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Bolseyflex – Not much flex
The Bolseyflex is a medium format 6x6 pseudo-TLR. A very ornate simple camera which I tried out a couple of times.
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Yashica 44A – Twin in small package
The Yashica 44A is a TLR in a small package producing much larger results.
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Rolleicord Va Type 1 – The middle twin
The Rolleicord Va Type 1 is a Twin Lens Reflex medium format camera which shoots a classic 6x6 format. TLRs are fun, especially with the Rollei quality.
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Polaroid Sun 660 Autofocus Land Camera – Instant gratification
Square format, instant(ish) images, iconic and fun. No, not insta-social media, but a camera developed at the pinnacle of a company’s history. The Polaroid Sun 660 Autofocus Land Camera was sold at the time when Polaroid was a powerhouse in the photographic industry and was considered one of the most innovative companies across the world. There must be something hardwired into human beings to share images, especially when recording a memorable moment. Before the internet brought us the multitude of social media sites and apps, in the days when people rang each other to talk from a fixed line phone, Polaroid was producing cameras which allowed a you to make…
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Pigeonflex – Bird of a feather
A camera to allow your photography to take flight? To release your creativity free as a bird? Probably enough bird puns for now. So, was the Pigeonflex a camera to set the cat amongst the Pigeons? Ok that was one more. Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras are an interesting type of camera. They have a history in street photography, especially the Rolleiflex, yet they are designed quite different from the rangefinders which are generally thought of as street cameras. They shoot in square format, like well-known Hasselblad studio cameras, but are designed to be used mobile. You look through the viewfinder, with the image reflected by a mirror, like a…
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Agfa Jsolette 4.5 – When J is not a J
The Agfa Isolette range of cameras have a cult following. That includes me as I own both Isolette and Jsolette labelled cameras. The ability to shoot medium format, especially 6×6, with a camera that is small and at a stretch pocketable, is very enticing. Throw in the fact that they look lovely, and you can understand the popularity. I personally like quite a few different “folders” as you can see by another review of the Voigtlander Perkeo I. This model is the Agfa Jsolette 4.5. Agfa has used the names Jsolette and Isolette interchangeably, as the letter J referred to an I in German. There is a misconception that the…
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Ensign Ful-Vue – Is it really the full view?
When does a box camera not look like a box camera? When it is the Ensign Ful-Vue from 1946. Until then most were basically a box with a lens on the front. There were a few variants, including box cameras that had better viewing lenses and looked more like Twin Lens Reflex cameras, but still generally had a box shape. When Ensign released the Ful-Vue they moved to a very modern shape for the period, and I think created one of the most striking looking box cameras ever. I picked this camera up when I was living in London around 1999 and promptly put it on a shelf. While…
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Icons of Sydney
Each city in the world has its own image and style defined by its people and landmarks. Each city has specific icons, which help define it to the rest of the world. As photographers, we sometimes concentrate so much on capturing something so different that we forget to capture the defining beauty of our city. In this project I am aiming at capturing what tourists know but locals forget is sometimes there. This will be an ongoing project for me, I suspect years in the making, but in the end, it will encompass all of the well-known Icons of Sydney, but will also include some lesser known ones which normally…
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Voigtländer Perkeo I
The Voigtländer Perkeo I is a small folding 6x6 medium format camera. It is as much fun to use as it sounds.
