test
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Voigtlander Vitoret: Test/Review
The Voigtlander Vitoret is a relatively inexpensive camera manufactured in the 1960s in Braunschweig, then-West Germany. It’s pretty simple compared to its fancier cousin, the Vito, and it came in different versions – with an exposure meter, rangefinder, and other features – but this is the simplest of them – set your aperture (f/2.8-f/22), shutter
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Vintage Camera Test: the No. 1A Autographic Kodak Junior
The No. 1A Autographic Junior was made in various versions between 1914 and 1927. it’s got a beautifully detailed brass and enamel faceplate, a fold-out foot with the Kodak logo, and its name engraved on a brass plate below the shutter assembly. They all shot 6.5 by 11 cm frames on size 116 autographic film
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Making a Camera Work: The No. 2 Folding Pocket Kodak Model C or Maybe D…
Among the growing group of people who collect and operate vintage film cameras, there are two types of people: those who quickly figure out a way to make an old camera work again, and those who obsess way too long over making an old camera work, to the point that it’s no longer really about
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Vintage Camera Review: Kodak No. 1A Folding Hawk-Eye Model 1
This was once a beautiful camera. It’s made of sheet metal painted black and covered in leatherette, with a wooden baseboard and shiny nickel and black metal parts, and a little brass, complemented by red leather bellows. It folds open to sit horizontally on a shelf, or can be folded to be carried with its
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Test: Three Plastic Cameras
If you’ve spent 20 minutes clicking around on my blog, you’ll know that one of the things I enjoy doing is loading up old, often inexpensive, but working cameras with film and taking them out for a spin to see how they perform. In this post, I review not one, but three cameras – one
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DJI Mavic Pro: First Flight! (Antananarivo, Madagascar)
Finally, it has arrived! Back in mid-October, I heard that DJI, the company that manufactured the first drone I owned, was releasing a small, foldable drone with an integrated camera.  In other words, one that would allow me to carry something besides just a drone on my back when we go hiking in Madagascar!  I figured
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3DR Solo: Droning in the Snow
I love these camera-toting quadcopters. Partly because it’s just fun to fly stuff around (yes, I’m still about 12 at heart) but mostly because of the new opportunities they offer for photography and videography. After seeing the first few videos people had made with them, I was hooked. The problem is, the technology moves so
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Camera Test: Ansco Shur-Shot Jr
The 1948 Ansco Shur-Shot Jr. box camera, a simple little contraption of mostly sheet metal and cardboard, uses a basic design that has not really changed much over 50 years. The only real “upgrades” from box cameras you might see from the early 1900s are the plastic winding knob, the bright finders on the top
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Vintage: Testing the Houghton Folding Ensign 3 1/4A
If you’re at all interested in my occasional posts about trying to make old cameras work, read on – this one is the oldest one yet. Â The Houghton Folding Ensign 3 1/4A was manufactured in London around 1912, and is gigantic by modern standards, at about a foot tall, 4 1/2 inches wide, and a
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Review: Phantom 2 Quadcopter
One of my photographer friends posted a video on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and wrote something along the lines of, “This video is guaranteed to convince you to buy a GoPro and a Quadcopter…” He was right. Â Proceed at your own peril! 70812846 Aerial footage of surfers at Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz (DJI
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Testing the Agfa Silette Rapid F
When I’m considering vintage cameras for purchase, I specifically look for cameras that still appear to work, and for which film can still be acquired somehow. Â Then, periodically, I grab a couple and test them out. Â This week, it’s the Agfa Silette Rapid F. This is actually one of the first cameras I acquired; when
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New Sony NEX-VG20 – low light test (wildlife at night – Onduruquea Reserve)
I was pretty nervous about the new camera I recently ordered – the Sony NEX-VG20 is an interchangeable-lens camcorder that boasts a sensor the size of most still cameras (23.4 X 15.6mm) – which, in addition to the versatility offered by the changeable lenses, apparently offers many features you don’t often see in a $2,000