This is the Werra, a 35mm scale focus camera produced in Jena, East Germany by VEB Carl Zeiss Jena starting in 1954. This is the first version in a long line of Werra cameras that were produced in a variety of configurations until 1968. Later versions of the Werra came…
This is a KW Prakti, a fully automatic 35mm camera produced by VEB Kamera und Kinowerke Dresden from 1961 to 1964. The Prakti is notable as being one of the first cameras to not only have an internal electric motor for advancing the film and cocking the shutter, but also…
This is a Minolta AF-Sv, a 35mm point and shoot, fully automatic camera made in Japan by Minolta starting in 1984. Known by it’s nickname “the Talker”, the AF-Sv is notable as having a voice feature in which the camera can play back voice alerts as reminders for things like…
This is a Suzuki Press Van, a medium format folding camera made by Suzuki Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. in 1953. The Press Van is dual format, and can shoot both 6cm x 6cm images on 120 roll film and 24mm x 36mm images on 35mm film. This is the first version…
This is a “military” Kardon 35mm rangefinder camera, produced by the Premier Instrument Corp in New York City between the years 1947 and 1954. The Kardon was originally developed as an “American Leica” after imports of cameras from Germany had ceased during World War II. Charged with building the camera…
Mistakes were made…again! Back in January, I posted a second look review of the Zeiss-Ikon Contessa 35, a camera that I had previously reviewed and drew some incorrect conclusions about due to me having a camera in less than stellar operational condition. A reader of this site named Peter noticed…
This is a Kemper Kombi, an early miniature roll film box camera and graphoscope produced by the Alfred C. Kemper Company of Chicago, Illinois, USA starting in 1893. The Kombi used a proprietary paper backed roll film developed specifically for it by the Eastman Kodak company and shot up to…
This is a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash, an all plastic box camera produced by the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York between the years 1950 and 1961. It was an update to a non-flash version that was released in 1949. All Brownie Hawkeyes take 6cm x 6cm images on…
This is an Argus C4, a 35mm rangefinder camera produced by Argus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This particular example has what’s called the Geiss modification offered by Argus from 1954 to 1956, which for $10 they would send the camera to a Chicago company called Geiss where it’s lens would…
This is the Polaroid SX-70 an instant film camera produced by Polaroid between the years of 1972 and 1981. The SX-70 was a landmark camera as it was the first instant camera in the world to use pack film, instead of the more common roll film as all previous Polaroids…
This is a Winpro 35, a 35mm point and shoot camera first made by Webster Industries and then later by Zenith Film Corp., both of Rochester, New York, USA between the years 1947 and 1955. The Winpro 35 is historically significant as it was the first camera to have a…
This is the Nikon F2, a 35mm single lens reflex camera produced by Nippon Kogaku in Tokyo, Japan from 1971 to 1980. The Nikon F2 was the follow up to the very successful Nikon F. It was a high end and rugged camera aimed at professional photographers with a huge…
