Cameras

Introduction

Introduction

(Photograph © Alfred's Camera Page 2004)

I first became interested in photography at an early age, when my parents gave me a camera of my own and encouraged me to take photographs. My first camera, as a child in the 1950s, was a Bilora Bella which used the now obsolete 127 roll film. I still love using and owning cameras.

Agfa Isolette I

My interest in photography really took off during the the early 1960s, when I was able to borrow my father's old Agfa Isolette, which takes 120 film. I'm now the proud owner of that slendid old camera.

Canon EOS 630

Sometime during the period 1965-1968, I bought a Robot camera from a work colleague and switched from taking black & white to using colour reversal slide film. The Robot used 35mm film and had a clockwork motor drive, but the format was 24x24mm which was rather inconvenient because it meant that my slides could not be mounted when the film was processed. Instead, I had to buy slide mounts and rotate half of the mount through 90⁰, to produce the square frame required. I wish I still had the Robot though, as it had an excellent lens and took brilliant photos, and was sorely missed when during the late 1980s first I started taking aerial photos using kites.

I eventually sold the Robot and bought a secondhand Russian single lens reflex (35mm SLR) camera, called the Zenit B. Later, during the 1970s, I upgraded to a second-hand East German (35mm SLR) called the Praktica LLC.

During the 1980s, I upgraded to a second-hand Canon EOS 630 (35mm SLR) and I still use that excellent camera today together with a Sigma 70-300mm zoom lens and a Sigma 17-35mm wide-angle lens.

Bronica ETRS

After using the Agfa Isolette, I started out again in medium format with a second-hand Yashica Mat 124G which uses 120 roll film to produce a 6x6cm format. I loved using the Yashica, but soon hankered after having a medium format camera with interchangeable lenses, so I eventually upgraded to a second-hand Bronica ETRS (SLR) which also uses 120 roll film but produces a 6x4.5cm format. I currently have two lenses, a 50mm and the standard 75mm.

The photography links page contains information about a number of sites that are devoted to medium format.

Canon Ixus Z90

During the period 1997-1999, I also used a Canon Ixus Z90 (APS format) to take colour prints. It was ideal for 'point & shoot' situations, when I didn't want to lug a heavy bag full of camera equipment around. My son now uses that camera. Meanwhile, I have borrowed and am enjoying using his Pentax ME Super.

4x5 Pinhole camera

Early in 1998 I became interested in pinhole photography and made myself a wooden pinhole camera which takes a standard double-darkslide 4x5 filmholder.

MPP 4x5 view camera

My interest in pinhole photography eventually led to an interest in large format photography. I acquired an old 4x5 Micro Technical Camera, made by Micro Precision Products (MPP), which I sometimes use for landscape, and some architectural, photography. Currently, I just have a single 150mm (normal) focal length lens, which is equivalent to a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera.

Here is a photograph of two Canadian war photographers using similar cameras (probably Speed Graphics) in 1945.

The photography links page contains information about sites devoted to view cameras.

Here are some books on large format photography:

Kodak Book of Large Format Photography
Stroebel's View Camera Basics
by Leslie Stroebel
Using the View Camera
by Steve Simmons

Cameras

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