Classic Camera Reviews

The Samoca 35 LE definitely wants to be taken seriously. The box is a classic piece of high 1950s design, and proudly announces "Exposure Meter Built-In" and "Lens - F 2.8." Open it up and there's a really classic leather ever-ready case with metal-rimmed, red velvet-lined removable top, so you can use the camera in the half case. Or you can take it...

For the past 55 years what has captivated collector Thurman (Jack) Naylor about photography is just about everything. He has amassed a private collection that has extended from the pre-photography days of Chinese mirrors and the earliest daguerreotypes to a miniature digital camera used today as a spy device. It has been a labor of love for Naylor and an unforgettable experience...

Before launching into paeans of praise for the Nikon F, which, in my arrogant opinion, may well be the most important 35mm SLR of the 20th century, I must confess to being a tiny bit biased. When I acquired my first F as a teen-ager back in 1961 (alas after trading in a mint Leica IIIg with a 50mm f/2.8 collapsible Elmar) I knew I had finally arrived. I strutted around lower...

While I am hardly a charter member of the anti-digitist (I shoot about 70 percent digital these days, mostly with a Canon EOS 20D, and I'm currently nursing a bad case of 5D lust) I will confess to being a long-time Nikon nut. When I acquired my first Nikon F in the early 1960s, I thought I had died and gone to heaven, and there are at least half a dozen Nikon cameras on my...

Just when you thought the R2 was the pinnacle of Voigtländer Bessa design, along came the R2A and R3A. They differ from the R2 in several ways, most notably the adoption of an electronic shutter allowing Aperture Priority automation; this is combined with a new meter. Other significant differences are a revised (and easier-to-use) rewind crank; the addition of a back lock...

This look at the history and a few of the better-known early products of Argus Cameras was gleaned primarily from the new book "Argomania: A Look At Argus Cameras And The Company That Made Them" by Henry J. Gambino. As Gambino says, "How many other companies have a museum devoted solely to its history and can also boast of a large, thriving, worldwide collectors...

1950 was an important year for Canon. As they continued to make the Model IIB, incorporating some changes that resulted in an improved camera, they also produced several trial versions, between serial 50000 and serial 50200, of the models that later became the Canon IV and Canon III.

Most, if not all, of the concepts first reflected in these new 200...