Camera Collecting

MORE CAMERAS WILL BE ADDED

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Having an interest in photography for many years has resulted in my accumulating a varied collection of cameras and other photo equipment. I thought it might be interesting to review this equipment and present some of it here.

Many of my cameras were purchased used, from yard sales or other low cost avenues of purchase. However they are unique and interesting to me.

The SR T 100 (Right) was one of my first 35 mm cameras. It introduced me to photography with interchangeable lenses, ISO, aperture and shutter speed adjustments. From this camera came my earliest belief that if I new how to use my camera I could really control the results. The camera probably still works as good now as it did about 30 years ago. -->


<--- The Yashica MAT 24G camera was my first twin lens reflex camera. It used a 2.25 inch format film in rolls called 120 or 220. This format was much bigger than a format for 35 mm and therefore yielded a sharper more clear image that was impressive if the camera was focused correctly and a good aperture was used. The only lens capacity was add-ons that clipped onto the front of both lenses. One lens was for focus and viewing and the other was to expose the film to light. This camera was a lot of fun to use because it was viewed from up above or the camera could be held up side down and the photographer could look up to see the viewfinder. This meant it was possible to frame and focus over the heads of a crowd.

For this reason this camera was considered to be a wedding or journalists inexpensive camera and helped many a photographer turn professional.
As I became fascinated with photography I started looking for cameras that had different features or characteristics. This camera was special because it was so small. At the time to have a full frame 35mm camera this small was rare. Another model that I never acquired but was even more noted for this characteristic was the Minox 35. ------------>


Then came digital photography. I could not wait to play with this technology. No film, instant review of images, unbelievable capabilities in the computer darkroom to manipulate the image and everything else that photography has to offer. This camera was the first one I owned that could actually produce a full size print that looked decent.
I am still with Minolta after all of these years. The Konica - Minolta 7D is a digital SLR that has built in image stabilization as long as it uses a Maxxum lens, including the older film camera lenses. I think it will be my camera for a long time to come.

I won this Minolta  AF-C in a photo contest. It came in a special case with a small flash unit. It was one of the earliest auto focus small full frame cameras to be released but all major manufacturers released similar products shortly after. It also had a built in lens cover that slid up and down to protect the lens.