Kit

My history with cameras goes back a long way – probably 40 years. This page shows the stuff I use, what I’ve hung on to, and what I’m beginning to pick up now that used film cameras are relatively inexpensive (apart from the film and processing, that is).

Since I picked up my Sony A100 as a clearance bargain (at the time) I have become rather fond of Minolta lenses and cameras, but before that I flirted with Canon, Olympus, and Pentax gear, not to mention the Ensign Selfix that started it all off.

From time to time you’ll see Oxfam price stickers on lenses and bodies. In Oxford there are camera sales every 3-4 months and these are great to rummage through. Best thing is you make a donation to Oxfam and they give you an old camera or lens in return. Magic.

Sony A100, seen here with a Minolta 50mm f/1.7 prime
Minolta Dynax 5 with Tamron 28-200 f/3.8-5.6 AF zoom and BP-200 battery pack
Minolta Vectis S-1 APS SLR with Minolta V-mount 28-56 f/4-5.6 zoom Dates from 1996; an ugly beast that looks ill-sized for the small APS film format
Minolta 9000 with the AF 50 mm f/1.7 prime; this professional level camera was first released in 1985. A heavy beast with a solid, reassuring feel.
Minolta X-700 with MD 45 mm f/2 prime; one of the last manual focus cameras to come out of Minolta, from 1981. This example suffers from a failed shutter, alas.
Minolta XD7 with MD 50 mm f/1.7 prime; this camera was a fruit of the collaboration between Leica and Minolta in the 1970s
Minolta SRT 100x and Rokkor 50mm f/2 prime; this is in fact one of the last models from the Minolta SRT range. It dates from 1977 and is the same vintage as the XD-5, a much more sophisticated and compact camera; only £8.99 in Oxfam, but with a shutter that does not fire at speeds of 1/8 s or longer
Canon EOS 300 with 28-90 mm f/4-5.6 zoom
Olympus iS-3000 35-180mm f4.5-5.6 all-in-one zoom SLR; a beast of a camera with great picture quality
Olympus OM-1 MD with 50 mm f/1.8; this was my dad’s camera and it’s a classic of its era – compact and mechanical, except for the metering; a lovely camera
Pentax ME super with 50 mm prime – another great camera from the day
Zenit-E with Industar 50-2 50 mm f/3.5 ‘prime’ and a Photax 135 mm f/2.8 telephoto; this camera has been in the family for 30 years
I think this was the first SE cameraphone to be branded with Sony’s Cyber-shot name. This was, and indeed still is, a very handy little point-and-shoot camera in a phone. Lots of limitations, such as being restricted to one focal length (the digital zoom is terrible, of course), but always very handy to carry around. Picasa seems to be photo software designed to get the best out of the thing.
Olympus AZ-1 3.2 MP digital; still serving as a regular pocket point-and-shoot camera
Konica Minolta Dimage Xg; not mine, but pressed into long-term service in the house; recently superseded.
Fujiflim Finepix A202 2.0 MP; the first digital camera in the house
Yashica-Mat; a grand old plain light-meter free model. Works fine for landscapes and middle distance, doesn’t fire for closer pictures when the lens board moves too far out
Weston Master V – invaluable selenium cell light meter for the Yashica-Mat and Ensign Selfix
Ensign Selfix 420; my first camera – dates from the 1950s and owned by me since the 1960s
Ensign Ful-Vue; post-war British box camera with a lovely bright viewfinder screen
Kodak Six-20 Junior with Twindar lens; pre-war (1938?) folding camera in good order
Cosina CS-3 – one of my early SLRs and disposed of to Oxfam a year or so ago

Still to come – pictures of some Minolta AF glass.