One of the greatest stories I’ve heard while collecting and researching old cameras is how one of the greatest cameras ever made was created. The story goes that in 1911, a Zeiss employee named Oskar Barnack was recruited by his friend and former colleague, Emil Mechau to work for a…
This is a Yashica J-3, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by Yashica Co., Ltd. in 1963. It was an update to the earlier Yashica Penta J, adding a coupled CdS exposure meter and top plate readout, but retaining that model’s M42 screw mount. The Yashica J-3 was an…
This is a Kodak Brownie Super 27 camera, made by Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY between the years 1961 and 1965. This curiously shaped camera was part of Kodak’s long running Brownie series, and includes a built-in flash using AG-1 flashes, a two speed shutter, and a two position focus…
This is a Gelto DIII, a collapsible lens viewfinder camera made by Tōa Kōki Seisakusho starting in 1937 and produced until at least 1952. The Gelto DIII shoots 3cm x 4cm images on 127 format roll film. A large number of variations exist for the Gelto, some with leather covered…
This is a Royer Altessa Type IV, a very unique non-folding roll film camera produced by Société Industrielle de Technique Optique (SITO) between the years 1952 and 1954. The Altessa has an interchangeable bayonet lens mount and shoots both 6cm x 9cm and with a baffle, 6cm x 6cm images…
This is the Nikon F3, a 35mm single lens reflex camera produced by Nippon Kogaku of Tokyo, Japan between the years 1980 and 2001, making it the longest list Nikon camera ever made and one of the longest ever produced cameras in history. The Nikon F3 was the third in…
This is an Auto Terra Super, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by K.K. Teraoka Seikōjo in Japan between the years 1959 and 1960. The Auto Terra Super was one of the last and most advanced in a line of Auto Terra cameras made between 1954 and 1960. The signature feature…
In the history of photography, there have been a LOT of different film formats. In a Wikipedia article about the history of film formats, a chart showing 71 different formats of film is listed, including a large number of roll film, film pack, sheet, and cassette formats. A majority of…
This is an Anscoflex II, a twin lens box camera made by Ansco of Binghamton, New York between the years 1954 and 1958. The Anscoflex II is a more advanced version of the original Anscoflex which was introduced a few months earlier. The only difference is the addition of two…
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…
