About

Vintage Camera Digest is a project of mine to share my interest in the process of traditional film photography and the cameras that create it.

I’ve been a collector of old cameras for the last 30 years or so. The first ones I picked up because I thought they just looked cool sitting on the shelf in my office. And being a professional photographer/educator in the field of Higher Education, it was appropriate decoration.

Every once in a while, though, I’d buy one that appeared to be in working order, and I couldn’t help but think how cool it would be to actually shoot with it. You know – go back to the roots of photography. The cameras I used on a daily basis at work were basically computers. I embraced the Canon EOS line right from the start. Everything I shot with had electronic-controlled shutters, built-in motor drives, LCD screens, and auto-focus.

Now we’ve come through the digital photography revolution. No longer constrained by the limitations of film, I could shoot hundreds of shots at a time and see the results immediately!  I mean, how perfect is that? Well, it’s pretty awesome, that’s what it is.  And 20 years on I look back and see just how much the whole process – from visualizing the photo to making the exposure – has evolved.

However, I feel like digital photography has trained us to shoot first and ask questions later. So, you take a shot that didn’t come out the way you thought it would? No big deal. Just delete it, make an adjustment, and try again. Sooner or later you’ll get a shot that you like. I don’t think that’s an inherently bad process, but I think we’re missing something. And I think that “something” is “deliberate-ness” – the commitment to the shot.

We take thousands of photos today, but how many of those are we actually invested in? How many of those have we thought through to the best of our ability prior to making the first shot? Probably not that many. I take photos for a living and find myself doing the same.

So, in a way Vintage Camera Digest is like therapy for me. It’s an attempt to step back in time to when photography required a little more effort up front – a little more commitment to the shot. It’s also a blast to be able to use the old “tools of the trade” – the cameras that helped evolve photography through each chapter of its existence – and understand why and how certain features we take for granted today caught on in the first place.

Additionally, one thing I’ve discovered in all my research is that there doesn’t seem to be much information out there regarding cameras and their original prices. I think that is important to consider when reviewing a camera system. By adjusting those prices for inflation, it helps put a modern perception on how – and to whom – the products were marketed.

To that end, I’ve taken on the additional task of trying to fill that void with the Original Price Reference. This is an ongoing project, and I’ll add new data as I find it.  One thing I’ve noticed in regards to pricing is that photography has always been a rather expensive endeavor.

In the Fall of 2023 I expanded the whole Vintage Camera Digest idea to YouTube. And that has definitely been a lot of fun. A lot of work – don’t get me wrong, but I thoroughly enjoy engaging with viewers. And I’m finding out there are a lot people like me who really appreciate the craft of film photography. So, it usually turns out that I learn a lot from the comments and interactions.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading about these old machines as much as I enjoy using them. Maybe you’ll be inspired to seek out one of these and try your hand at shooting some film while that’s still an option. And check out the YouTube channel if you get the opportunity.

Enjoy!

All text and photographs on this website (other than found-photography and otherwise noted) are © 2014-2021 Steven Broome. All rights reserved.