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Lomo Smena 8M – The Comrade for the Young Generation
The camera made for the young soviet generation, the Lomo Smena 8M, has made its place in history. Smena (CMEHA) is Russian for “Young Generation” which is the market this camera was aimed at. Production over 35 years ensured millions of soviet families recorded their memories with it. It is somewhat of an enigma though, where it is very easy to classify it as a toy, but it is also part of a photographic movement which was named after the company, namely “Lomography”. A modern-day company is also called Lomography, such is the popularity of that photography style. Lomography tends to divide the photographic community. “Serious” photographers tend to classify…
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Nikon F – Start of a Legacy
The Nikon F started a line of professional SLR cameras which dominated the market for many decades. A quality systems camera had me captured immediately.
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Fuji GS645S – Camera with a Roo Bar
The Fuji GS645S is a medium format fixed lens rangefinder camera shooting in 6x4.5 format. With a great exposure meter and lightweight, ticks all the boxes.
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Kodak Retinette 1B Type 037 – Fat Boy
Secondary lines for cameras in the past have created iconic cameras. The Kodak Retinette series had the pedigree to achieve this, following up from the hugely popular and very well regarded Retina range. The Retinettes were aimed more at the general camera users rather than the enthusiasts, but having been built with some very good and quality parts they are quite well regarded. The Retinette 1B Type 037 is a middle child model of this range. As to why it is called the Fat Boy, I am not sure. I have searched online but while it is called this in many places I cannot find any reason why it is…
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Olympus Pen EE-2 – An 11-year-old’s perspective
The Olympus Pen EE-2 is small half frame camera with auto exposure I gave this camera to my 11 year old son to give his view of it.
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Pinhole 4×5 – Lower than low-tech
Pinhole going 4x5 inch large! This pinhole camera came free with some film holders I purchased and gave me a superb creative outlet.
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Olympus Trip 35 – The holiday camera
The Canon Sure Shot A1, also known as the Autoboy, is a waterproof compact camera. This is a very fun camera which I always take on holidays.
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Fuji GSW690III Professional – The Texas Leica
There is a saying that “everything in Texas is bigger”. So, let’s take the svelte Leica M camera, and visualise what it would look like if it came from Texas, but to add a twist, has the build from Japan. We have just described the Fuji GSW690III Professional camera. This is a camera capable of some amazing results, has an extremely sharp lens and is quite mobile. It also shoots big 6×9 negatives with so much detail that suck you into the picture. Not a street shooter, but a great companion for travel photography. Specifically, the GSW690III, is the third generation of a successful line for Fuji, and as per…
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Kodak No. 0 Brownie Model A – Shooting at over 100 years strong
Sometimes there is a real sense of clarity by stripping back to basics. There are of-course basics and then there are real basics. That is what using a camera that is one-hundred years old and is effectively designed as a box brings us. The Kodak No. 0 Brownie Model A is a camera which helped introduce photography to the people, but how is it to use in the modern age? History Kodak has a long and very focused history, of which is well known and too long to include in this article. The Brownie history is also a very long one, starting in 1900 until the final model being produced…
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Yashica Electro 35 GL
Yashica Electro 35 GL is one of the later versions of the popular series of the fixed lens rangefinder series. Often touted as poor man's Leica, I tried it.
