TO MAKE THIS A BETTER VIDEO YOU SHOULD SHOW SOME PHOTOS TAKEN WITH EACH CAMERAS YOUR DESCRIBING

I picked up an Ansco Shur Shot about a year ago at a local antique store for about 5 bucks. I've taken some great photos with that camera even though it's so cheap. I prefer it over all my old box cameras, even my brownies. I use it mostly for landscapes, and love the thing.

Nice podcast. I love old cameras and would love to see more of yours and the images you have taken with them.

You should talk about what to look out for with antique cameras. Light trap seals rotted out (fairly easy to fix), functioning shutters and film advance, corrosion, and for old folding cameras always check the leather bellows for light leaks. If the leather dry rots it will get light leaks in the corners of the folds. There are some really nice old cameras out there in surprisingly good shape.

I had an Empire Baby when I was a little kid, I'm 45 years old so that will give you an idea of timeframe. I had forgotten about it until I watched your video. As you showed the thin neck strap the memories all came back. I remember the 127 film and the portrait orientation. My friends and I used to take pictures of each other riding bikes or playing kick the can. I have a picture of myself jumping over a curb on my bike when I was about 7 years old.

One of my favorite weird, old camera things is the Zenit Photosniper :)

The Kodak Retinas not only have German made lenses but were built in Germany. Kodak used to have factories here. I have a Retina 1, which is even weirder. It has that great Schneider Kreuznach lens but *no* range finder. So, you have to use an external one or guess the distance. Not such a big deal with small f-stop fix focus camera but for one that actually can go down to a fairly shallow DOF it is quite a challenge. Plus the viewfinder on these is tiny. But they do look nice and quirky and as you said the engineering quality is great.

Nice video. You've come a long way. I just bought a Kodak Tourist with a decent lens that I'm going to dismantle and rebuild it with ground glass focusing and 6x9 film back. It's going to be fun.

I get the impression that the best Kodak cameras are the ones made in Germany by Kodak AG. All the Retina and Retinette cameras were made there. Some of them are rigid (non folding). I have a Retinette 1A which is in great condition (apart from a sticky shutter and a non functioning self timer) and seems pretty easy to use. The most annoying thing about all the cameras from this period is that they expect you to use the leather case, which is usually broken, and there is nowhere to attach a wrist strap. I hate having a camera hanging around my neck!

My first years in photography - 1949 through 1958 - featured "junk" cameras. First an Ansco Panda box camera and then for my high school years and first year of college a Uniflex TLR. I managed to get a few good pictures out of them. Later I had a Voigtlander Vito II and Kodak Sigma 35 and briefly a Kodak Retina. I still have framed pictures from the Vito.

The Retina cameras were made in Germany and are some of the best cameras you can get. That camera will give you better results than almost any DSLR today. Amazing photos.

Ted Forbes drinking game: Take a drink every time Ted says “my new studio”

Hey, just subscribed to your KZfaq channel. I’m 55 started shooting in high school. I have over 100 cameras and getting back into film. Pulling out some of those oldies and having fun. Keep up the good work. Cheers

I have a Yashica camera and when I tried to use it the battery died fast and felt very warm. I only got to take 1 picture with it ... my question is how do I fix it or is it still worth anything.

11:38 "even today" lol, that's hilarious.

A few points. As you should have figured out by now both the 120 and 127 rollfilms (and others) were intended to make eight exposures, thus the 6X9 and 4X6.5 formats are also known as 8-on-120 and 8-on-127; the Empire Baby (made in Hong Kong rather than UK) was one of a breed of cameras, starting with the Ensign Cupid, to take 4x3 - or 16-on-127, thus having a vertical format orientation, much like the "half frame" Olympus Pen cameras. The Spartus is not a TLR as it does not offer coupled focussing. It is a box camera with a greatly enlarged brilliant finder: imagine your Ansco with one of its finders growing to gigantic size and it would be much the same as it. Most box cameras without focussing function tend to be pre-set to its hyperfocal distance, rather than infinity.

I have a camera collection too, lenses and cameras from the 1910's to the 1950's and it's fun to pic and choose the camera after the results I want. In the old days some lenses where calculated to give pleasing background blur, like the original Voigtländer Heliar. At large apertures the results can almost look 3D. I have a couple of Kodak Retinas and they give superb image quality and are fun to use.

Great stuff mate! I would love to see a few photos taken with each. Andrew.

I have a dozen or so of the "cheap" box and tlr type cameras. If you take the time work around their limitations (single shutter speed, single aperture, no PC flash connector, can't mount most to tripods, etc) you can produce some very sharp and nice images. The first step is to treat them like a "real" camera, then it all falls into place. Many of the great photographers of the 20th century started with an inexpensive camera and did beautiful work with them.

Could you show examples PLEAAASEE? I think most people that click on these videos want to SEE how the cameras shoot. You are talking about visuals and not giving any of what people want to see

I have a 1959 Bolex Paillard B8SL cine camera and a Kodak Instamatic M-55L projector, both mint condition with manuals and original boxes, wondering what they are worth?

I have a market stall in the UK and am showing prints made in my own darkroom from old cameras like these along with the cameras that made them. 35mm Kodak Retinas, 120 Moskva rangefinders and a couple of old 12 on 120 slr cameras like the Kiev 6c. I get lots of enthusiastic interest. Schneider lenses are awesome

Thanks Ted always professionalism and informational. I love my Retina IIIc, winch is same as the one above ( III small C), The Big C has a bigger viewfinder. If someone is interested in a retina make sure that the serial number on the front element and the back element is the same. This cameras are not mix and match.

Very nice episode !

A fun little camera to shoot if you can find one is a Gevabox box camera. Shoots a 6x9 format image on 120 and is the only box camera I have personally seen with a focusing lens. I also have a Bencini Koroll II which is probably best described as an italian half frame Holga.

i have the kodak retina 2a but have not yet seen the results, very curious to see them!

Great podcasts I really like your style

I have a question. Say your reflection mirror breaks is there any way to fix it at home?

Hello there, I also have a Spartus Full-Vue in my posession. I bought it from a local antique shop and it's a little beat up, but I was wondering if in your opinion it'd be worth loading up with some 120 and seeing what comes. Have you got any examples of photos you've taken with it (if you have taken any)? Thanks!

I have a Kodak Signet 35 from 1953, and that's got a really nice 44mm Ektar lens. I used it on the 4th to shoot the fireworks, but I haven't gotten those developed yet. The only bad thing about it is that it only has four shutter speeds.

Retinas are beautiful too! Edmund Hilary used a Retina on the summit Mt. Everest. :)

I also would love to see some sample shots taken with your old cameras. i like the Kodak retina 3, it looks in very good condition.

Cool cameras! I wish to send my Rollei 35 S for CLA in New Jersey this Christmas!

Rera Pan is the brand of 127 film available today. Rera Pan is made in Japan. I bought some for a couple of Kodak Brownie cameras that I own.

Hey, I really love your show and how laid back you are! Just a quick question because I'm curious to know what you think...do you think film will be discontinued soon?

My current favorite camera is a Yashica M(inister?) II, a rangefinder with built in light metering and a neat little mechanism for matching aperture and shutter speed to film speed and light level.

nice retina. great cameras and the Schneider 50/2 is probably the best of the bunch out of the many lenses you can get. I had considered one but mechanical reliability is reported to not be the greatest so I finally bit the bullet and bought a Leica.

I have soviet Lubitel 2 and Zenit E with industri 61 lense. Really nice old cameras

hey, would you advise looking for other retinas or IIIS is the only worth getting?

Really enjoyed this video! I still shoot analog using an old Bencini Comet 135 NK (a sort of Holga but with full control on shutterspeed and aperture) a Ricoh 500G and an Olympus 35 SP! Cheers! ;-)

Very interesting and informative.

I just got a Weston Wx-7 from Goodwill the other day. Are you familiar with that camera?

13:33 - "golden age of lens design" This is because lenses back then used radioactive coatings, which reflect light better. However, this was stopped for obvious reasons... something like thallium being deadly, or something like that. Nowadays, lenses are only just starting to catch up with what the standards were back in those days.

The nikon nikkor lenses old or new are in my opinion as a photographer they are amazing. I use nikon. The d3 fast 11fps 51 focus point. It the best camera I ever used. Full frame professional. In my.opinion how you focus is how good or not good your image will be.

You can get them cheap at car boot sales in the UK. My best buy so far is an olympus 35SP with case fully working for £5 in really good condition. I also bought 3 nikon lenses for a total of £5 which i later sold on ebay for £20 each since I'm a canon man. They sold within minutes so maybe they were too cheap but I was happy. I also bought some leica trinovid binoculars for £10 from a charity shop and sold them on ebay for £96. There are bargains to be had if you have some knowledge of what you are buying.

Schneider-Krutschnak? Try "kroitsnach" with a "ch" like in Scottish "Loch" ;)

What film do I use for my 1940's Spencer ?

Google Butkus Retina IIIC and you will find the instructions for it. But beware that the exposure meter may not work on your camera (it's a selenium cell that produces it's own electricity so no batteries are needed, but the cells often stops working with age). If the exposure meter is defective or show the wrong readings, you can use a digital camera set to the same ISO as the film and measure the light with it. If it says for example f:8 and 1/250 sec you use the same settings on the Retina.

What kind of pedals do you have in the back there Ted?

35mm cameras have always been fantastic if you have good optics, back in the day people knew how to use everything in a manual way, today they panic if their histogram isn't visible when taking a photo. in a nutshell even a modern dslr is fairly simple to use with a ton of auto settings and precision adjustments available

Could we please have some more?

Do a video on the retina!!

My first "real" camera was an Argus C3, I've got 2 of them.

I've bought a Kodak Brownie Junior Six-20, I've found out how to open it, but i'm still mindfucked on how to load the film. Could you do something on that? I've never really actually used a camera that uses film.

do you anything about ZENA BOX cameras?

9:09 - 9:12 =D Great podcast, my parents had a Ansco'ish camera in an old box when I was younger, never could figure it out (then again, I was 11 at the time ^ ^)

Dude you say 120 film is easy to find but i havent seen it anywhere, besides online.

This video is as useful as the Sonic men in the car who never actually EAT the slop they are hawking. Instead of simply waving and twiddling the cameras, would you hold up an actual photo taken with each camera as well?

Who is the Canadian photographer you mentioned? Having trouble finder her online. Thank you!!

Ted!!!!!!!!!!! I loved this!! I shoot Kodak vest pocket and autographic .............Well any OLD camera I can get my grubby little hands on!!!! I LOVE EM!!!! I'm SO gonna look for a Retna 3C just on ur say so ;-) I love your vids.........Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry informative!! :-) Ta IainHC :-)

Honestly the d3 is amazing 50 focus point 11fps 1000 thou iso

I agree with Thad, You should have shown pictures, but I'd add pictures of the same thing on the same day, a mosaic picture which a person can zoom in on, first digital,, then all the rest. You can talk all day I see but a picture is worth a thousand words........ ;)

maybe a follow-up to this video?? this might be the time to do it >:)

I just got The Ansco B2 Cadet, at a thrift shop for $2.50! I love it! Hahahaha

IS THAT A WET REVERB? :)

new glass?

Would ve been nicer if you had shown how to load the film

I have a canon rebel, but I freakin' hate the expensive, stubby 3 volters!

you should show examples of pictures you've taken with those cameras

I'm getting into photography any tips?

The kodak could probably fit in a jacket pocket

Great show, I am the proud owner of a Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, a Hasselblad 500CM, I own 4 4x5 view cameras, and a few more nikon 35mm cameras, but my favorite and very first 35mm camera is a Tessina half frame camera. I'd like to see a show on that camera and some other half frame cameras. Thanks....Joaquin

Do you have a Facebook account? I can't find it...

nice video.

Pocket size Shooting wax jacket pockets ! Big enough to pheasant or rabbit in

just impulsively bought the Empire Baby. no regrets.

cheap cheap...in the us peobably, but in eu, there's no cheap camera :s or show me where. ps : great video

Don't forget the gegula king very underestamated

Hi Ted, Just wanted to let you know that earlier this year, a random comment while purchasing an old 1910s VPK for an ornament made me start looking into possibly using it. That afternoon this video and your others about developing made be realise that this might just work. I haven't looked back since, I've documented it over at www.vintagecameraproject.com and it has rocked my world (now up to 20 cheap cameras) , I'm having so much fun and I'm sure that your advice and approach that day made that happen so thanks (Lee - @leemounty)

Are you tom hanks brother?

More of the same please.

Schneider-Kreuznach

Show us your pictures!!! Please :)

Lomo Cosmic Symbol

Kodak. Builds awful cameras but makes leica Ccds

is that a pedaltrain? whats on it. ahaha

Hi ted why not have a look at British cameras the Reid a leica copy the perrileflex the wyflex the Milford wikness the mycloirfkex the cornflex and more