Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Tag: film cameras

  • Yashica Lynx 14e

    For years, my short list of must-have cameras has included either the 1965 Yashica Lynx 14 or its integrated-circuit-driven younger brother, the 1968 Lynx 14e. None of the other big fixed-lens rangefinder cameras I own have these cameras’ enormous namesake f/1.4 lens, which is fabled for its sharpness as well as its low-light capability. These…

  • Captured: Me, Van, July, 1982

    Here I am, a month away from turning 15, leaning on Dads’s big old Chevy van (read its story here) which is parked in my parents’ driveway. Oh man, does this photo stir up a lot inside me. First, I’m about the same age here as my youngest son, about whom I wrote on Wednesday. Second,…

  • Nikon F2AS

    A review of the all-metal, all-mechanical pro system SLR, the Nikon F2.

  • Nikon Zoom Touch 400

    A review of the Nikon Zoom Touch 400, a truly awful 35mm point-and-shoot camera. Nikon should be ashamed its name is on this thing.

  • Captured: Through the viewfinder

    When I wrote about my Polaroid SX-70 last year, I criticized its viewfinder for the very narrow angle at which it allowed a subject to be fully viewed. But when your eye finds that angle, it is amply rewarded. The view is large and bright. Monday’s post about the cameras from my collection that I photographed with my Nikon…

  • Film cameras photographed with a film camera

    Thank goodness winter is over. The long, severe winter we suffered severely curtailed my photography and made me plenty sour. At one point I got desperate and searched the house for subjects. Cameras are in abundant supply, so I put several on my coffee table and photographed them. Ilford Delta 400 film was in, and…

  • Kodak Instamatic 104 and Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic

    If the world’s casual photographers had a mantra, it would be, “Don’t make me think!” Kodak built a business on being happy to oblige. But by the early 1960s one pesky barrier still remained: loading film. Even the simplest camera required carefully threading roll film in dim light. What a hassle! Kodak solved that problem…

  • Olympus Stylus

    A review of the terrific, tiny Olympus Stylus, a point-and-shoot camera for 35mm film.

  • Kodak Pony 135 Model C

    The short of this review: the Pony 135 Model C is a delightful viewfinder camera and the best of the entire Pony line.

  • Agfa Optima

    Setting your own aperture and shutter speed is such a draaaaag, man. Only hardcore photographers dig doing it. Therefore, every camera manufacturer on Earth has tried to simplify exposure for the casual photographer. The simplest consumer cameras (such as Kodak’s Brownie) fixed the aperture and shutter speed so the photographer needed only to frame the shot…