Zero Image 2000 Pinhole

My latest toy, and something given to me last year by all my dearest friends. The only problem with it, are the fingerprints I leave on the lacquered finish every time I pick it up. I need some white cotton gloves. The 4x5 was very tempting, but this with the 6x6 format, and the ability to use normal roll film, makes this an almost ‘use every day’ camera!

Illy Pinhole

These italian coffee hars make great pinholes. This one takes 5x7” multigrade paper for the negative. A piece of gaffer tape acts as the shutter over the .25mm pinhole pierced into the tins side.

Px70 Button

The cheapest way to get into SX70 photography. I picket this up on eBay for £5, and with ‘The Impossible Projects’ Px100 instant film, produces some wonderfully creamy images of great delicacy. It does need a fair amount of light to perform well though, especially with the PX70 colour film.

Miss Holgaroid: Polaroid Back

A small batch of these came up on ‘The Impossible Projects’ webby last year. Although it leaks like hell - without modification, and requires bright sunlight to get the best out of Fuji’s FP 100 B&W and Colour peel apart film, this combination produces some interesting , if a little unpredictable results.

Pentax 6x7

They looked so sorry for themselves sitting on that shelf, I had to have them!!. An early model Pentax 6x7 with metering head, 45mm f/4 SMC wide angle, and an early model 200mm f/4 mid range telephoto. It's like owning a legal firearm with that mirror slap....Kerrrr....Lunk! Obtained from my favourite used camera dealer ‘Mifsuds’ in Brixham. A great place to spend a day - sorry guys- but you will always leave the place with something!!

Olympus Trip

Olympus Trip Version 5. Manufactured between 1978 and 1982. A bargain at £19 from the camera shop in Bodmin. While not overly impressed with the 35mm format, this little peach is idiot proof to operate, is compact enough to be carried around in your pocket, and with something reasonably fine grained - like FP4, provides some quite smooth results.

Apple iPhone 3GS

This has been my best camera phone. Always to hand and handles most scenes reasonably well. The dearth of camera apps like Hipstamatic, Lo-Mob and Swankolab can tweek the images to your hearts content. The Lightmeter app also doubles up as ....well er a lightmeter, if I don’t have the Sekonic to hand.

Moskva 2

Moskva 2 is a Soviet made copy of the 1947 Ziess Ikonta C521/2 folding camera. Made in 1955, this 6x9 120 medium format camera was of a sprung self erecting design, with rangefinder focusing, and a 110mm f4.5 lens in a "Moment" shutter for speeds 1 to 1/250 sec plus B mode. It’s clunky, awkward to use, but is built like the preverbal , and just looks so gorgeous.

Holga 120 GFN

One of the later glass lensed models, but which still creates images with wild barrel distortion and a subtle vignetted edges. This camera is bomb proof and has been dropped in the sea twice. The lens has never been cleaned - except in between dunkings - and seems to get better with age.

Zenza Bronica SQ-Ai

Probably my favourite camera and my format - 6x6. Over the last few years I have added a 40mm f/4 and a 150mm f/3.5 ‘S’ lenses to compliment standard 80mm f/2.8 PS, which came with the body. Bought from Ffordes in Inverness-shire with the classic styled Sekonic light meter for £500. A little pricy, but both were in mint condition.

Nikon D80

Once the photography bug got me again, this was my first proper camera after the Ixus. Big and chunky, unlike the plasticy offering from Canon at the time. The stock 18-50 lens was replaced with a Sigma 17-70 f/2.8 - f/4.5 which still suits my photographic style.

Canon Ixus 750

This is the camera that got me back into photography after a break of some 30 off years. Idiot proof and makes a great pocket travel camera if you don’t want to get bogged down with anything more complicated

Sony Cybershot

Only 2.1 megapixels, but this was the first digital camera I had that produced images good enough to print up to A4. It has all the rudimentary features of any modern DSLR and at the time its ultra modern look, really turned heads when you were out with it. I wonder if this will be regarded as a classic in 20 or 30 years time. Modern vintage photography!