This year I’ve caught the bug again of putting film through a bunch of new-to-me old cameras. I’ve reviewed nine so far this year, with three more to come in the next month or so. And I’m not done yet.
Some of these cameras have not been awesome. An old folding Kodak has been a particular source of challenge. It came to me with a bellows full of pinholes, and despite two attempts to seal them with black fabric paint as I do, I still can’t make that camera light tight. Look at this weird squiggly pattern in the light leaking onto this frame!
Other times I’ve had smashing luck, such as with a very nice Nikon FE that a reader sold me for a very good price. I’ve put a few rolls through it and so far I like my 50mm f/1.8 Nikon Series E lens on it. That makes for a light and compact kit.
I plan to keep a couple of these cameras but not any of the others. I still have my rule: once I have more cameras than comfortably fit in my camera cabinet, every camera that comes in means one must go out. This has been a good rule that has kept me from repeating the problem I had just five years ago: cameras crammed into every nook and cranny of my house.
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