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Dmitri

FED-2 II/b With Industar-10

1950s Soviet 35mm Rangefinder

An Irresistible Piece of Soviet Photographic Technology

FED-2 variant II is a beautiful camera with its share of flaws and imperfections. A Soviet copy of the Leica II that I could not resist at $50. FED is an acronym for Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, in Russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский. His legacy is Soviet secret police and the children’s labour commune which eventually got transformed into the factory that made this camera.

Betty

Voigtländer Vitessa L3

1954 German 35mm Rangefinder

German Precision Optics in a Foldable Rangefinder Camera

Voigtländer Vitessa is a German 35mm film rangefinder camera, manufactured in the mid-1950s. At the top of its line, it boasts a highly-regarded fixed 50mm foldable Ultron lens with an aperture range of 𝑓2-22. Its quiet, vibration-free leaf shutter fires between 1 and 1/500th of a second.

Voigtländer Vitessa L With Ultron 2.0

Ricoh Caddy

1961 Japanese 35mm Half-Frame

My Half-Frame Camera of Choice

My husband and I purchased the Caddy as a set along with a Canon Demi. After some online research, I was initially set on keeping the Demi. It was a cuter and lighter camera… I chose the Ricco Caddy because it allows for more artistic control. Ricoh Caddy is a half-frame Japanese viewfinder camera with a tack-sharp 𝑓2.

Canon Canonet QL-25

1965 Japanese 35mm Rangefinder

A Gift From a Family Friend

Canon’s series of Canonet cameras are all fixed-lens 35mm film rangefinders. They are mostly known for the sought-after QL17 GIII, though they tend to differ widely in form and function throughout the line. QL25, isn’t nearly as popular its top-of-the-line rival, GIII, due to its bulkier construction and a slower 45mm lens that opens up to 𝑓2.5.

QL25

Yashica Electro 35

1966 Japanese 35mm Rangefinder

The Classic Rangefinder Camera

Electro 35 was a popular series of film cameras produced by Yashica around the 1970’s. They are fixed-lens rangefinders with 45mm 𝑓1. 7 Yashinon optics, an electronic shutter which fires in aperture-priority mode between 1/500ᵗʰ and 30 seconds. Electro 35 is not just one camera.

vincent tiller

Minolta STR101 SLR

1966 Japanese 35mm SLR

Discovering an Analogue Camera Sidekick for My Digital Photography Hobby

Having given away my Zorki rangefinder, I bought Minolta STR101 SLR, a camera that’s about 40 years old, with a couple of lenses. It appeared in good condition, apart from the light seals, which I quickly replaced. Holding it in my hand took me back to 1978 when I was a sales assistant at a local camera shop; I knew what to do.

Time Travel With Minolta STR101 SLR

Danilo Leonardi

Olympus Pen FV

1967 Japanese 35mm Half-Frame SLR

The Elegance of Accomplished Engineering and Invention

When I opened the package from Tokyo, I couldn’t contain my excitement. There it was, the Olympus PEN FV body I had ordered a few weeks before. I checked the serial number and determined that 1970 was the year of manufacture. The FV camera is one of those uncommon objects where everything about them is graceful and elegant.

My Olympus Pen FV

Polaroid Land SX-70 — Printable PDF Guide

1972 American Instan Film SLR

Understand this stunningly-beautiful and unexpectedly complex instant film camera. Learn shooting tips, inner workings, and the history of one of the most advanced consumer products ever created.

Polaroid Land SX-70 Instant Camera

Polaroid SX-70 Alpha 1

1972 American Instant Film SLR

The Most Comprehensive Instant Camera and Film Guide Online

SX-70 is a stunning camera. Along with film, it is one of the most technologically advanced products ever created. This is Polaroid’s finest offering; world’s one and only foldable instant SLR. ✹ Update: In this guide, I refer to the company that produces film for SX-70 cameras, Polaroid Originals — formerly named Impossible Project.

Polaroid Land SX-70

Kent

Bronica ETRSi 645

1976 Japanese 120 SLR

A Complete Medium Format Kit for Less Than $400

I found the Bronica ETRSi system out of pure coincidence while scrolling through Instagram. At the time, I had no budget for an expensive medium format camera, so I was searching for something cheap, that has a good built quality and produces decent images.

Film, cameras, and chemistry. Techniques, tips, guides, and references. This list includes material for creative individuals and photographers of all levels, with a fitting mix of modern and age-old advice.

Photography Guides

Film camera reviews and guides. Sorted by date then country they were designed in.

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Film, developer, and all photochemistry reviews, samples, guides, and tools.

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Film, photography, and art-themed printed book and magazine reviews, overviews, how-to’s and recommendations.

Books and Magazines

Photo essays, written about travel, a place, or a destination. Sorted by continent then country. This collection does not include gear-centric articles — just the stories about being or going somewhere.

Travel Essays

A collection of all the portrait photography on Analog.Cafe. Includes photo essays with human focus and/or prominent stories about the subjects. Street or event photography isn’t generally a part of this collection, unless the person(s) are at the heart of the narrative.

Portraits

Essays and stories on the topics of social and environmental justice around the world.

Health, Environment, and Humanity

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You can open your Analog. Cafe account with just one click. It’s free and it gives you access to a few special member priveledges:Downloads. Certain guides, like this one, could take an hour to read. Some references require printing to be useful. Analog.

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Get Your Article or Essay Featured on Analog.Cafe

Analog. Cafe, A Film Photography Blog, is a group effort. There certainly is no office; most of us never met. ↬ Shortcut: write/submit your photo essay or article. I’ve had an author send me a submission while waiting for a delayed flight at an airport.

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