This is a Minolta XD11, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera produced by Minolta of Japan from 1977 to 1984. The XD11 was the first model in Minolta’s new XD series of electronic manual focus cameras. It was the first SLR camera with both aperture and shutter priority auto exposure,…
This is a Zorki rangefinder camera, built in the former Soviet Union by Krasnogorsky Mekhanichesky Zavod (KMZ). Although not marketed this way when it was new, this example is known today as the Zorki 1C as it was the original generation Zorki rangefinder, and the third major variant. The Zorki…
This is a Fuji TW-3, a compact 35mm dual lens point and shoot camera that shoots half-frame 18mm x 24mm images on regular 35mm film. The Fuji TW-3 was produced by Fuji in Japan for a short while starting in 1985 and has a curious feature set of separate wide…
This is an Olympus-35 LC, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. from 1967 to 1969. The LC is the predecessor to the very successful Olympus 35 SP, sharing that model’s body and 7-element lens, but without auto exposure or the dual spot/averaging metering system of the…
This is a Purma Special, an all Bakelite snapshot camera produced by Purma Camera, Ltd., England starting in 1937. The Purma Special shoots sixteen 32mm x 32mm images on 127 roll film. It is a simple fixed focus camera with an extremely unique gravity controlled metal blade focal plane three…
This is a Bronica S2, a medium format single lens reflex camera produced by Zenza Bronica Kogyo from 1965 to 1969. Originally built as a discount option to the Hasselblad medium format SLR, the Bronica S2 was an upgrade to the earlier Bronica S with the most significant change being…
This is the Argus SLR, a fully mechanical 35mm single lens reflex camera. The Argus SLR was produced for the Argus Corporation of Ann Arbor, Michigan by Mamiya Optical in Tokyo, Japan and was produced from 1962 to 1964. The camera is a variant of the Mamiya Prismat NP which…
When someone asks the question “What is the ‘best’ 35mm rangefinder ever made?”, a great number of responses will likely include either the Leica M3 or the Nikon SP. The reason for these two models on the tops of so many people’s lists is that they are both very good…
This is a Royer Savoyflex II, a 35mm SLR made in France by Société Industrielle de Technique Optique, or SITO for short. The Savoyflex had a between the lens Prontor Reflex leaf shutter, a fixed Berthiot 50mm f/2.8 lens, non-removable pentaprism viewfinder, film advance lever, and an rapid return reflex…
This is a Kodak Regent, a folding rangefinder roll film camera made in Stuttgart, Germany by Kodak AG starting in 1935. The Regent natively shoots eight 6cm x 9cm images on 620 roll film or with the use of a mask, sixteen 4.5cm x 6cm images. The Regent was a…
This review is part of the Cameras of the Dead series which features dead cameras that I’ve wanted to review that either didn’t work, or was otherwise unable to shoot. This April, I will not be doing my usual “Halfway to Halloween” triple-feature, but didn’t want you to think I…
This is a Yashica T AF, a 35mm fully automatic point and shoot camera made by Kyocera of Japan starting in 1985. The Yashica T was the first in a long running Yashica T-series of cameras that all came with a Carl Zeiss Tessar T* lens. At the time this…
