Pixiq

NOTICE:    THIS POSTING AS WELL AS ALL PHOTOGRAPHS AND GALLERY IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT - © JOHN NEEL AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY PUPOSE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE WRITER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR PIXIQ. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR.

One of my favorite things is to collect vintage cameras.

There have been so many cameras produced that it is hard to decide which ones to collect. Quite frankly, I love anything that can produce a photograph.

Over the past decade or so, I have concentrated on the wonderful cameras that were created during the post WWII period. Some of my favorites are in the gallery above. Most of the ones shown were produced from the early 1940's to the mid1960's. Some of my cameras go back as far as 1920 and others are only from the 1980's or so. 

While the majority of cameras shown were produced in Germany, there are many in my collection from Japan, Russia, Sweden and the USA. Soon, I hope to begin collecting cameras from other parts of the world such as Italy and France.

Each one of these treasures has a personal history that I can only imagine from the histories that I know and from the images I have seen.

I love them because of their history, their beauty, the variations of viewfinders and lenses. I love the engineering, and the way they feel in the hand, their simplicity, the sounds they make, as well as their ability to take wonderful images. Whenever possible, I take one out for a spin back in time. Film is still a great medium.

Last count, I had well over a hundred and thirty cameras of various kinds in my collection, which I hope to grow as time moves on.

Nikon, Pentax, Hasselblad, Rollei, Voigtlander, Zeiss-Ikon, Balda, Franka, Linhof, Deardorff, Yashica, Argus, Kodak, Polaroid, Agfa, Ansco, Bolsey, and Leica are just a few of the great names that I have in my collection. Each one has a patina of use by its previous owners that adds to its beauty and enhances its mystery.

In those days, lenses were produced by companies such as Schneider, Rodenstock, Leitz, Nikon, Pentax, Zeiss, and Wollensak. They had names such as Skopar, Tessar, Sonnar, Planar, Takumar, Nikkor, Novar, Ektar, Raptar, and many more.

The camera as object is a wonderful tool that can be appreciated in many ways. They are a part of our history and our culture. They represent some of the best creativity of human minds both in engineering as well as creativity. They have given us a way to know the past and a glimpse at our future. They have been used to record our NOW’s. They have provided a method for seeing who we are and where we are going. They show us who we are as a big family on a small planet.

The camera has become our mirror. I only pray that we can see what they have and will witness and that we can change our world accordingly!

Happy New Year!

Please read all my posts on Pixiq.

NOTICE:    THIS POSTING AS WELL AS ALL PHOTOGRAPHS AND GALLERY IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT - © JOHN NEEL AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY PUPOSE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE WRITER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR PIXIQ. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR.