Prologue Back on December 12, 2014, I posted my first ever camera review on this site, for the Argus C3 Match-Matic. The idea to write about an old camera was just something I thought up on a whim and put together that review with my thoughts, and some sample pics…
Film is back! Well, sorta. OK, film never went anywhere, but like vinyl records did in the early 21st century, the steady decrease of film usage seems to have bottomed out and has started to increase again. According to Ilford in an article published in February 2015, 30% of people…
The famous American actor Johnny Depp is often seen with cameras. The cameras are of a wide ranging styles and brands, but since people seem to really like looking at pictures of Johnny Depp with a camera, here are some great examples! Do you like pictures of Johnny Depp with…
This is an Argoflex Forty, a medium format Psuedo-TLR camera made by Argus Inc. of Ann Arbor, MI, between the years of 1950 and 1954. This is an earlier model as later versions dropped the “Argoflex” name and became simply, the Argus 40. Other than the name change, the two…
In June 2018, I took a look at a high performance compact point and shoot camera made by Canon called the MC. The MC had a feature set comparable to the Pentax PC35AF and Ricoh FF-90 Super which I had also previously reviewed. Although a handsome and well featured model,…
This is an Argus C44R, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Argus Inc., between the years of 1958 and 1962. It was an update to the earlier C44, adding a rapid wind lever, a pop up rewind lever, and plus a provision for the optional Argus CM2 coupled exposure meter. …
Ever since John Glenn brought up a heavily modified ANSCO Anscoset 35mm camera into space on board the Friendship 7 space craft during the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, NASA has continued to look for ways to bring cameras into outer space. The idea of taking photos in space doesn’t really sound…
This is a Falcon Super-Action Candid, a solid bodied premium 127 format camera made by the Utility Mfg. Company of New York City starting in 1938. There were a few different variants of the Super-Action Candid, this being the model FE which indicates it has the slower Wollensak f/4.5 lens…
Here at Mike Eckman dot com, I like to ask the tough questions. Questions other camera review sites are unwilling or unable to answer. One day, while listening to some Kid Rock, drinking Budweiser, eating McDonalds, and shooting off fireworks, I thought to myself, “Gee, what was the best American…
This is a Kodak Ektra, a 35mm rangefinder camera produced by the Eastman Kodak Corporation between the years 1941 and 1948. It was at the time of it’s release, and still is today, the most advanced and feature rich American made 35mm camera ever built. Designed to compete with German…
The year was 1953, the Eastman Kodak company was on a string of successful cameras produced for the US military, from the Kodak 35 (called PH-324), Kodak Ektra, and Kodak Medalist, and the time had come to create yet another quality compact camera up to military specifications. The Kodak Signet…
This is a Bell & Howell Foton, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by the Bell & Howell Company of Chicago, Illinois. It first went on sale in 1948 as a top of the line American built camera, designed to compete with the best of what Germany had to offer. The…
