Classic Camera Reviews

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 |  Aug 13, 2018  |  0 comments

Finding an inexpensive full frame camera is difficult these days. And with Nikon set to release a new mirrorless full frame camera this month, things aren’t likely to get any cheaper.

Jason Schneider  |  Jul 18, 2018  |  2 comments

A score of digital and analog cameras that set standards for their era and pointed to the future.

Dan Havlik  |  Apr 27, 2018  |  0 comments

Yes, there’s a ton of great new photography gear out there that can do just about every trick under the sun. But do you really need to spend all your hard-earned cash on a fresh new camera rig when something older might be good enough?

Jason Schneider  |  Apr 26, 2018  |  1 comments

I’m a fanatic when it comes to classic 35mm rangefinder cameras. And based on 50+ years of hands-on experience, I’m confident that the very best analog rangefinder cameras do embody something special that’s mostly lacking in today’s digital marvels.

Jason Schneider  |  Mar 14, 2018  |  0 comments

The 10 classic cameras on this list are all beautiful objects capable of taking superb pictures. They’re also outstanding examples of brilliantly integrated camera design, and each in its own way is a technological masterpice.

Ron Leach  |  Nov 03, 2017  |  0 comments

Back in 2005, before Sony launched their Alpha line of interchangeable-lens digital cameras, they introduced the very unusual DSC-R1 “bridge” camera, which offered a highly regarded zoom lens, a wide ISO range of 160-3200, and an APS-C 10.3 MP CMOS sensor. The camera even featured a two-inch swiveling and rotating LCD, which was a pretty big deal in 2005.

Jon Sienkiewicz  |  Jul 20, 2017  |  0 comments

The announcer booms, “A new camera bursts onto the scene…” while the audience watches a Minolta SR-T 101 appear to explode and then—like magic—reassemble and become the revolutionary Minolta 110 Zoom SLR.  

Michael Chiusano  |  Jul 06, 2017  |  0 comments

Today’s digital cameras have become so adept at almost any shooting situation that, paradoxically, they can inhibit creativity by always delivering a technically perfect result. With little effort, a photographer can produce a sharp, clear, well-exposed image, color balanced and, well, a bit too perfect.

Dan Havlik  |  Dec 12, 2016  |  1 comments

This video from The 8-Bit Guy is a heck of a lot of fun for those of us who remember using early digital cameras that recorded images and videos to floppy disks, super disks and CDs. Ok, we’re showing our age but who cares?

Joe Farace  |  Feb 26, 2016  |  0 comments

Here are some tips I discovered when researching this month’s column. One was from my wife who uses this technique all the time—smile! And you know what, people smile back, making you appear friendly and non-threatening. The other was from Michael Archambault, who suggests you “acknowledge that street photography is not perfect.” Or as my grandfather once told me, “If you spend your whole life looking for happiness, it’ll make you miserable.”

Jason Schneider  |  Feb 05, 2016  |  0 comments

Ever since digital supplanted film as the primary capture medium sometime in the early 2000’s, the number of new analog cameras available on the market has declined precipitously.

Jason Schneider  |  Dec 10, 2015  |  7 comments

I’ve been collecting cameras for (ahem) well over half a century. But unlike many of my fellow film camera fanatics, I actually use these things to make pictures, which is a lot more fun. That’s why all the cameras on my 10 Favorites list below are prime, high-performance user-collectibles capable of outstanding image quality that can give those digital upstarts a run for the money. Yes, shooting film is a lot less convenient, and more expensive than shooting digital, but if you enjoy being a contrarian, iconoclast or outlier, being a Film Dinosaur is a great way to go.

Cynthia Boylan  |  Dec 07, 2015  |  0 comments

In the fascinating hour-long video below, Chris Marquardt gets an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Kodak Technology vault with his guide Todd Gustavson, curator of the museum’s technology collection.

Cynthia Boylan  |  Dec 01, 2015  |  0 comments

What's it like to use a strange plastic camera lens from 1950 on a modern mirrorless camera? That's the subject of this latest "Weird Lens Challenge" video from photographer Mathieu Stern.

Steve Meltzer  |  Nov 11, 2015  |  0 comments

After 140 years of photography, camera design has reached something of a pinnacle with today’s DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. But along the way to our digital era there were lots of false starts and dead ends. These were unusual cameras that had their brief moment and then simply disappeared.

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