciаtiоn or BeLOMO for short. As the name implies, the Chaika 3 was the third model…
This is a Zenobia 35 F2, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Zenobia Optical Co.,LTD of Japan between 1957 and 1958. This version of the camera has an upgraded f/2 lens compared to a second model, simply called the Zenobia 35 that has a 46mm f/2.8 Zenobia O-Hesper lens, but…
This is an Eigenbau Kamera, which is German for “home made camera”. This unique, one of a kind of camera shoots 24mm x 24mm square images on regular 35mm film. It uses a Kodak branded Compur-Rapid shutter from a Kodak Retina IIa, and has an unknown focal length lens screwed…
This is an Exakta 66, a medium format Single Lens Reflex camera, produced by Ihagee in Dresden, East Germany starting in 1953. This model was the second Exakta 66 produced and is referred to today as the “vertical” model as the film transports vertically through the camera, compared to an…
This is a Miranda A, a 35mm single lens reflex camera made by the Miranda Camera Company in Japan starting in 1958. The Miranda A was the first Miranda camera to have a film advance lever, instead of a knob, but still shared many characteristics of their earlier models such…
In my last lens review for the Schneider-Kreuznach Tele-Xenar 135mm f/3.5 in April 2021, I mention that I do not try, nor do I want, to review lenses. However, in this hobby, sometimes a lens shows up in a box, or in the deep bowels of the online marketplace that…
This is a Hanimex Hanimar, which is the Australian export version of the Sarabèr Finetta 88, a 35mm viewfinder camera made in Goslar, West Germany by Finetta-Werk Goslar starting in 1953. The Finetta 88 was the final model in a confusing line-up of Finetta cameras that were produced between 1948…
This is a Canonet 19, a 35mm rangefinder camera built by Canon of Japan starting in January 1961 and sold in the United States by Bell & Howell. When sold with the Bell & Howell name, it was known as the Canonet 19, but when sold by Canon, it was…
This is a Koni-Omega Rapid, a medium format rangefinder press camera that shoots 6cm x 7cm images on 120 and 220 roll film. The Koni-Omega Rapid is the successor to the original Omega 120 made by Simmon Bros Inc in 1954, which itself was based off an earlier military camera…
This is a Mamiya ZE-X, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by Mamiya Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan starting in 1981. The ZE-X was Mamiya’s most advanced 35mm SLR and came standard with a huge number of advanced electronic features, most notably an error-proof type of Auto Exposure which…
This is an AGFA Selectaflex, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera, produced by AGFA-Gevaert between the years 1963 and 1967. The Selectaflex was an evolution of the earlier AGFAFlex, and was a premium interchangeable lens SLR featuring a lineup of good to excellent AGFA lenses using the camera’s own bayonet…
