Analog photography revisited in the digital age
You can’t have enough Leicas, especially the classic Barnacks from the 1925-1960 period. All models will make your photography heart beat faster. They are gems to behold with very sophisticated fine mechanics, purely manual and visibly built with love for the craft and for a lifetime. Today the last in the series, in which all previous improvements led to the Leica IIIg, produced between 1957 and 1960.
Continue reading “Leica IIIg. G for Gorgeous.”
While the Russians build the Berlin Wall, Agfa introduces its newest Twin Lens Reflex, the Flexilette. A unique, desirable and much sought after camera because it was only produced for a few years.
Continue reading “Far from ordinary: Agfa Flexilette”
If you shoot medium format, sooner or later you won’t escape the legendary Pentax 6×7. It is a mandatory camera in any serious collection. But above all, you take great pictures with it at 6×7 size, which is about 4x larger than a 35mm negative or a full frame sensor. The Pentax is the Japanese flagship in medium format. Big, heavy, noisy and expensive. But it’s also love at first sight (Updated review with examples).
Continue reading “Eye catcher from Japan: the legendary Pentax 6×7”
Who remembers Pentax? The sympathetic camera brand for everyone, with affordable prices, good quality, but never achieving comparable status with Nikon, Canon or Minolta. The Japanese company turned just under 100 years old. Founded as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha in 1919 by and sold to Hoya and Ricoh in 2011 with in between a very long history of (especially) SLR cameras. In this review we look at a more unknown classic, a 1964 S(V).
Continue reading “The Lone Ranger: Asahi Pentax SV”
In 1999, Japan’s Cosina decided to re-market the film camera or better re-brand the purchased Voigtländer name. In a time of emerging digital cameras a risky strategy. Yet in a short time Cosina managed to attract a loyal fan base and for seven years (!) one classic film camera after another appeared. It all started with the success of the simple Bessa-L.
Continue reading “Voigtländer Bessa-L: the resurrection of film”
At first glance, a strange camera. A long protruding plunger and a barn door. That’s the first thing to notice, so not Voigtlander. But it’s not until you understand the reasons that you notice the craftsmanship and sense of design with which this 35mm rangefinder camera was made.
Continue reading “Voigtlanders victorious Vitessa”
It’s certainly not the best camera, as far as such a thing exists. But it is one of the very best and, in 2022, still one that can compete with the very greatest. The now “classic” Leica M, type 240, the first full-frame rangefinder with CMOS sensor. An addictive camera, very expensive, but an irresistible must have.
Continue reading “Upper class vintage: Leica M (240)”
Very occasionally you come across a camera that won’t let you go. From whichever way you look at the Japanese Koni(ca) Rapid Omega, it intrigues and invites you to work and play with it and enjoy its extremely solid and cleverness design. You’ll have however to exercise your arm muscles, because the medium format beast weighs nearly 2 kg.
Continue reading “Beauty & the beast: Koni Rapid Omega 100”
Mass production of 35mm cameras really took a huge leap in the 1950s. The War was over, reconstruction, growing optimism in a better world led to great economic progress. Vacations became possible, with the whole family in tents or caravans and capture precious memories with affordable cameras. These were the prime years of photography, for everyone. This demand asked for numerous brands and models. In addition to the Agfa film roll, the German company also managed to deliver quality in its own cameras, the Silette being one of the most popular.
Continue reading “Design for the masses: Agfa Silette L”
Not everyone wants or benefits from an advanced camera. And for a lot of people, a camera is an expensive and luxurious product, especially in the middle of the last century. The well-known manufacturers Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander had found something for that: a camera for beginners, without bells and whistles. A square box with a lens.
Continue reading “The Out of the Box cameras”