Roger W. Hicks

Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras
The Kodak Art Deco Six 20
Roger W. Hicks  |  Nov 01, 2003

There are plenty of people who know (and care) very little about photography, but feel that their dignity requires a camera with a bit of style and elegance. Today, they are spoiled for choice. Automation makes life easy: they can buy any number of...

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False Accuracy
Learn To Live With The Variables
Roger W. Hicks  |  Nov 01, 2003

Most people are vaguely aware that shutter speeds aren't always as fast as they are marked, that ISO speeds can vary, and that overall, photography isn't that precise a science. What they often don't know is just how far-out things can...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras
Voigtlander Bessa
Roger W. Hicks  |  Oct 01, 2003

Anyone who reads Shutterbug regularly will know of my enthusiasm for modern Voigtländer cameras. I'm also extremely fond of the postwar Prominent 35mm leaf-shutter rangefinder camera, and I have a great (though guarded) admiration for its prewar 120 namesake, one of the most...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras
The Robot
Roger W. Hicks  |  Sep 01, 2003

Robots are probably the most underrated and underpriced world
class cameras on the used market today. They are built to at least the same standards as Leicas and Contaxes--actually, they're tougher and more reliable--and yet you can...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras
Just Hold A Pentax
Roger W. Hicks  |  Aug 01, 2003

Just hold a Pentax. That was the slogan, 30 and more years ago--and very clever it was. The light, svelte, elegant SV (also sold as the H3V) was so lovely that if you did hold one, you wanted it. Next to its...

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Six Kinds Of Contrast
How Each Affects Image Quality
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jul 01, 2003

Six Kinds Of Contrast

"Contrast" means a surprising number of things in photography: at least six. Made to do so many jobs, it is not surprising that confusion reigns, plenty of contrast is a Good Thing in some...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Kilfitts Pan Tele Kilar
Is It The Acme Of German Engineering
Roger W. Hicks  |  Jul 01, 2003

Mechanical precision has an almost sensual pleasure of its own. Think of the buttery wind-on of a 1950s Leica M3, or the way that the lens panel of an Alpa 12 glides into place, then fits solid as a rock. Recently...

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Classic Camera Reviews
Classic Cameras
Nikonos II
Roger W. Hicks  |  May 01, 2003

One of the joys of classic cameras, indeed, of classic anything--is the absence of "me-too" design; and the Nikonos II illustrated is about as far from "me too" as you can get.

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Classic Camera Reviews
Voigtlander Bessa R2S R2C
Two New R2 Variations
Roger W. Hicks  |  Apr 01, 2003

The Bessa-R2C and R2S are both variants on the superb R2. Instead of the Leica bayonet mount of the R2, however, the new cameras have the original 1932-1961 Contax mount (R2C) and the original 1948-1963...

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Show Reports
Tripods And Various Weird Stuff
Roger W. Hicks  |  Dec 01, 2002

Tripods & Various Weird Stuff

Let's be honest: tripods are worthy but dull, so I'll dive straight in with the Weird Stuff--that is, with the products that defy ready categorization, but are either highly desirable or extremely unusual or sometimes both. Let's start at...

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