Oldest camera?

Oldest camera?

  • Yes

    Votes: 548 80.7%

  • No

    Votes: 131 19.3%
  • Total voters
    679
I have a Vest Pocket Kodak that was manufactured sometime between 1915 and 1920 that gets occasional use. Has a small light leak and the film is not inexpensive so it only comes out occasionally.

My No 2 Brownie was made before 1924 because it is made of card stock, not metal. It works great and I tend to shoot it anytime I am in my Holga mood. I tend to put 10 to 20 rolls of film through it a year.

The oldest camera that gets regular use is my 1936 Leica III. I had it completely overhauled last year and it is now a daily carry camera with its collapsible Elmar 50cm f3.5 lens from 1935. Takes wonderful photographs.
 
Most of my "old" cameras date from the mid-50s (S2, Canon IIf, Nicca/Tower, both Voigtlanders), so I decided to get some film for my Vest Pocket Kodak Model "B" Autographic. Bellows are in good shape even though the camera body itself looks rough, but better than some I saw on Youtube. First roll in it since probably late-70s! Results next week!
 
I think this is the oldest camera in my possession at the time.
leica_III.jpg
 
rbiemer said:
I use my '55 vintage Zorki 3m as my main camera. And I own and occasionally use a Bolsey B2--but I'm not sure about the age of that one.
I do have a Leica f4/90 Elmar that dates from '37 and i use that regularly.
Rob
Click to expand...

11 years on, and my answer is 2/3 the same. I no longer have that Bolsey B2 but I do stillhave and use the Zorki and the Elmar.

I do have now a couple of 120 cameras that are older one is a 6x9 folder and the other is a box camera. Both are Agfa made and functional but not pristine. And were made prior to WW2. I don't use them very often, I think I ran one roll through each of them last year.


Rob
 
My newest old camera is a Welta Perle 6x9 from 1932-1936, with a Weltar anastigmat f6.3 in an Original Gauthier Vario shutter:



(click on thumb to get big pic).

In the pic the lens looks cloudy but it isn't. Unfortunately I may have damaged the camera's ability to focus properly as I took the back and front lens parts off to clean them and I didn't know you had to faff about setting the lens (in some way) to get it to focus at infinity.

Overall, the camera seems in good condition, and even the viewfinder is clear, bright and useable.

I've not used it yet, but I only need a film for it, as I have a bag, a hood, a tripod, cable release, a meter and a rangefinder accessory that I can use.
 
A working Kodak Vest Pocket from 1912-1914, probably in the middle of the production run (1913?) due to some details in the stutcheon. Not the Autographic version, which is later and more usual. Now the discontinued 127 film format is again found in the Rerapan 100 version. I took pictures with it, but can't scan them due to the unusual format, at least now.

39826418394_76d6f0df5a_z.jpg



40592637382_6c775b386e_z.jpg


https://flic.kr/p/24R2SSj
 
Good evening

I present you my new friend, a beautiful Mamiya-6 fully functional. The telemeter is right, the speeds too. The images are contrasted and sharp.
Compared to my Leica M2 it allows 6x6 negatives easily readable on a light table. And most importantly, when it is folded it fits in a pocket.

Mamiya-6 by Jean-Charles Hassen, sur Flickr
 
Hi,

The trouble with using old cameras is that you have to open a can of worms before even looking for film, as the camera has to work without light leaks and bellows are not exactly immune to them. Then you have to find someone willing to check and repair or adjust the thing, Kodak's ball bearing shutter is a good example here. Then you have to find the right film which could be on a spool or as a cut film with the right holder, most are for film packs of glass plates. Then you have to develop the film and so on.

Consequently it's difficult to use anything that doesn't take 120 or 35mm film or else 5" x 4" cut film. And the same applies to modern cameras, my youngest ones need 110 or APS...

Regards, David
 
It is to avoid these inconveniences that I chose the Mamiya 6 Automat, camera of the sixties but with undeniable technical progress in a near new state. He will be my traveling companion in Egypt in June but I will also have in my suitcase a Yashica-D also in perfect condition

( i dont speak good english and i use google translator )
 
Last time I posted my oldest camera was a Kodak No.1 Panoram,
These days it's a Folding Pocket Kodak from 1898 before this became the "No.0" . A 120 years old and still works!

KFP01.jpg



FPK160305.jpg
 
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