The Kiev 4A is the third Soviet camera that I have gotten to try. It is another camera from the extensive collection of Mike Eckman, who was nice enough to lend me this one along with the FED-2 that I previously reviewed. I don't call this camera the Contax copy. I like to call it… Continue reading Kiev 4A – A Contax Clone
Tag: vintage camera review
The Fed-2 – A Soviet Leica
The FED factory, located in the Soviet Ukraine, started creating Leica copies in the 1930's. This was after the Soviet Union stopped importation of photographic equipment. The history of the factory leaves you with a bit of goose bumps, and not just for the poor orphans that worked there. FED was named for the initials… Continue reading The Fed-2 – A Soviet Leica
The Zenit B – An SLR from the USSR
In 1968, the KMZ plant (Krasnogorski Mekhanicheskii Zavod - Mechanical Factory of Krasnogorsk) located just outside of Moscow, created an SLR called the Zenit B, and more than half a million were produced between 1968-1973. Zenit B Top Plate In Russian it is Зени́т B, and when translated to English it's Zenit-V. Zenit meaning Zenith, a point… Continue reading The Zenit B – An SLR from the USSR
The Pentax ME Super – the Camera that Proves Size Isn’t Everything
If you are just starting out in film photography, the Pentax ME Super is a great choice. It is so small you can carry it in your purse or coat jacket. It also has a great blend of automatic and manual features. There is so much packed into such a small body, and yet it… Continue reading The Pentax ME Super – the Camera that Proves Size Isn’t Everything
The Capitol 120 Box Camera
The Capitol 120 box camera was made by the company Metropolitan Industries in Chicago, Illinois around 1930. It came in two versions: one with a silver faceplate and black letters and one, like mine pictured below, with the black background and white letters. Capitol 120 Box Camera It gets its name from the Capitol building… Continue reading The Capitol 120 Box Camera
The Exakta VX1000 – A Left Handers Dream?
Exakta VX1000 The Exakta is an advanced camera made by a Dutch owned factory named Ihagee Kamerawerk located in Germany in 1936, just before world war 2. That sentence right there says a lot about its history all by itself. There were a series of 8 versions throughout its production. The Exaktas continued to be… Continue reading The Exakta VX1000 – A Left Handers Dream?
The Nikon S2 Rangefinder
The Nikon S2 was released in December 1954 at a time when Nikon was struggling to keep up with the Leica M3 Rangefinder. They didn't catch up with Leica until 1957 when they released the SP and then surpassed them with their first SLR the Nikon F. Even with this lag, the Nikon S2 was… Continue reading The Nikon S2 Rangefinder
Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Camera – Flash Model
The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye was made from 1949-1961. It's made of Bakelite and was designed by Kodaks own designer Arthur Hunt Crapsey Jr. It was one of many easy to use cameras Kodak Eastman made for the everyday person who simply wanted to take snap shots of their everyday life.Upgraded in the 1950's and given… Continue reading Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Camera – Flash Model
The Canon 7 Rangefinder
In 1960, Nikon made the move from rangefinder to SLR along with Zeiss and the Contax. Meanwhile, the Canon 7 rangefinder came out in 1961, with the M39 Leica screw mount lens putting it in direct competition with the Leica M3 at the time. Canon may have seen this as their chance to pull ahead… Continue reading The Canon 7 Rangefinder
the Beacon Two Twenty-Five
Made by Whitehouse Products INC in Brooklyn, NY from 1950 to 1959, the Beacon 225 was named for the 2.25 inch square pictures it takes. Like many cameras made then, it's made of Bakelite plastic. An old ad stated that it was made of molded shock-resistant plastic from General Electric. When I researched this camera,… Continue reading the Beacon Two Twenty-Five