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…
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…
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. …
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…
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…
This is the Kodak Tourist, made by the Eastman Kodak Corporation between the years 1948 and 1951. It is a medium format folding camera that shoots 6cm x 9cm images on 620 roll film. Despite it’s humble appearance, the Tourist series was somewhat of an upscale camera, optionally featuring Kodak’s…
This is a Vokar II, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by the Vokar Corporation from Dexter, Michigan between the years of 1947 and 1948. It was a very ambitious American made rangefinder camera that boasted a lot of value for the money, including an entirely Vokar designed lens and shutter…
