by Henry C. Gernhardt III

Created on: January 16, 2007   Last Updated: March 22, 2008

In today's age of digital photography, Photoshop, the GIMP, webcams, JPEG files, and online visual content, it seems that the good old tried-and-true emulsified silver halide just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. Yes, we still see APS cameras, 35mm SLRs, disposable cameras, and other film-based items, but it seems that more and more people are turning away from the chemicals and organic dyes and moving to image sensors and inkjet printers. Despite that, there is still a certain nostalgia, if not romance, in the art of film photography. Here we deal not only with the art of the image which is captured, but the art and elegance of the tool used to capture the image-the camera itself.

Towards the end of the 19th Century, a gentleman named George Eastman developed a wonderful device. It was a simple box, armed with a crank, a lever, a lens, and a little window. This little wonder, which he termed the "Brownie", forever changed the landscape of photography. Prior to the development of this wonder, it required expensive equipment in order to capture an image on a photographic plate. By not only offering the Brownie, but by offering a mail-in development, printing, and refilling service, anyone could now take pictures. Snapshooting was born.

Over the years, the hand-held camera developed in many ways. The box camera still remained the choice of the frugal, but more advanced models started coming around. There were slim, jacket-pocket sized units that, with the press of a button and a pull, extended out into a fully functional, focusable, and exposure-adjustable camera. Film started coming in easily handled rolls. We even began to see the progenitors of the date and information stamping seen on prints made by today's point-and-shoot cameras in the Kodak Autographic series. As technology progressed, the cameras became smaller, the films more robust and less grainy. We began to see folding cameras which incorporated rangefinders. We began to see solid-bodied cameras that, wonder of wonders, allowed you to see exactly what the film would see. Some of the names of camera and optic manufacturers that began before the second world war are still here today, and are still held in very high regard.

If you share this interest in history as I do, you may find yourself poring over pages and pages of interesting cameras on various and sundry auction sites. You may discover a mailing list or two dedicated to cameras and camera collecting. You may travel to camera shows, and may find

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