In 1944, Allied invasion forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in France. With the first wave of troops was a young combat photographer named Robert Capa. In his hand was the Zeiss Contax II, then…
read moreFor those who argue that the third part of a trilogy is typically the worst, The Godfather Part III is People’s Exhibit A. The political intrigue of financial malfeasance in Vatican City was destined to disappoint…
read moreEvery day, someone asks me which Leica rangefinder they should buy, and I think they expect me to come back with an easy answer; “Get an M-whatever.” But it’s not that simple. Instead, I ask…
read moreCanon makes boring cameras. Sometimes they make really boring cameras. I have an F-1 and I love shooting it, but like many Canons, it simply cannot be name-dropped. It’s a bit like trying to impress your coworkers…
read moreIt was 1975 when Olympus made the call to launch their final Hail Mary in the competitive 40mm fixed-lens rangefinder game. Olympus engineers aimed to better the already well-received Olympus 35 SP and replace it…
read moreHave you ever taken a trip to a distant city and deliberately avoided the favored tourist destinations in exchange for quaint alleyways and lesser-known pathways? If so, you’ve probably come away with some of the…
read moreThe Contax G2 is like no other rangefinder on Earth. In fact, its technological ethos employs certain tricks that are outright heresy to diehard fans of the classic rangefinder; it runs on batteries, its manual…
read moreThree film cameras; ten rolls of film. That’s what I packed for a recent week away. Among these cameras was the Contax T, an unbelievably compact 35mm film rangefinder that somehow marries luxurious excess to…
read moreA few months ago, I sang the praises of the Zeiss C Biogon 35/2.8 M mount lens. In that earlier review, I spoke to my wife’s sixth sense and how she dealt me a whopper…
read moreWhat adjectives describe a modern Canon camera? Rugged? Purposeful, maybe? I’ll bet beautiful seldom comes to mind. That’s not a knock. Canon today produces cameras that survive when guys like Larry Chen strap them to…
read moreWe’re back with another edition of Desert Island Cameras, the recurring feature in which we spotlight the best of the best from a given camera brand. And today we’re picking our one-and-done Leicas with a…
read moreAuthor’s note: The Leica M2 is an interchangeable lens rangefinder introduced in 1957 by German optical powerhouse Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH. It is the successor to the famous Leica M3 used by Henri Cartier-Bresson, among…
read moreBeginning in the late 1970s, camera manufacturers began to turn away from fun and discrete rangefinders to bulky, and often boring, SLRs. But before totally abandoning the once-popular rangefinder, each of the major Japanese makers seemed…
read moreRangefinders. The mere mention of this type of camera inspires visions of the erstwhile street shooter; a clandestine spirit who is here and not here, never participating but always observing. We imagine these shooters gripping their German…
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