Retrospectives

The Big Shot Polaroid – Andy Warhol’s Pen & Pencil 
1920 1080 Cheyenne Morrison

“Mr. Land [Edwin] invented this great camera called a Polaroid, and it just takes the face of the person. There is something about the camera that makes the person look just right. They usually come…

read more

The Sweetest Taboo – The Unlikely Story of Leitz Minolta
2800 1575 Josh Solomon

The 1970s were a great time for camera geeks. The decade brought us the apex of professional mechanical 35mm SLRs in the Nikon F2, and the beginning of the amateur 35mm SLR segment as we…

read more

Nikon SP Limited Edition 2005 Overview – Nikon’s Rangefinder Swan Song
2400 1350 James Tocchio

The Nikon SP Limited Edition from the year 2005 is a really special camera. All things considered, it may be the brand’s best film camera. It’s the most capable rangefinder that Nikon ever built, handcrafted with…

read more

The Weird and Wonderful World of Gold Collector Cameras
1152 648 Josh Solomon

There’s a famous scene in This Is Spinal Tap in which the guitarist of Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel, shows off his guitar collection. He finally comes to the crown jewel, a Sea Foam Green Fender…

read more

What’s an ‘Apollo’ Nikon F and Why It Matters
2400 1350 James Tocchio

James explains what makes the special Nikon F “Apollo” so special (or not so special), with examination of why it matters (or doesn’t).

read more

Nikon F – The Camera That Changed Everything
2200 1238 Josh Solomon

If there’s one camera that’s been a constant presence throughout my years as a photographer and writer, it’s the Nikon F. Nearly every research trail or trip to the camera show somehow ends with the…

read more

Diving Deep with Nikonos – A Brief History of Nikon’s Underwater Cameras
2200 1238 James Tocchio

I watched with helpless horror as my camera fell, seemingly in slow-motion, fumbled from the uppermost point of a rough stone jetty. It tumbled and bounced from rock to rock on a plummeting course to…

read more

Yoshihisa Maitani – The Man Who Made Olympus
2200 1237 James Tocchio

What makes a person successful? The admiration of one’s peers? The realization of one’s ambitions and designs? Decades of professional coups? If these are the measures of success, famed Olympus camera designer Yoshihisa Maitani measured…

read more

Tahbes Synchro and Synchrona – an In-Depth Look at the Machines of an Obscure Dutch Camera Company
2200 1237 James Tocchio

Europe in 1945 was not a great place for manufacturing, yet it was there and in that moment in history during which a small, Dutch company successfully manufactured and sold some of the most beautiful…

read more

Kodachrome Retrospective – Kodak’s Most Famous Film
1800 1012 James Tocchio

A retrospective look at Kodak’s most famous film. Paul Simon wrote a song about it, and movies have been made about it. What’s so special about Kodakchrome?

read more

1905 Ticka Watch Camera – An In-Depth Look
2000 1125 James Tocchio

There’s this guy I know; one of those old-timey photo geeks that have seen it all and own most of it. He ran a camera shop for god-knows-how-long, the result being that he’s not too impressed by…

read more
  • 1
  • 2