It seems like new cameras are released every month, featuring ever-improving specs and capabilities. So, it’s easy to get caught up in the buzz. However, the older ones among us still remember the joy, simplicity, and the occasional frustration of using older technology. In an era where users often complain about the lack of dual card slots and Eye AF, Arthur Reutov takes a step back and revisits the Sony Mavica FD83, a retro digital camera that recorded images on a floppy disk.
5 Bizarre Photo-Tech Relics You’ve Forgotten About
I ordinarily share nerdy lighting setups and techniques, but with it being a very busy week for me, I thought I’d share something quick and lighthearted instead. Hopefully, you’ll still appreciate this quick jaunt down this photo-related memory lane.
Recently an old friend and I were chuckling over some long-forgotten photo tech that looks pretty damn bizarre in hindsight! So here are 5 of the more commonly known ones that, for better or worse, many of us still remember.
Camera Rescue starts a free school for repairing and preserving old film cameras
The Camera Rescue team are on a mission to save old and discontinued film cameras. And if you’d like to join them and learn their craft – now you can. They’re starting a school where they will teach you to repair and preserve old film cameras, and even recreate the missing parts for them. And it’s completely free of charge.
This photographer in Afghanistan is still making pictures with a 100-year-old box camera
It always seems to be a race these days for photographers to get newer and better gear. They feel it will make them into a better photographer or produce better images. But the reality is that more often than not, it won’t. And it’s perfectly possible to create great images with older equipment, as Afghan photographer Haji Meerzaman is still proving on a regular basis.
Haji still shoots with a box camera he’s been using for 65 years. A box camera that was already at least 35 years old when he got it. It’s a fascinating piece of kit that’s essentially an entire camera and darkroom in a box. Travel YouTuber Drew Binsky was visiting Afghanistan and got to visit Haji and have his portrait taken using this camera.
Watch: What’s it’s like to restore an 85-year old Leica
Restoring an old camera and giving it a new life is something truly special. Especially if it’s a heritage, and it’s almost a century old. Max from Analog Insights inherited an 85-year-old Leica, and it looked like it was beyond repair. But a friend helped him bring it to life and take some neat shots with it as if it were new. In this video, Max shares the story of his new old camera, as well as some photos that he took with it.
These 37 shutter sounds of old cameras are oddly satisfying
If there’s such a thing as ASMR video for photographers, this must be it. Photographer Scott Graham has filmed “a video no one asked for,” yet it’s still amusing and very satisfying to watch. In about three minutes, he shares with you shutter sounds of 37 different cameras, mostly old film and digital models.
Photographer develops a roll of film from 1929 camera and discovers forgotten portraits
Sometimes photographers find real gems among the vintage cameras and lenses. Dutch photographer Martijn van Oers found an original Zeiss Ikon 520/2 in a second-hand store, dating from around 1929. The folding medium-format camera had a roll of film inside, with the word EXPOSÉ on it. It got him intrigued, and he decided to develop the film and see if he can get something out of it.
He contacted a friend Johan Holleman, who has been into film photography and film developing for the most of his life. Johan warned him that the chances were slim to recover the images, considering that the film was produced between the 1940s and 1970s. However, after the careful developing process – the photos were there! It turned out that the film was nearly 70 years old, and it contained the portraits Martijn and Johan retrieved after all this time.
My dad’s 3MP Fujifilm S1 Pro deals surprisingly well vs my 24MP Sony A7II!
I had the rare pleasure of meeting up with my father this week and on my stop through we came onto the topic of progress. We were sharing ideas of what it was like shooting “back in his day” with a 17year old 3.4MP Fujifilm S1 DSLR vs. my current Sony A7II.
For fun, we decided to whip out the old camera and do a direct comparison with one thing in mind: Image Quality. How far has image quality come in 17 years and what benefits would it provide to most day to day users that are slapping the images straight onto social media anyway?
An Old Camera Collection Used To Decorate A Photographer’s Office
This is probably the best wall you are going to see in the next few years, and you can’t unsee it, so be prepared for some major drooling. Photographer Marco Marques build a custom display unit to show off his old camera collection.
The collection shows 45 cameras (the 3 empty shelves have been filled) and took a few years to build.
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