Classic Camera Reviews

The landmark Kine Exakta camera of 1936 was world’s first successful 35mm SLR. Although the Russians announced their Sport 35mm SLR a year earlier, this ingenious but ungainly clunker was made in limited quantities from about 1937-1941 and distributed only in the Soviet Union. The Kine Exakta, on the other hand, was an instant international success and its maker, Ihagee of Dresden, Germany, produced it and its successors in huge quantities, enjoying robust worldwide sales.

We have sung the praises of the Nikon Df on Shutterbug several times before so it’s nice to know we’re not the only ones still infatuated with this retro-styled DSLR from 2013. Photographer Mattias Burling who takes second looks at recent classic cameras on his excellent YouTube channel has put out a video titled “5 Reasons to Buy a Nikon DF in 2018 - As underrated as it gets.

The Fujifilm X-T1 has been around for half a decade and has been succeed by two other models – the X-T2 and X-T3 – but it's still an excellent mirrorless camera, according to photographer Mattias Burling. In fact, he calls the Fujifilm X-T1 an "affordable gem," that's worth buying today.

Ever since digital supplanted film as the primary capture medium sometime in the early 2000’s, the number of new analog cameras available on the market has declined precipitously.

Practically any analog camera can be pressed into service as a street camera—the late great Weegee used a 4x5 Speed Graphic to expose the seamy and sentimental sides of New York City, and the incomparable Vivian Maier stalked the streets of Chicago with a twin-lens Rolleiflex. But when it comes to discreet shooting on the fly, nothing can quite match a 35mm rangefinder camera as proven by the timeless work of countless photojournalists over the past 90 years.

On the shelf in my home office I have a collection of press cameras I’ve never used to take a picture. That’s not what they’re there for. They’re a tribute to a generation of bygone news photographers whose professionalism and skill set a standard to which I’ve aspired for over 40 years.