The Leica CL is a fantastic little camera which was the product of a short collaboration between Leica and Minolta. Produced in Japan between ‘73 and ‘76, there were 65,000 produced. This little beauty is the 50 Jahre model, which signifies Leica’s 50th anniversary. It’s diminutive size makes it one of the smallest (and most economical) ways to get into Leica’s M-system. This camera sold so well that the bigwigs at Leica felt the need to kill it, fearing that sales would affect the value of their more dear “M” cameras. 

Well, I guess they can’t all be beautiful, can they? This is the second version of the very popular Kodak 35. The first version had a simple flip-up viewfinder mounted on top, and in an effort to keep up with the competition Kodak hastily developed a rangefinder system and pretty much just mounted it on the existing camera chassis. The Argus C3 was the primary competitor to this camera, and it sold considerably better due to being priced much lower. There are many different examples of this camera, main differences being different film transport knobs. There was even a military model! 

I created this sucker in a move of desperation before going to Eastern State Penitentiary a few weeks ago to assist in teaching a class. I used a box from my lady friend’s new pair of Doc Marten’s, some duct tape, a few rubber bands, a Polaroid 4x5 back, and a lens cannibalized from an old Bell and Howell student camera/copy stand setup. I’m not positive, But I’m pretty sure that this may be a flat-field lens. 

I was considering making an actual pinhole camera, but the idea of being able to meter accurately and use a hand release made the lens/shutter combo real attractive. I know that most common pinholes use a small pinhole in order to get massive depth of field, but i was sort of looking for the opposite. My goal here was actually to get very soft, haunting images with super shallow D.O.F.

The rubber bands helped make the testing process of building this camera a short affair. They made it easy to take apart and re-assemble the camera when trying to figure out the proper size of the box (for focus). 

Here’s a few Images from the trip:

What a dreamboat. Folding 6x6 camera, 75mm F/3.2 Novar lens, complete with sync port and leaf shutter. Frame counter, coupled range finder, the whole nine yards. I love shooting 120, but sometimes the physical bulk of the camera is too much. This sucker fits in your back pocket, no joke. I can even fit this thing in the chest pocket of my work shirt! This camera came at a time when most companies were abandoning the concept of the folding camera, and it really was a showcase of the manufacturing prowess of the Zeiss corporation. Love it. 

I picked this little guy up as a gift, it’s a super fun camera to shoot. It has a perfectly functioning meter, PC sync so it can be used with flash or Pocket Wizard, and even came with the lens hood. It’s equipped with the fine Color Skopar 50mm F/2.8 lens, which is very contrasty and has reasonably shallow depth of field. Focusing can be a bit of a pain in the tuckus, as it does not have a coupled rangefinder. Look at the subject, guess, and set the lens. Usually I load this bad boy with higher speed film, allowing me to shoot at a higher f-stop (giving me more depth of field). 

Although this appears to be a TLR, this simple camera is actually more of a box camera with a distance-based focus scale. It takes 620, has a fixed shutter speed of about 1/50 and a variable aperture from f/11-f/22. It has a bright viewfinder and a built-in strap. Shoots a 6x6 negative.

A simple little folding 35mm camera. Has a 50mm f/3.5 lens and a Prontor shutter capable of cable release, multiple exposure, bulb, and times from 1/300-1 second. It has an interesting feature where the shutter release on the body is disabled after exposure until the film transport resets the mechanism, but multiple exposures can be triggered by use of a cable release. 

This is a customized Brownie Hawkeye. Flash timing has been advanced for use with electronic flash, as well as having the “push pin” flash terminals tapped with threads in order to accept screws (for wires to attach Pocket Wizard/flash). Permanent tripod plate installed on bottom of case, strap locks installed in sides as well. Rotary shutter set to 1/30, F14(ish). Takes 620 film reels, I re-roll 120 to use with a magnet used to cover shot indicator.

Polaroid. What a wonderful medium of expression. There are so many well-engineered cameras to choose from, and thanks to  www.the-impossible-project.com we now have film for these puppies again. There is a special difference between every different type of photographic media, but the magic of instant film of any type is unmatched. Let’s look at a few of my favorites, and point out a few interesting characteristics that some of them have.

Big Swinger 3000 (1968-1970)

100 style packfilm camera (pull and peel style film). Has about a 110mm (ish) plastic lens, and can only use 3000 speed film. Focusing with this camera is fixed, as is the exposure. There is a single control on this camera which meters the exposure, dials in exposure compensation, and fires the shutter. This is basically a box camera to be used with polaroid film. 

Looks like the cat likes this one. 

Land Camera #180 (1965-1969)

This is one of the more sought-after models of the folding types of packfilm cameras. It has a 114mm f/4.5 lens and is fully manual, complete with a PC sync terminal for studio flash! Its folding bellows keeps it very small, but the feature set makes this camera one of the more professional options for polaroid use. Also has a self-timer, which is a plus when shooting self-portraits and landscapes. 

Polaroid OneStep 600 (1983-199?)

This one is undoubtedly one of the most iconic looking cameras ever, in my opinion. Paul Giambarba designed that eye-catching rainbow stripe that makes this one gorgeous. Like a racing stripe, so to speak. One big characteristic that separates this one from the previous two is the 600 type film that it uses, which includes a built-in battery to process and eject the film and power the electronic shutter. It has a 103mm F/14.6 lens, and operates on a programmed exposure mode. 

Spectra “Onyx” (1980’s)

This is one that uses Spectra type film, which is similar to 600 with a slightly different format and it’s also a bit speedier. There were a few Spectra cameras that shared this shape with various different feature sets, and all were made tailoring to the artist or creative communities. Batteries were powerful enough to support multiple flashes per exposure, multiple exposures could be made on one sheet of film, etc. The Onyx was a special edition based around one neat-o feature:

It has a transparent body! Another of my favorite features:

Sonar autofocus? That’s right, this and several other cameras developed by the Polaroid company use an amazing autofocus system which utilizes a very compact and accurate autofocus system. Why is this good? Dead perfect autofocus in COMPLETE DARKNESS. You want good pictures from your dance party birthday, but you only have the strobe-o-tron 3000 lighting the place? Here’s your solution. Takes pictures in program mode with or without flash, and has a socket for the wireless remote accessory. 

SLR 680 (1982-19??)

Have you ever seen the movie Memento? One of it’s stars is the folding 600 film camera you see here. It folds nearly flat, similar to the SX-70. The automatically-adjusting electronic flash is a big difference between the two of them. This is another camera that uses sonar autofocus as well. Here’s a few images of it unfolded:

Note the manual focus control and exposure compensation wheel. 

I haven’t posted in a few days, so I figured I would take you guys a little deeper into my world of obsession this week. If you have any questions or suggestions for things you’d like me to explore, please email me at thelatentlibrary.gmail.com. And follow me!