Camera of the Month

Charles Chevalier (1804—1859) and the Photographe Daguerreotype Camera

In or about 1840, designer/manufacturer Charles Chevalier of Paris produced Le Photographe, a similar but smaller, collapsible camera modeled after the Daguerre camera. Daguerre’s was soon tagged “whole plate” and Chevalier’s, and others that followed, acquired the labels of half, quarter, and sixth plate. Chevalier’s camera could accommodate full plates when rigid,

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Scope Out the Escopette by Albert Darier

The year 1888 saw the introduction of the original Kodak camera. In the same year, Albert Darier was granted the first Swiss patent for photography, number 17, for a light-weight, handheld camera he called the Escopette. It used Kodak original roll film to create 110 exposures (size 68 x 72

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2023 Photographica 90’s PHSNE Auction Listings

PHSNE’s Camera of the Month section features a lot more than just one camera this month. In fact, there are over 90 cameras, lenses and photography accessories listed in the 2023 PHSNE Auction. You can get started by DOWNLOADING THE AUCTION LIST (pdf) HERE. This year’s auction has a number

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Linhof Technika 70 & Press 70

The Linhof Technika 70 “is an exceptional, beautifully-made, and very expensive combination of the rollfilm camera and the technical camera.” (Collecting and Using Classic Cameras, Ivor Matanle, 1986, p.10) “Designed for news, fashion, sports and press photography,” the camera “seems to have inspired competing products, including the Graflex XL (1965)

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The Olympus Pen F: Then and Now

Introduced in 1963, the Olympus Pen F* was a small, beautifully designed camera that achieved rapid market success. “The concept of a camera that could be carried and used as easily as a writing instrument was the inspiration for its name” (McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras, 1997/1998).

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The Blair Combination Camera from Boston

Combination cameras were manufactured in Boston by the Blair Tourograph & Dry Plate Company from 1882 to 1894 and “are traditional field designs offered with a unique [patented] accessory plate-holder extension mounted at the rear” (https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/226546-blaircombination-camera-1882). In an 1882 pamphlet, the company claimed that with the extension, “the camera is

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The Canon EF: A Pioneering SLR Classic

The Canon EF (1973-1976) is a high-quality 35mm SLR which blended elements of Canon’s professional F-1 (1971-1981) system (FD breech-lock lens mount, all-metal body in black enamel) with many innovative features. While the EF did not have a removable prism, interchangeable focusing screens, or motor drive capabilities, its ergonomics and

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Czech Out Meopta’s Twin-Lens 6cm x 6cm Flexaret Automat

Closely tied to the German photographic industry, Czech cameras were popular from 1885 to WW I, and production continued until competition from Japan and Germany in the 1960’s delivered a crushing blow. Earlier Flexette models gave way to the Flexaret line after WW II, produced by Meopta until 1970. All

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Canon’s First SLR: The Orginal Canonflex

The PHSNE warehouse team recently discovered an original 1959 Canonflex (https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/film38.html) —minus its lens. While members are searching for a lens that would complete the camera, a substitute is in place temporarily. Acknowledging its relatively brief run, Cameraquest’s Stephen Gandy noted: “Nice camera, but blown away by the Nikon F.” 

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Utility Falcon Model F

The Utility Falcon Model F

The Utility Manufacturing Co. of New York (1934-1941) manufactured a variety of cameras including folding cameras, box cameras, and its main camera line of Falcon cameras, a name associated with half-frame, sixteen exposure 3x4cm cameras utilizing 127 film. The Falcon F, c.1938, is a good quality camera, with a Bakelite

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The Universal Vitar 35mm camera, assembled from leftover parts

The Universal Vitar: The Spare Parts Camera & The Univex Story

To appreciate the Universal Vitar, one must first know how it came to be. Universal Camera Corp., with headquarters in New York City, was founded in 1932 by Otto Githens and Jacob Shapiro. The company produced several cameras during the 1930’s and 1940’s starting out with less expensive plastic cameras and moving

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To the Dealers, Attendees, PHSNE Staff, Volunteers and the NNHS: 

THANK YOU!

You made PHOTOGRAPHICA 90 the best EVER!

Our 50th Anniversary Year Celebration Will Continue Throughout 2023

PHSNE May Meeting: Bernie Zelitch “Discovers” Lowell Photographer Annie Powell

Sunday, May 7, 2023 7:30PM on Zoom


June Meeting: PEM Curator Stephanie Tung

Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 7:30PM on Zoom

Give Us Your Feedback on Photographica 90

Use the Contact Form


Support PHSNE on eBay 

Visit seller Mass495 for deals from PHSNE


PHSNE

Bulletin Board

To the Dealers, Attendees, PHSNE Staff, Volunteers and the NNHS: 

THANK YOU!

You made PHOTOGRAPHICA 90 the best EVER!

Our 50th Anniversary Year Celebration Will Continue Throughout 2023

PHSNE May Meeting: Bernie Zelitch “Discovers” Lowell Photographer Annie Powell

Sunday, May 7, 2023 7:30PM on Zoom


June Meeting: PEM Curator Stephanie Tung

Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 7:30PM on Zoom

Give Us Your Feedback on Photographica 90

Use the Contact Form


Support PHSNE on eBay 

Visit seller Mass495 for deals from PHSNE