Vintage cameras
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Found memories…and a lost roll of film
Here’s a fun mystery to try and solve. For my (recent) birthday, my kids went down to Otto’s, the local “junk and curiosities” dealer and picked out for me the newest additions to my growing vintage camera collection. In addition, my youngest was excited to have found an original box for the Agfa Billy Compur…
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B&W Photos from an Old Agfa
My latest hobby is drawing some ire from the “head of household” but it seems harmless enough – scouring eBay for deals on vintage cameras, and, for those for which film is still available, experimenting with photographs to see if I can master this ancient art which is quickly being lost in the age of…
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Vintage Camera: Agfa Billy Compur
The latest addition to my small but growing vintage camera collection arrived recently. It’s an Agfa Billy Compur judging from the name imprinted on the leather surrounding the case, and it was manufactured sometime between 1934 and 1942. It’s a pretty slick little camera, but unfortunately a manual is pretty hard to come by on…
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More Photos from a 60-year-old Camera: Relearning Analog Photography
The second roll of film from our vintage 1952-ish Agfa Billy came out much better than the previous roll. Digital cameras have been around long enough now that we’ve forgotten the lost art of taking analog photos. Note to self: no place to attach “flash cubes”? then maximize the amount of natural light for the…
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First Results, Agfa Billy I Vintage Camera
It took weeks, but we finally got back our first eight photos from the Agfa Billy 1 (mfr: 1952) we were testing for functionality (see previous blog post). The good news is that the camera works! Mostly. We know that photos have to be taken within 6 meters, because the lens, which rotates to achieve…
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Joining the Lomography Bandwagon: Agfa Billy
A few years ago, I picked up a vintage camera in really good shape at a flea market in Europe. I think it cost like 30 bucks and I picked it from a tale with at least a dozen other vintage cameras. And it has sat on a shelf with one of those boxy old…