Mike Eckman

Camerosity

A Technology and TV & Film podcast

#67 in Technology · 🇳🇿 #144 in Technology · 🇨🇦

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About the show

The Camerosity Podcast is the world’s first open source film photography podcast.

Newest episodes

Episode 115: Four Favorite Cameras

Nov 6, 2026 2 hr 1 min

In what ended up being the longest episode we've ever done and the first ever to exceed 2 hours, Episode 115 was one that we tasked our hosts and listeners to come prepared to share four cameras that meant something to them. It didn't need to be "the best" but it could be four cameras that have special meaning to you, four cameras you use the most, or four cameras you wish you had. As the recording began, you all responded to the challenge with no less than 22 callers who joined Anthony, Mike, Paul and Theo for the discussion. Joining us were returning guests and some new callers including Ben Ryerson, Brian from Central PA, Mark Widhalm, Greg Harp, Ira Cohen, Jeremy Scott, Jess Keller, Joao Gomes, Leo Lukens, Miles Libak, Pat Casey, Rollin Banderob, Sippu Rout, Travis and Shane from Impulse Camera, and Vlad Kern. Starting off the show, we were joined by Jess Keller from Light & Lens Studios in New York and Travis and Shane from Impulse Camera, two new faces in the camera retail world. All three guests share with us their origin stories and why they decided to open a camera store in the era of online shopping and discuss what makes their stores different from all those that came before them. Once we got into the discussions, we spent about 5 minutes per person hearing their choices. By far, Nikon was the most represented brand with many guests sharing their favorite models, but we got into the weeds with some truly obscure cameras like an Austrian Leica copy, the mystical Kodak Regent II, and a wild completely custom 4x5 camera made entirely of Legos. Check out the gallery below showing this homebrew camera made entirely by Brian from Central PA. While we mostly stayed with film cameras, some digital cameras made an appearance too such as the Nikon Zf and the Panasonic Lumix care of Theo and his upcoming trip to Laos. This episode was heavy on GAS and not much else, but if you're a fan of the show, you know that's not a bad thing, so check it out, listen t...

Episode 114: The One With No Title

Oct 24, 2026 1 hr 29 min

For Episode 114, we were really missing some of our overseas listeners so we decided to shift time zones and record at a more European friendly time zone...on a Saturday! We were down two hosts, but joining Paul, Stephen, and Mike were Bob Rotoloni, Greg Harp, Leo Lukens, Leon "mamp" Blankenhorn, Norris Liu, NP, Ron Gee, Wayne Scheipers, and Will Pinkham. Mike starts out with a heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to the care package after his unexpected surgery (which also is why we've been short on episodes lately), but we quickly get into GAS with Wayne's fancy new Nikon Zf. We compare it to some other Nikon DSLRs, but quickly get back to film business comparing the viewfinders of the Nikon S2 and SP rangefinders. Norris covers some of his Texas auction pickups including a crazy spinning 360 degree panoramic camera which then leads to a short discussion of every other 360 cameras we could think of! Paul shares with us his challenges with a Ikoflex TLR which he says you need a manual to operate and Mike gets into his recent obsession with Arco 35 "Japanese Retinas" to which he is trying to collect them all. Norris Liu does a live unboxing of a Ricoh Singlex which he recently picked up and we get into the differences between that camera's Nikon F lens mount comparing it to real Nikon cameras and their Nikon F mount. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! For this episode, I'm trying out a new transcript feature where the audio of this show is automatically transcribed into a text file with time stamps. It doesn't get the names of the people who are speaking but the text is mostly ac...

Episode 113: GAS Never Takes a Vacation

Sep 5, 2026 1 hr 26 min

After a six week break, the Camerosity crew are back with another episode, but unlike most, we decided not to send out invites and instead just got everyone together and hit the record button. As it turned out, we hit record so fast, we forgot to make an intro! On this, the 113th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, what we lacked in callers we more than made up for in massive amounts of GAS! Who would have thought that keeping five camera collecting lunatics away from each other for a month and a half and we would get ourselves into so much trouble?! We start the show with a brief summary of what each of us have been up to and Mike dominates this section complaining about being without power for over 10 days in mid August due to a massive storm called a derecho which decimated the area he lives in. We quickly get to more interesting discussions, recapping recent pickups both through Japanese auctions and more traditional channels including Theo's beautiful new black chrome Leicaflex SL2 and Anthony's "bucket list" Rolleiflex SL66. We get into more obscure cameras too, such as a beautiful French folding rangefinder called the DeMaria-Lapierre Telka III, a late Voigtländer rangefinder called the Vitomatic III CS, and a Honeywell inspired and Zeiss branded camera built in Braunschweig, Germany called the Zeiss-Ikon Contessa S310. There is a ton of GAS in this episode, but you'll just have to listen to the show to know what it is, but in addition to specific camera models, we talk about the differences between Ai and AiS lenses, the merits of aperture priority AE vs shutter priority AE, and even a hearty discussion about our favorite midlevel DSLRs including a comparison between the equally awesome Nikon D300 and D7000. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people w...

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All episodes

Episode 115: Four Favorite Cameras

Nov 6, 2026 2 hr 1 min

Episode 114: The One With No Title

Oct 24, 2026 1 hr 29 min

Episode 113: GAS Never Takes a Vacation

Sep 5, 2026 1 hr 26 min

Episode 112: Fixed Lens Rangefinders and SLRs

Jul 27, 2026 1 hr 38 min

Whenever you get a bunch of camera collectors together to talk about rangefinders and SLRs, the focus of the conversation almost always centers around those models with interchangeable lenses. Thread mount Leicas, Contax rangefinders, Nikon F-series and Zeiss-Ikon Contarexes almost always dominate the discussion. While certainly worthwhile cameras to talk about, lens swappable cameras overshadow their fixed lens counter parts, and for Episode 112, the Camerosity crew decided to take a deep dive into those rangefinder and SLR models where the lens can't be removed. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo and Mike are regular and first time callers A.J. Gentile, Aaron in Idaho, Basile from Montreal, Ben Ryerson, Fernando Villava, Greg Harp, Howard Sandler, Marty Olsen, Ron Gee, Sarah Davis, Vlad Kern, and Wayne Scheipers. We start off the episode asking if anyone who listened to Episode 111 was inspired to buy anything from a Japanese auction, but then we hand over the virtual mic to Vlad Kern who had a crazy eBay story regarding an extremely rare Smena camera he ended up selling, buying back, and then having to sell a second time. In addition, we were joined by Sarah Davis who came back on to check in with how her repair business has been going. Since her first appearance on the show in Episode 108, several Camerosity listeners have reported being very happy with her repair services. When we finally got on topic, we shared our love for a large number of mostly fixed lens rangefinders including the Minolta Hi-Matic 7, Yashica Electro series, the Mamiya Super Deluxe, Konica III, and even though we primarily stayed with 35mm cameras, we discussed Fuji's lineup of excellent 6x4.5, 6x7, and 6x9 rangefinders including the popular "Texas Leica". In addition to covering GAS, Anthony asked the question if any fixed lens rangefinders ever had telephoto lenses, and Mike gave a quick lesson on what exactly the Yashia Electro's "Pad of Death" is and what it sounds like. For...

Episode 111: Buyeeing Camera Auctions From Japan

Jul 16, 2026 1 hr 40 min

We're back in time for both the 111th Episode and the belated 5th Anniversary of the Camerosity Podcast! Even though we forgot about our own anniversary, we commemorated the occasion with a topic from the Discord suggestion box, buying cameras from Japanese auctions! If at first, this seems like a dry topic, then clearly you aren't the target audience for this show as any option for more GAS is always welcome here! Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are a combination of regular callers and a couple newbies, A.J. Gentile, Bryan Hewitt, NP from Discord, Greg Harp, Heath from Maryland, Ira Cohen, Jeremy Scott, Jody Oliver, Marty Olsen, Nick Marshall, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham! For those who have only experienced buying cameras through eBay, the first thing you should know about buying on Japanese auction sites is that if you are not in Japan, you need to use a proxy and while there are many out there, they're not all the same. Starting off the show, we attempt to explain the differences between the most popular options, what's similar about them and more importantly, what's different. On the show were a large number of people who have experience with these types of proxy sites, so the various callers shared their experiences, both good and bad, with them, detailing what they liked and where things can go wrong. In our attempt to explain how all these proxies work, we did a pretty poor job of promoting them, and by the end of the show, we may have turned people off from ever wanting to use one! But hey, the more information you have, the better you are able to make a decision. While a majority of the show stayed on topic, we did get to some recent GAS near the end, including Mike's white whale and pickups from A.J., Greg, Will, and a purchase that Stephen made during the show! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the l...

Episode 110: Tiny Negatives, Giant Opinions

Jun 23, 2026 1 hr 35 min

We have returned with the tiniest episode we've ever done, covering 110 Pocket Instamatic and other 16mm subminiature cameras. This was a topic which the Camerosity crew had no idea would be so popular, but our loyal listeners came through and delivered a full show of giant opinions about cameras which make tiny negatives! On this episode, Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo and Mike were joined by A.J. Gentile, Edward Michelet, Eric Schneck, Fernando from Germany, Greg Harp, Ira Cohen, Pat Casey, and Will Pinkham where everyone spoke about their favorite Pocket Instamatic and 16mm subminiature cameras. We started things off with a bit of history and moved into one of the most consistently popular 110 cameras, the full system Pentax Auto 110 SLR. We talk about other premium 110 cameras like the two Minolta 110 SLRs and the Canon ED, along with a really neat German camera called the Agfamatic 6008 Makro Pocket, a camera that was so awesome, it inspired Theo to buy one while the show was recording. We talk about challenges with the format, including its extremely small size, the lack of a pressure plate, and how 110 opened the door to the ill fated Kodak Disc format which in turn, brought us T-Grain film still used today with film stocks like Kodak TMax. We cover a wide variety of other cameras, including some interesting 16mm cameras made by Minox, Yashica, and KMZ in the Soviet Union and even a few bizarro ones like the Tasco binocular camera and the Voltron Star Shooter 110. It wouldn't be a Camerosity Podcast episode without us getting off topic, and for this episode, our diversion ended up being all about camera batteries! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don...

Episode 109: Canon Rangefinders Part Deux

Jun 7, 2026 1 hr 38 min

Way back in the early days of the Camerosity Podcast, we did a show with Canon historian and author Peter Kitchingman, and recently as the gang looked back at what topics were worth revisiting we decided to come back to Canon rangefinders. But what expert would we get this time? As it turned out, Peter was available and willing to come back so we decided to retread this bountiful topic and deliver a "Part Deux" to Canon rangefinders. Joining Peter and the regular hosts were Greg Harp, another excellent resource for these cameras who has a great deal of knowledge, plus listeners A.J. Gentile, Ben Ryerson, Ira Cohen, Jeremy Scott, Joan, John Roberts, Norris Liu, William Smith, and Will Pinkham. We start off with some brief history and then get into some of the earliest Canon rangefinders like the original Canon and the slightly later Canon J and JII. Moving onto the historically significant S, SII, and IIBs and eventually covering the II, III, and IV series. We move along to the back loaders like the V, VI, P, and 7 series, covering various lenses, including the 0.95 Dream lens, a very rare original Canon mount wide angle lens, and others. Greg and Peter even share a bit of knowledge about Canon's X-Ray cameras which they made during and after the war. Although a majority of you probably wanted to hear the most about the interchangeable lens models, we give some love to the fixed lens Canonet models like the trigger wind Canonet, the Canonet QL17 G-III, and even some of the more economically priced models. Unusual to a Camerosity episode, we largely stayed on topic for this only only slightly veering into one Argus lens (blame Mike for that), but we answer a bunch of questions such as why is having different magnification ratios for the rangefinder useful, why is having separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows better, and what role did Nippon Kogaku play in Canon's history. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! ...

Episode 108: The TLR Episode

May 11, 2026 1 hr 44 min

Episode 108 is all about a topic we've touched upon in a large number of Camerosity Podcast episodes, but after reviewing our show notes, we realized we had never covered thoroughly in a single show. Since you've probably already read the title of this post, I can't really hide that I'm talking about TLRs, or Twin Lens Reflexes for those of you who are acronym-adverse. Theo was absent for this one because he only likes cameras that involve 7 of something, but joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen and Mike are callers A.J. Gentile, Brian MacDomhnail, Chris Sherlock, Ethan, Joao Gomes, Howard Sandler, Jeremy Scott, Norris Liu, Robert Rotoloni, Sarah Davis, and Will Pinkham. We quickly get started with some TLR history and then introduce a couple of our first time callers. One such caller for the show was long time listener/first time caller, Sarah Davis who repairs cameras and specializes in TLRs. What Sarah lacks in gray hairs she more than makes up for in experience. Studying under some well respected camera technicians, Sarah has learned from the best and can now tear down most mechanical TLRs and Nikon film cameras, bringing them back up to life. We regularly hear of long time technicians retiring or passing away and it is refreshing to have a new option for your camera repair needs. As you should expect, we cover a tremendous amount of GAS including some of our favorite models medium format, 35mm, and subminiature TLRs. In the roughly hour and forty minutes runtime, we cover the gamut from some of the most popular Rollei and Yashica TLRs to some really wild and rare models like the Welta Superfekta, the Tessina 35, AGFA Flexilette, and we even take the opportunity to talk about our beloved Chuzhao (which isn't actually a TLR). Mike discusses the closest he'll ever come to shooting a Nikon TLR, why he hates the label "Pseudo TLR", and shares some trivia about interchangeable lens TLRs. If you were to assume that an entire episode about TLRs would attract every...

Episode 107: Chris Sherlock No Longer Repairs Retinas

Apr 15, 2026 1 hr 39 min

For over a year, one of my most sought after guests to come on the show has been Chris Sherlock of Retina Rescue. Way back in December 2019, I had a chance to sit down and have a discussion with Chris and I have wanted to have another opportunity ever since and it finally happened! Episode 107 is all about Chris Sherlock and his experience repairing and collecting the Kodak Retina system. I promised Chris, I would make it very clear that he is still retired and is not taking in any new work, but Chris is still active on YouTube, publishing complete walkthroughs of CLAs on Retinas and other cameras. Joining Chris are Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike and a long list of callers, including A.J. Gentile, Aaron Knesal, Ben Ryerson, Doug Willoughby, Eric Schneck, Fernando Villava, Joao Gomes, Greg Harp, Howard Sandler, Michael Boudreaux, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham. Chris starts things off with how he got started repairing cameras, all the way back in the 1970s working for Kodak in Wellington, New Zealand and then continues onto his first Retina models and why he started his site. We discuss a wide range of Kodak Retina models, from the folders, solid bodied rangefinders, to the SLRs. Chris, Mike, and others share their favorite models and which ones we recommend for first time shooters and which ones have issues to look out for. Chris explains what kinds of problems the Retina cocking rack may cause and why the later cameras have a long silk cord in them. It wouldn't be a Camerosity Episode if we didn't get off track, so we can thank Howard for bringing up the Voigtländer Ultramatic, Theo gives an update on the most recent Sydney Camera show, Greg Harp shares his recent 1930s Canon Standard pickup, and Aaron talks about his Yashica 44 TLR he bought from Paul. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have th...

Episode 106: Camerosity Invades Europe

Mar 30, 2026 1 hr 43 min

Ever since the very first episode of this show, we've aimed to include as many of our listeners in our shows as possible, but that our hosts are located in three different countries and in four different time zones makes finding a time that works for everyone difficult, especially those of you in Europe and other European-aligned time zones where it is often the middle of the night when we typically record. In an effort to give more people in these areas of the world the opportunity to join us, on occasion we change our recording time. For Episode 106, we did just that and saw a large number of people show up! Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike on this show were returning and first time callers, Brendon Wilson, Brian MacDomhnail, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Joey Alvillar, John Wade, Josh Calvetti, Krijn Vogelaar from Holland, Kamil from Norway, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Stuart Pratt, Vlad Kern, and Wayne Scheipers. On this show, we covered a wide array of topics including one of Paul's most hated Nikons, John Wade shares with us a very interesting Ilford monorail camera which supports shooting on 35mm film, Ira shares his love for Eigenbau cameras, and we admire Krijn's beautifully painted Kodak box cameras. In addition, we cover a large range of cameras from the AGFA Automatic 66, to the Kodak Medalist, Hasselblad SWC, Leidolf Lordomat, Mamiya RB67, the Tom Thumb 'radiocamera', and Mike shares a quick preview of a neat rangefinder camera he picked up called the Wenk Wenka. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it ha...

Episode 105: John Minnicks and the Aero-Liberator

Mar 10, 2026 1 hr 39 min

For Episode 105, it finally happened! As eluded to on a great number of previous episodes and on our official Facebook page and Discord server, the Camerosity Podcast finally dedicated an entire show to large format cameras! And not just any large format cameras, as a special guest for this show, we welcomed John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator, a home built custom version of a Graflex SLR using aerial Kodak lenses! Joining the gang and John for this episode were a huge number of other guests, several of which own or have shot their own Aero-Liberators. In alphabetical order by first name, we were joined by some guy named Erie, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Cornelison, Mark Widhalm, Mat Marrash (from FPP), Parker Pfister, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham. In addition to hearing John Minnicks origin story, he shares many stories about people who he has sold cameras to and what has been done with them, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and at impeachment hearings in front of Congress. Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project joins us and gives us his insight into large format and how well it does from the retail perspective. We were also graced with the presence of Parker Pfister who shares his tales of developing film using his own urine! This is the first ever mention of "pee" in a Camerosity episode! We eventually do get into a little bit of GAS, including some pickups by Mark Cornelison from the Chicago Camera show including the Camerosity favorites like the Voigtländer Perkeo and the KMZ Zorki 4. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for...

Episode 104: Cheap Modern Lenses

Feb 7, 2026 1 hr 32 min

We are back with Episode 104 of the Camerosity Podcast. Unlike the last few shows where we didn't come prepared with a topic to discuss, this time we took a suggestion from our Discord server listeners and attempted to tackle all the new lenses that keep appearing from Chinese companies, With ever faster maximum apertures and wider lenses selling for insanely cheap prices, are these lenses any good, and why suddenly is the market flooded with them? Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, and Mike are callers Andy Howarth, Brendon Wilson, Fernando Villava, Mark "Cletus" Widhalm, Martin Olsen, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham. We start off the show with a quick announcement that Fernando has started a Spanish language version of the Camerosity Podcast called "Camerosity in Spanish". They've already recorded two episodes, and if you speak Spanish, it is worth checking out what him and his guests are talking about! For this show, we briefly start off our lens episode talking about Retina Reflexes, but thankfully we don't stay distracted long as we move into the wonderful world of modern Chinese lenses. We attempt to cover different brands of lenses and what kinds of options there are out there and which ones we've personally had experience with. Stephen and Norris have a wealth of technical knowledge and historical perspective for how the Chinese manufacturing industry works, and we get into a bit of why you're seeing so many options these days. While many of the new ultra-fast lenses are extremely affordable, they are built to be disposable and likely won't last nearly as long as the classic lenses many of us collect. Paul shares with us one (non-Chinese) brand that he doesn't like and Stephen tells us what "onion ring bokeh" is. Eventually we do move off from Chinese lenses to talk about extremely wide angle fisheye lenses and Stephen tells us about a clever use of his Olympus Air A01 and we briefly mention strange cameras like the Nikon Key...

Episode 103: Don't Snort Your Lenses

Jan 22, 2026 1 hr 49 min

In what turned out to be one of the more unhinged episodes of the Camerosity Podcast, for Episode 103 the gang didn't get the show announcement out until the day of the recording, but that resulted in a near record number of participants, and without a dedicated topic to discuss, we ran the gamut of topics from Theo's recent acquisition of a local lab's Fuji Frontier Scanner, to a very lively discussion about radioactive lenses and why you should not grind up lens glass and snort it. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike on this episode were A.J. Gentile, Dan Cuny, Doug Doyle, Fernando Villava, Greg McCreash, Ira Cohen, Jeremy Scott, Mario Piper, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, Vlad Kern, Will Pinkham, plus a few others who didn't say anything. The show starts off with Theo telling the tale of how a Frontier scanner is coming to him and that turned into a very lively discussion about all scanning options from using professional scanners, flatbed scanners, and then eventually to digitizing with a digital camera. Returning guest Dan Cuny shares some vintage digital cameras he's been working on reviews for including the 0.3 megapixel Canon PowerShot 350 and the floppy disc Sony Mavica! Continuing on the vintage digital discussion was the revelation that three of the five Camerosity hosts all have the 1990s Minolta RD-175 DSLR! Vlad Kern from ussrphoto.com comes on and shares his recent pickup of a spy camera from a shot down Russian drone found in Ukraine which he recently acquired. Vlad's crazy spy camera looks straight out of a science fiction movie and the hosts wonder how he managed to get that past European and American customs! Of course, we get into a bit of GAS including a follow up to Episode 102 where Ron Gee had ordered an Aero-Liberator camera from John Minnicks, Ron came back to talk about receiving the camera and his initial impressions of it. Other cameras discussed are the Tele and Wide Rolleiflexes, a rare Foth TLR, the 16mm KMZ Narcis...

Episode 102: Eggnog Manatees and Opportunistic GAS

Dec 31, 2025 1 hr 58 min

The end of the year has come. As is the case every year, 2025 was filled with some ups and downs. For the Camerosity Podcast, we reached the 100 episode milestone, saw a huge influx of Miranda cameras re-enter the used camera market, and a whole lotta pictures of manatees. For Episode 102, the gang got together with some holiday themed alcoholic beverages and discussed what last minute bouts of GAS we had, and other bits of nonsense we were up to. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen and Mike were returning callers A.J. Gentile, Leon Blankenhorn, Pat Casey, Will Pinkham, William Ponder, and first time callers Joao Gomes and Ron Gee. In this episode we start right off with recent pickups, Paul is enamored with his Hasselblad digital back which he has almost permanently mounted to his 907x, calling it the best digital camera he's ever shot. A recent pickup of a Hassy 65mm f/2.8 lens further cemented it for him. Pat Casey talks about his love for 3x4 Graflexes and first time caller Ron Gee is excited for his new Aero Liberator camera he ordered from John Minnicks. We discuss the shift of German cameras being made in countries other than Germany, why West German companies made so many leaf shutters and seemed to be reluctant to adopt focal plane shutters, and Mike (poorly) attempts to explain the confusing history of the Voigtländer Bessaflex, Zeiss-Ikon Icarex and SL706, Voigtländer VSL series and Rollei SL35 series SLRs. Mike shares his two most recent pickups, the first is the brand new and recently released LOMO MC-A which is an impressive premium point and shoot camera and he feels is the best example we've seen so far of what a brand new premium 35mm camera should be. His other pickup is a rather ordinary Vivitar XC-3 with the unordinary XC-A accessory which kinda sorta adds Aperture Priority Automatic Exposure to a camera which wasn't built with it. Anthony talks about a $25 Nikonos III he recently picked up and used to take some of the best photos he's ever...

Episode 101: Mike Eckman Man of Mystery

Dec 17, 2025 1 hr 40 min

When it came time to decide what to follow up our 100th episode, the guys made a comment that we should interview a prominent podcaster and blogger in the vintage camera realm. With a long list of guests already, we thought hard about who we've missed, who is one person who has helped grow GAS as much as any one single person can? Anthony spoke up and said, "Hey, it should be Mike"! While I had my doubts about how interesting a whole episode about me could be, I thought that I do like to tell stories, why why not?! Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike this, our 101st episode are returning callers A.J. Gentile, David Palumbo, Fernando Villava, Ira Cohen, Mark Faulkner, Pat Casey, Rob Lattimer, William Ponder, and Will Pinkham. Over the course of the episode, I field a variety of questions from how I got started, what is my while whale camera, what cameras never clicked for me, what was an example of a camera that I felt overwhelmed trying to shoot. Paul gets me to revisit my 2023 trip to Los Angeles when I went through the collection of Kurt Ingham and what it was like going through such a large collection. We get into camera accessories, especially how difficult it is to adapt Kilfitt lenses and that the "Rear Window" Kilfitt lens was never made specifically with an Exakta mount, we talk about what is a good first camera is, and we get into how I am resisting the urge to collect carbon filament light bulbs and Nixie Tubes. Amazingly, we make it through the nearly 2 hour run time without repeating too much of what's been covered before, and while doing so managed to cover a whole lot of GAS! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your...

Episode 100: Camerosity Centennial

Nov 7, 2025 1 hr 46 min

Can you believe it? The Camerosity Podcast is back with Episode 100! From what started out as a spontaneous Zoom call on a random May evening during the midst of a global pandemic has turned into one of the most popular and still only open source film and digital photography podcasts! While the hosts have changed since we started, its not really the hosts that make this show what it is, it is the guests and callers we have each episode which keep us on our toes with new and interesting topics. For our centennial episode, the hosts sent out invites to some of our favorite guests and also kept the call in lines open for anyone to join us. We received responses from Todd Gustavson from the George Eastman Museum, Dan Tamarkin from Tamarkin Camera and Auctions in Chicago, Marwan El Mozayen from Silvergrain Classics, Robert Rotoloni from the Nikon Historical Society, and returning for the first time in 50 episodes, Johnny Sisson from Central Camera in Chicago. Joining these esteemed guests were callers A.J. Gentile, Alex Luyckx, Eric Risse, Greg McCreash, Nick Marshall, Pat Casey, Patrick Rapps, Wayne Scheipers, Will Pinkham, and William Ponder. It was a star studded cast if I ever saw one! We get things started out with Marwan giving us an update on the all new Widelux-X panoramic camera prototype and where there at in its ultimate release. While we don't expect to see the new model this year, its release is coming soon! Todd chimes in with updates from the George Eastman Museum and what's new in their collection. He shares what he knows about Eastman Kodak's recent announcement of them distributing their own film again and the new Kodak 100 and 200 films and a project to document the most important historical cameras in history. Dan Tamarkin discusses getting married and the upcoming Tamarkin Camera Auction and gives us a preview of a couple cool Leicas which will appear in the show. Robert gives an update on the state of the NHS Journey and Alex shares wha...

Episode 99: Sanibel Island

Oct 16, 2025 1 hr 51 min

For the past several episodes, the Camerosity Podcast has covered a wide range of topics from tiny digital TLRs, to Exaktas, to death and while these were all riveting conversations, we realized it had been a while since the hosts could just talk about what we've been up to. Camera shows, tropical vacations, and recent GAS abound, we decided to not advertise the recording of Episode 99. Although this show was mostly about the hosts, that didn't stop two additional guests, first time caller Douglas Willoughby and returning caller William Ponder from jumping in! We get things started with Paul's introduction to Doug who repaired his Nikon F4 and explains what went wrong. William follows with a discussion regarding Miranda cameras and the tale of a Miranda Automex III that he bought from Mike. We continue on with more Miranda discussion then pivot to Zeiss-Ikon Contax SLRs and other cameras from the Texas collection such as the KW Praktiflex and later Praktica cameras. Mike professes his love for the Contax SLRs shutter and the strange noises it makes. Later we pivot to traveling with cameras, and Anthony, Theo, and Paul all give their tips and shared experiences traveling with cameras and how to get your film hand checked at the airport. We talk about camera batteries, Stephen's journey of modifying his LEGO camera to look like a Leica which then of course turns into a discussion about actual Leicas including Anthony's crazy tale of how he acquired a Leica M2. Finally, we chat about recent GAS pickups, Theo brings up the Mamiya 7 AGAIN and then Stephen shows off a very strange camera called the Olympus Air A01 which is the same size as a teleconverter, but is an entirely self contained micro 4/3s interchangeable lens mirrorless digital camera. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on...

Episode 98: The Exakta Episode

Sep 27, 2025 1 hr 46 min

It has been a couple of weeks but the gang finally got back together to devote an entire episode to one of our favorite, and longest lived camera brands, the Ihagee Exakta. If you are familiar with the Exakta name, you probably know them as a maker of high end, but very quirky 35mm SLRs, however there were far more Exaktas produced in the 20th century using three different forms of film and nine different lens mounts. In Episode 98, the Camerosity Podcast hosts do their best to try and corral all those models and history into a single episode. Joining Anthony, Stephen, Paul, and Mike are returning and first time callers Daniel from Chicago, Eric Lorenz, Fernando Villava, Howard Sandler, Ira Cohen, Michael Boudreau, Mike Toppo, Pat Casey, and Phil Clark. We were unable to find an expert who could speak intelligently on the history and wide range of Exakta models made, so Mike did his best to cover the history, starting with how the company formed, and we go (mostly) in chronological order from the first 127 Vest Pocket Exaktas, the Night Exaktas, the early Kine Exaktas, into the Varex models, the redesigned VX1000 and Elbaflex models, and into the weeds with uncommon cameras like the Exakta Real, Exakta Twin TL, and some other Japanese and Chinese made models. In addition to the Ihagee Exakta, we also dedicate a bit of time to the Exakta's little brother, the Exa, covering that models strengths and weaknesses. We attempt to explain how the shutter on early Exas work, and Mike tells a story of a hard to find "System Exa" that's not even made by Ihagee at all. Many questions were asked with varying levels of good answers, including how many lens mounts can be found on an Exakta camera, how many different companies produced Exakta cameras, what is the best introduction to the Exakta lineup, and whether or not Exaktas are good for shooting or just for collecting. We even spend some time on the infamous Exaka with 400mm Kilfitt lens found in the Hollywood classic...

Episode 97: Everybody Chuzhao Tonight

Aug 28, 2025 1 hr 44 min

An epidemic has swept Camerosity HQ along with a large swath of the camera collector groups. It seems a cheap Chinese toy camera has made its way into the homes of all of us and resulted in us sharing images from it online. Have we gone mad? Do you dream of tiny TLRs at night? In Episode 97 we tackle the controversial Chuzhao mini-TLR digital camera. This $35 camera available worldwide through Amazon and Alibaba is selling like crazy now and each of the hosts ask our listeners what their thoughts are on it. In addition to Chuzhao talk, we spend a good portion of the show on a completely unrelated topic, which is what to do with your cameras when you die. Mike and Paul both share their stories of picking up large estates of vintage cameras and what we ended up doing with them. If you think the prospect of being asked to tackle a 4500 piece collection sounds awesome, you should definitely listen to this episode as we have some thoughts on what its like. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Ed Gabe, Greg McCreash, Ira Cohen, Larry Effler, Pat Casey, Phil Clark, Will Pinkham, and first time callers Doug Doyle, Rob Latimer, and William Ponder. In addition to Chuzhao and Camera Estate talk, Ira shares some selections from his tiny TLR collection including a couple rare Hit film models, Paul shares his thoughts on what you should do in preparation for what happens to your collection after you die, Mike briefly talks about an uncommon 1950s 35mm SLR called the Tokiwa Seiki Pentaflex, and Rob shares his thoughts on the Zeiss-Ikon Super Nettar. Meet Paul and Mike: If you are in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday, September 6th, come to the Ohio Camera Swap at the Hilton Garden Inn Cincinnati/West Chester and say hi to us. Both Paul and I will have a lot of Miranda cameras to sell! Who knows, maybe even some other Camerosity Podcast regulars will show up as well. While you’re there, maybe you can buy someth...

Episode 96: The AGFA Episode with Very Little AGFA

Aug 7, 2025 1 hr 48 min

If there ever was an episode that epitomizes the concept of the "first and only open source film and digital photography podcast" it is this episode! We started off with the idea of devoting a large part of it to AGFA, makers of Rodinal, Karat film, and a large number of really cool cameras from the mid 20th century. From the moment we got started, we immediately got off topic and wouldn't come back to AGA until an hour into the recording. Never fret, but in the shortened time we covered Germany's version of Kodak, we covered a lot of ground. Joining Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Fernando Villava from Germany, Mike Litwin, Pat Casey, Will Pinkham, and first time callers David Palumbo and Zack Lothamer. From the moment the show got started, we feel down the Kodak Instamatic (type 126) wormhole, discussing a large number of Instamatic cameras, what kinds of films can be used in 126 cameras today, the Fakmatic 3D printed adapter, and other oddball cameras. We meander around, somehow winding up on the Ricoh GXR Interchangeable module digital camera, and Anthony's love for Kodak 5220XT Film. When we finally get into the world of AGFA, we discuss some of the group's favorite films like AGFA Professional Pan 25, APX25, HDC 100, Scala, and AGFA's original AGFAColor film from the 1930s. Eventually, we get into AGFA GAS with some really cool cameras like the Parat and Optima Parat half frame cameras, the cool twin lens Flexilette and Optima Reflex, the large orange button AGFAs like the Optima 1035 and 1535, the Optima Electronic Flash, Ambi Silette, and the Selectaflex SLR. By far, the most time is dedicated to the postwar AGFA Karat rangefinder with the split image viewfinder, which Mike says is the best rangefinder camera for people with terrible vision. Sprinkled throughout the show we answer questions about how long expired film can be used when refrigerated, what is a recommendation for a good entry into 6x9 cameras...

Episode 95: Let's Wing It!

Jul 18, 2025 1 hr 45 min

Over the past several episodes. we've covered a wide range of topics and had some excellent guests on the show. While we love predetermined topics, the original concept of the Camerosity Podcast was that any topic is always on the table, so from time to time, we like to "wing it" and start recording without any idea of what we're talking about. Episode 95 was one such episode where Anthony, Paul, Stephen, and Mike logged into Zoom, hit record and let everyone in! As always seems to happen, the show fills up quickly with GAS discussion. Guests sharing their recent pickups and anything they're shooting now. For this episode, we were joined by AJ Gentile, Darin Cozine, Jeremy Scott, Kyle Liu, Nick Marshall, Robert Coates, Shane Pacheco and Will Pinkham. We start out the GAS discussion covering Bronica and Mamiya SLRs and TLRs. A discussion about the S2 and S2A and issues with foam seals which need to be replaced on pretty much all Bronica S-series cameras. Anthony shares his experience on a new (to him) Contax D SLR he picked up and that spawned a lengthy discussion on the Contax SLR's shutter and the unique sounds it makes. Jeremy shares the pickup of a lifetime at a recent estate sale in rural Oklahoma where he bought a Zeiss-Ikon Hologon Ultrawide, Canon f/0.95 "Dream Lens", and other highly sought after wide angle lenses. Mike discusses an upcoming storage locker of cameras in Texas he will be picking up soon, along with his pickup of a very early Contax S and an Orion Miranda T with the rare Zunow lens. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode...

Episode 94: Camera Shopping at Roberts Camera and Blue Moon

Jun 24, 2025 1 hr 44 min

We are back with Episode 94 of the Camerosity Podcast. For this episode, we decided to revisit a topic we covered all the way back in Episode 30, which is talking about camera stores with people who work in camera stores. Joining us for the discussion are Meredith and Corey Reinker from Roberts Camera (aka UsedPhotoPro) in Indianapolis, Indiana and Zeb Andrews from Blue Moon Camera and Machine in Portland, Oregon. Of course, two of the Camerosity hosts, Paul and Stephen both used to work in camera stores too, so between those four, we were well represented. Much has changed in the photography space since we did our last camera store episode. Releases of new cameras like the Pentax 17, Rollei 35 AF, and recent announcements of a new "film like" digital Yashica SLR have caused a lot of ruckus and it will be interesting to hear how actual camera store people see these latest developments. Joining Paul, Stephen, Theo, Mike, and our special guests was a long list of callers including A.J. Gentile, Betty Ann Cochrane, Brad, Dan Hausman, Hong Lee, Howard Sandler, Larry Effler, Miles Libak, Pat Casey, Shane from Discord, and Will Pinkham. During the show we ask Meredith, Corey, and Zeb a wide range of questions ranging from what differentiates their stores which has allowed them to remain successful well into the era of digital photography. We cover what the modern camera store customer looks like today and what makes photography appealing to a younger crowd. We cover both lab and home developing, what one camera both camera stores wish there was an unlimited amount of, how they acquire their inventory of used cameras, and Zeb shares a cool story about how Blue Moon developed a roll of film which had images of Mount St. Helens erupting. Mike gets excited that he received a bottle of the new Adox Syrup 110 developer and attempts to break down the myth that C41 home developing is difficult. Theo and Zeb counter that you shouldn't be shamed into developing your own...

Episode 93: John Wade, Wrayflex and Clockwork Cameras

Jun 11, 2025 1 hr 46 min

We're back with Episode 93 of the Camerosity Podcast! This time, we've altered our recording time to better suit those of our listeners across the pond who are normally sleeping when we record at our usual time. For this 'European time zone friendly' episode, we welcome special guest, collector, and author John Wade who has written or contributed to more than 30 books, including a couple which I have relied on for several of my camera reviews. In addition to John, we were joined by callers Brian MacDomhnaill from Ireland, Fernando Villava from Germany, Guy from Germany, Leon Blankenhorn from Germany, and domestic callers Miles Libak and Andrew Madsen. And of course we had our regular hosts, Anthony Rue, Stephen Strangways, and our time zone friendly recording time also allowed Paul Rybolt to join us who has been vacationing in Ireland for the past month. As this episode was recorded at 4am in Sydney, we gave Theo the day off. With John's expertise, we spent a lot of time talking about Britain's only 35mm SLR, the Wrayflex. As the author of the only specialized book on the Wrayflex and the company who made it, John has a fascinating level of knowledge on this attractive and quirky camera. In addition to Wray, we spent a lot of time talking about clockwork cameras, you know, those cameras that have a spring tensioned wind up film advance mechanism. We discussed a wide variety of models from the very first wind up camera, the Japy Le Pascal, Ansco No.1A Automatic Ansco, and later cameras like the Debrie Sept, Bell & Howell Foton, Canon Dial, Ansco Auto Half, GOMZ Leningrad, and others. We briefly talk about the British Leica copy, the Reid and Sigrist Reid camera and the American equivalent the Premiere Instrument Kardon, among other popular British cameras. In addition to John's contributions, Paul shares with us another 617 camera he's got his eye on, Brian tells a tale about lenses he thinks he needs and never uses, Mike shares an uncommon German camera...

Episode 92: Apparecchi Fotografici Italiani

May 24, 2025 1 hr 43 min

In Episode 92 of the Camerosity Podcast, we needed to promote every caller to "host status" to tackle the topic of the Italian camera industry. While a huge number of cameras were made in Germany, Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union, many were made in other countries like Italy, France, England, and Czechoslovakia yet far less is talked about these countries. We attempt to do some justice to cameras from this boot shaped peninsula, spreading some (very expensive) GAS for models like the Rectaflex, Ducati Sogno, and Gamma II. In an episode where everyone was a host, Mike, Theo, AJ Gentile, Miles Libak, Robert Rotoloni and Will Pinkham share our thoughts on a variety of models. Mike's best reference is an out of print book called Made in Italy: Apparecchi Fotografici Italiani by Marco Antonetto and Mario Malavolti. This 1983 book is the best reference any of us have found covering the Italian camera industry. Featuring images and short descriptions for over 150 Italian cameras, this book, plus our assessment of a few models we're familiar with, prove that the Italian camera industry is far deeper than many realize. In addition to a whole lot of Italian GAS, we go over the many different film sizes and formats used by Bencini cameras, Robert spends some time with his favorite Italian subminiature camera, the Gami 16, Mike struggles to explain how the metering system on the Durst Automatica works, he spends a great deal of time professing his love for the Ducati Sogno, and shares with us the wild operation of the very interesting Industria Scientifica Ottica Super Duplex 120, a strange stereo camera that shoots 24mm x 24mm stereo pairs on 120 format roll film. In addition to talking about Italian cameras, we get side tracked and talk about the new upcoming Yashica FX-D digital camera and Mike shares his thoughts on these "so-called" hybrid film and digital cameras and where he thinks the film industry will be in 50 years. Will Pinkham asks about new 3...

Episode 91: Smells Like Cameras of the 90s

May 13, 2025 1 hr 46 min

Like the saying goes, "better late than never", the Camerosity Podcast is back with Episode 91, which is dedicated to cameras of the 90s. Which 90s you prefer, 1890s or 1990s, all 90s cameras are welcome! Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike are returning callers, AJ Gentile, Ira Cohen, Miles Libak, Nick Marshall, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham and we cover a wide range of 1990s cameras and technologies. Paul starts off with some stories about mini labs and how single use cameras became a big thing. We dive into bridge cameras, including the Olympus IS-2 which Mike gave rave remarks to. We discuss a large number of point and shoot cameras including premium models by Nikon and Konica, and ponder why the Olympus Stylus Epic is so popular today. We talk about some dead end technologies from the 90s such as Minolta's ill fated Creative Expansion and Canon's obscure barcode scanner for the EOS 10S. Not all technologies from the 1990s were failures though as the 1990s was the first decade of digital cameras. Models like the floppy disc Sony Mavica and Nikon D1 were great cameras with a historical significance which helped prove that digital photography had arrived. We round out the discussion with why Theo loves the Mamiya 7 so much and how it compares to the Mamiya 6, Robert shares some info on the development of the Nikon S3 2000 edition, and we have a thorough discussion on Kyocera's Contax SLRs. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out...

Episode 90: Camerosity and the Rich Coastal Elites

Apr 30, 2025 1 hr 48 min

As sometimes happens in the wonderful world of social media content creation, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray" we had plans to record Episode 90 back in March, but a variety of unfortunate and unrelated happenstances occurred which resulted in a short hiatus for recording. We had planned on making Episode 90 a show all about Cameras of the 90s, but we had also wanted Episode 91 to be recorded with two special guests, so we were forced to do things out of order. Thankfully, the obstacles which caused our six week break didn't interfere with us sitting down with Jeff Greenstein and Gabe Sachs from the I Dream of Cameras podcast. For those of you who are familiar with their show, you'll know that Jeff has a fondness for Alpa cameras, so this unofficially doubles as our first and probably only Alpa episode. After some short introductions, we refer back to a fun comparison between the two podcasts written by listener John Kelly and both hosts give our reactions to some of his funny answers. We cover a variety of cameras that we all love and shoot, along with Jeff's deep dive into why he loves the Alpa 11si so much. Gabe shares a story of how he's had to rebuild his camera collection from scratch after losing it when his home burned down in the Palisades wild fires that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year. We ponder why the Hasselblad XPan can't get repaired anymore and what other cameras are on the verge of being unrepairable. Mike shares three very different Alpas in his collection and shares what he likes and doesn't like about all three, Anthony shares his thoughts on a new (to him) Fuji camera he recently bought, and Paul talks about his plans for traveling to Ireland later this spring. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are...

Episode 89: Camera Cleaning, Maintenance, and Repairs

Mar 19, 2025 1 hr 52 min

A topic that we've lightly touched upon in previous episode, but never dared devote an entire episode to is the taboo subject of repairing your own cameras. There are those who firmly believe all repairs should be left to the capable hands of professionals, but there are others who have no problem with opening their own cameras and trying it out themselves. If you're in the latter group and are interested to hear some tips and tricks from those of us who have been brave/foolish enough to try it, Episode 89 is all about repairing your own cameras. Joining Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Alyssa Micha, Andrew Reynolds, Christopher Wells, John Michael Mendizza, Keir Frei, Larry Effler, Pat Casey, Rafael Espinoza, Ray Nason, Wayne Scheipers, and Will Pinkham who all share their own experiences. We cover a wide range of topics, starting with what you can and cannot repair on a Kodak Medalist and whether you can still send your Leicas to the factory in Wetzlar to get repaired. Hear who we think makes a good set of JIS screwdrivers, lens spanners, and Mike recommends a rubber grippy tool. We share our recommendations for cleaning cameras, getting sticky residue off film doors, replacing mirror bumpers and foam light seals, how not to clean a reflex mirror, what works on lenses and what not to use. We even cover the taboo topic of washing your camera in the dishwasher! Although there is very little GAS in this episode, we do get into a few model specific camera repairs. Alyssa Micha shares with us her beautiful 1903 Kodak camera which had moldy bellows and what she needed to do to replace them. We talk about how to and how not to fix the infamous Canon Squeal of the Canon AE-1 and A-1 cameras, along with how to deal with the sticky backs of the Nikon N80 and N90, Mike talks about a product he used to mold a custom hand grip for his Minolta 650si. We talk about various cleaners, when and when not to use lighter fluid, acetone, glas...

Episode 88: Desert Island Cameras Part 2

Mar 7, 2025 1 hr 43 min

Way back in Episode 27, the Camerosity gang went on a three hour tour to a tropical paradise and asked everyone what would be their idea of three "desert island" cameras that they would want to be stranded with if they couldn't have anything else. That discussion proved to be a fun one and something we had wanted to revisit again. It would take us all the way to Episode 88 when we would finally put out the call for another Desert Island episode. Joining Anthony, Paul, Mike and our new regular host Stephen Strangways, are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Andrew and Christopher Wells, Ira Cohen, Will Pinkham, and first time caller Robin Stone. Starting with this episode, we are welcoming Stephen as one of the regular hosts to the show. His presence and knowledge on many previous episodes has impressed us, and after considering regular scheduling conflicts with the four regular hosts, we thought it was time to add a fifth person. Although Theo has missed the last two episodes, he is still very much apart of the show and will return soon. With a fifth host, in the event one of the "original four" have a scheduling issue, we can continue without hesitation. On this episode, we go through a tremendous amount of GAS, covering many unexpected models including multiple Horseman cameras, a Fuji G617, Argus Brick, Nikon F2, Leica CL, Zeiss-Ikon Tenax II, and many, many others. In addition to commercially available cameras, both Andrew and Christopher Wells share with us their own home made 3D printed large format creations. Custom cameras built to use any combination of lenses, shutters, and film backs in a million different combinations are truly one of the more fascinating aspects of this hobby. And if 3D printing your own camera isn't cool enough, Andrew took it a step further and even made his own bellows! In addition to tropical island GAS, we answer the question of why the Nikon F mount is backwards of almost every other interchangeable lens system and the Wel...

Episode 87: Dr. David Jentz and the Kodak Retina

Feb 23, 2025 1 hr 21 min

In yet another request from our listeners for topics you wanted to hear, for Episode 88, you can include me as someone whose been interested in hearing an episode about the Kodak Retina and other German Kodaks. For many years, whenever I needed to write something about the Retina, the person I always reached out to was Dr. David Jentz. David is not only the founder of the Historical Society for Retina Cameras, but also has published multiple written works about the Retina and its history. In addition to his knowledge about the Retina, David frequently collaborates with historian Klaus Schicht who has studied the man who created the Retina, Dr. August Nagel. Although Klaus does not appear on the show, David was able to quote some information regarding topics we discussed on this show. If one Kodak historian was not enough, we also invited Todd Gustavson from the George Eastman Museum to be on the show to fill in the blanks for any other Kodak related questions which came up. This was a closed episode, so we did not have any callers, and both Paul and Theo weren't able to make it, but what we lacked in callers, we more than made up for in fascinating Kodak, Nagel, and Retina history. Listen to Episode 87 to get a background on who Dr. August Nagel was, how he became a doctor, brief histories of his time working for Contessa Nettel, Zeiss-Ikon, and Nagel Kamerwerke prior to joining Kodak. Did you know that before Kodak AG made cameras, they made film in Germany? We discuss other German Kodaks such as the Recomar, Pupille, Kodak Duo Six-20, and the mysterious Kodak Regent. We get into the differences between the use of "Nr." and "Type" when referring to prewar and postwar cameras, and finally solve the mystery of Paul's Retinette Angenieux lens. In addition to camera history, we also take a deep dive into Kodak's introduction to making 35mm film. While Kodak's type 135 daylight loading cassette was their most notable contribution to 35mm film in the 1930s,...

Episode 86: Adapting Vintage Lenses

Feb 15, 2025 1 hr 38 min

We return with yet another exciting episode of the Camerosity Podcast. For Episode 86, we dip into the listener mailbag and select a topic you all have told us you wanted to hear about, adapting vintage lenses. Taking an old film camera lens and mounting it to a modern digital camera isn't exactly anything new, as adapting lenses from one mount to another camera has been done since the early 20th century. But what about the crazy number of lenses that weren't meant to be adapted? How about uncommon Angenieux lenses from French Kodak Retinettes, photocopier lenses, or astronomy telescopes? If it has glass and it focuses light, it can be adapted, and that's what got us going on this episode. Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers, AJ Gentile, Miles Libak, Nick Marshall, Pat Casey, Patrick Rapps, Ray Nason, Stephen Strangeway, Will Pinkham, and first time callers Alyssa Micha, David Jentz, and Rollin Banderob. On this episode, we talk about a huge number of lenses we mount to various digital and film cameras, but Alyssa starts us off with an ambitious project of adapting 35mm lenses to a Crown Graphic Graflex press camera, Stephen gives us some education on flange distance, why the Nikon Z mirrorless camera is ideally suited for adapting lenses, and Theo gives us his thoughts on how well a Mamiya press lens performs on micro 4/3rds. We discuss whether it is wise to spend extra money on premium adapters vs the cheap Chinese ones you can find on eBay, David Jentz talks about adapting DKL mount lenses and the struggles to find a good DKL adapter, and why you need to be concerned with image circle size when picking lenses from differing formats. Miles Libak shares with us a purchase he just made of a Contarex lens mount converted Canon F-1, and Paul talks about the best adapters to use for adapting Nikon rangefinder lenses to modern digital cameras. This episode proved that a relatively simple topic of adapting lenses included a deep wormhole...

Episode 85: Mint and Rare Cameras with Jo Geier

Jan 31, 2025 1 hr 36 min

The Camerosity Podcast returns with Episode 85 where we wander back into the wonderful world of high end camera auctions. For this episode, we went all the way to Vienna, Austria and invited Jo Geier from Mint and Rare Cameras and the Wetzlar Camera Auctions. In addition to Jo, we also welcomed back Dan Tamarkin from Tamarkin Camera and Auctions. Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, Mike, and our two special guests are returning callers Brian McDomnhaill, Dan Cuny, Fernando Villava, Gheerwijn Clicque, Ira Cohen, Wes Loder, Miles Libak, Tom Zoss, and Wayne Scheipers, As you might expect when you have two of the world's most respected camera auctioneers on the same episode, we talk about a lot of super rare and collectible cameras. Everything from the original Ur-Leica to rare cameras like the Carl Zeiss Jena Contax, the Australian Snider 35 rangefinder, and Luxus Leicas. In addition to some pretty deep GAS, some love is given to several more affordable cameras like the Canon P, Tower/Nicca rangefinders, and the Nikon F4. In addition to GAS, several great questions were raised including whether or not the definition of 'rare' has changed over the years, whether or not finding collectible cameras is getting harder to find, and why there aren't more younger people collecting cameras. Jo tells us his origin story to how he started both companies and shares with us what his 'white whale' camera would be, Dan and Jo show appreciation for each other and talk about how they have collaborated in the past, including a very special Leica which Dan found at a Pennsylvania garage sale. We revisit the need to get old cameras repaired sooner than later and how quickly experts in certain cameras are disappearing, tips and tricks for new collectors, and Jo proposes a $10 "ugly" camera challenge for anyone going to a camera show. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of cam...

Episode 84: Hip to Be Square

Jan 21, 2025 1 hr 37 min

We are back with the first new episode of 2025! The Camerosity crew hopes you had a good start to the new year. Unfortunately, the episode we had planned to have Jeff and Gabe from the I Dream of Cameras podcast had to be postponed due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. Instead, we went to the Camerosity mailbox (aka Facebook) and did an episode about square format cameras. We had intended to cover all cameras that shoot square format, but found so much to talk about with 35mm and 127, we didn't have much time for 120 6x6 cameras, so we can save that for a future show! Whenever you talk about square format 35mm, one of the more popular ones for collectors is the Zeiss-Ikon Tenax II, and whenever you mention the Tenax II, the Wes Loder's "Spidey Sense" starts tingling, so we were happy to welcome back Michael Wescott Loder for the first time since Episode 74! Joining Wes, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this episode were A.J. Gentile, Ira Cohen, Miles Libak, Mina Saleeb, Robert Coates, and Will Pinkham where they all shared their favorite square format cameras. We attempt to start off the list of square format cameras in alphabetical order with the Altix and quickly move into the Berning Robot and Bilora Radix, but our plan quickly goes off the rails as we jump around the alphabet with cameras like the Akarette (which isn't even square format), Metz Mecaflex, Yashica 44, and the Purma Special. We also cover the popularity of square format Rapid film cameras from Japan like the Minolta 24 Rapid, Canon Dial Rapid, and Fujica Rapid S2. One of the more sought after square format cameras is the Mamiya Sketch, a camera that Mike has previously reviewed, but Theo desperately wants to acquire to round out his Mamiya collection. Mike shares his tips on rolling your own 127 film using bulk 46mm film, and Will asks for recommendations on affordable entries into square format 35mm. Although the group is initially stumped, Mike comes up with an off the wall solution tha...

Episode 83: Spontaneous Contax

Dec 31, 2024 1 hr 55 min

The end of the year is almost here, and the guys and I were getting that itch to record something, so on a dreary Boxing Day, we all got together for a spontaneous episode to catch up on what we've been doing. We did not post the join link this time, but we managed to coerce our friends Dan Cuny and Ray Nason to join us for some post-Christmas camera discussion. To help us find things to talk about, we decided to tackle a request made earlier this month in the Camerosity Facebook group, asking for more detail about Contax cameras which we were happy to do. We get into some history, some real world reviews, advice, and other Contax nonsense. Everything from the pre and post war Contax rangefinders, the East German Contax SLRs, and the Yashica/Kyocera Contax cameras were discussed. In addition to Contax discussion, Mike gives an update on what became of the Detrola 400 he "borrowed" from Roberts Camera, Dan shares his thoughts on his most recent review of the Ansco Memo and we talk about Memo cameras. Anthony shares his photographic adventures he went on traveling to New Zealand, and Paul confesses his love for adapting Contaflex 126 lenses! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. We will welcome i...

Episode 82: The Coolest Digital Cameras

Nov 30, 2024 1 hr 55 min

When you collect vintage film cameras, if they don't work, just send it out for a CLA and some technician will take it apart, clean it up, lube what needs lubing, calibrate the shutter and it is ready to go, good as new! How boring! If the simplicity of CLAing a film camera is not enough of a challenge for you, perhaps you should consider collecting vintage digital cameras. Incompatible memory cards, legacy file systems, unsupported USB cables, and batteries which no longer hold a charge are all the rage! Although the era of digital cameras barely exceeds three decades, the earliest days of digital saw a tremendous amount of innovation and strange designs because camera makers were still trying to figure out what and how a digital camera should look and work like. In this episode, the Camerosity crew (minus Anthony) go over this early innovative era of digital camera design and pick out some of the coolest cameras of the era. Many of these cameras have early sensors which do not stand up to the quality of modern designs, but that's not why we collect them, Joining Paul, Theo, and Mike are returning callers AJ Gentile, Larry Effler, Mark Faulkner, Miles Libak, Pat Casey, Stephen Strangways, and Will Pinkham and we cover a great deal of history regarding the earliest and most important digital cameras like the Kodak DCS-100, Nikon E2Ns, and Minolta RD-175. We declare two cameras from the late 1990s to be historically significant moments in camera design, on par with that of the Leica and Nikon F. Stephen Strangways shares with us his wide depth of knowledge about camera sensors. We discuss the differences between CCD and CMOS sensors, why companies made the switch between the two, motivations of Live View, and why DSLRs eventually gave way to digital mirrorless cameras. We discuss the limitations of early CCD sensors, what are hot mirror filters, why we think Nikon missed the mark on mirrorless, plus we cover a great deal of cool digital cameras, some of wh...

Episode 81: No One Is Immune to GAS

Nov 23, 2024 1 hr 51 min

At the end of Episode 80, we promised an entire show dedicated to Zeiss-Ikon. Unfortunately, things got in the way of us being able to dedicate the necessary time to prepare to cover such a complex and important company, so we decided to pivot and do another GAS episode. Anthony and Theo were only able to make brief appearances, but joining Paul and Mike on this show was a well rounded cast of callers including AJ Gentile, Antony Hands, Fernando from Germany, Rafael E, Wannes Scheipers, Will Pinkham, and first time callers, Andrew Curley, Charles Lawson, and Jem! A large number of Zeiss-Ikon cameras were discussed including the Contax rangefinders, Contarex, folding Nettars, Contina, Contaflex, and the square format Tenax and Taxonas. AJ shares his thoughts on his recent pickups of a Aires 35-V and Rolleiflex SL35, Wannes picks up an interesting book about the Kodak Vest Pocket, and Charles shares a story of how he gets his Kiev cameras repaired by a Ukrainian war hero. Mike talks about a very rare camera he was able to "borrow" from Used Photo Pro in Indianapolis, along with some recommendations on the most innovative and best user American rangefinders and medium format cameras, and a very well done book about the career of Heinz Waaske. We also cover a very strange 1980s Fisher-Price video camera that records video onto standard audio cassettes, the I'm Back Digital Camera back, why auto focus lens adapters all suck, and Antony shares his love for the JollyLook foldable instant camera and pinhole camera. This was a wide ranging episode with a huge number of different cameras and topics covered, so rather than continue to promote it here, I recommend you hit the play button below, or on whatever your favorite podcast player is and enjoy! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the...

Episode 80: Totally 80s

Nov 7, 2024 1 hr 46 min

Everyone get out your Aqua Net hair spray and G.I. Joe lunchboxes because it is time to hop in the Hot Tub Time Machine and go back to the 80s! In this, the 80th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, we revisit the decade where Michael Jackson and Madonna reigned supreme, taking a look at everyone's favorite cameras from that decade. The Nikon F3, Minolta Maxxum 7000, Olympus XA2, the Minox 35 series, Contax RTS II, and many, many more. Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this show are returning callers AJ Gentile, Mark Faulkner, Miles Libak, Mina Saleeb, Pat Casey, Patrick Rapps, Will Pinkham, and first time caller Christopher Wells. Each person shares stories of the cameras they used during the 1980s, but Patrick Rapps didn't get the message about the 20th century and went back all the way to 1889 with his beautiful and fully functioning Kodak No.2 String Set. This camera was the follow-up to the original 1888 Kodak and shares many of the same design features, including that camera's distinct round film gate! We get into a little bit of history of early point and shoot cameras and how their autofocus systems work and why so many of these early cameras consistently have such high image quality. We discuss the history and merits of Kodak's Disc film cameras and two features of those cameras that influenced cameras that would come later. We revisit the era of electronic still video cameras like the Canon Xap Shop and the original Sony Mavica. We talk about focusing auto focus cameras and reflect back on how focus screens work from the Rick Oleson episode. Theo shares with us a strange 3 lens 110 film camera, and finally, we answer a question asked in the Camerosity Facebook page about a recommendation of a compact SLR for a 10 year old. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on th...

Episode 79: Medium Format SLRs

Oct 21, 2024 1 hr 31 min

On this episode of the Camerosity Podcast, the guys took a suggestion off the top of the Camerosity Suggestion Box™ and dedicated this episode to medium format SLRs. That's right, finally, an entire episode dedicated to Bronica, Mamiya, Rolleiflex, Kiev, and Norita SLRs (but not that H-brand). Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this show are returning callers A.J. Gentile, Brian Zeman, Miles Libak, Will Pinkham, and first time callers Andrew Wells, Fernando from Germany, Henry Blanton, Robert Wawrzinek, and Tom Zoss. The show gets off to a quick start with the Bronica system, one that Mike has limited experience with, but the listeners make quick work out of recommending an accessory that Mike immediately decided he needed. Our love for this Japanese SLR starts with the early S-series, moves into the GS, and finally ETRS series, but one is a clear favorite. Another well received SLR is the Kowa Six which Mike has been tirelessly shooting in the weeks prior to this show, ready to share his thoughts. Anthony and Andrew both share their strong desires to own a Rolleiflex SL66, and Fernando shares his love for Soviet and East German medium format SLRs. A huge number of "less common" cameras like the KW Reflex Box, VEB WEFO Master Reflex, Fujita Six, Folmer-Graflex National Graflex, and both the horizontal and vertical versions of the Ihagee Exakta 66 get their mentions. We point out the 6x6 SLR with the fastest medium format lens ever made, who is best to repair Mamiya SLRs, and ponder the age old question, "Why didn't anyone ever make a 6x9 SLR?" We get a little off topic, discussing John Minnick's Aero-Liberator SLRs used by Graham Burnett, Graflex's "Stove Top" SLRs, and Tom Zoss's custom Graflex XL with a very wide Rodenstock lens on it. Plus, as an added bonus, we cover the only 16mm SLR in any of our collections, the KMZ Narciss SLR! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have t...

Episode 78: Super Ikontas, Pearls, and No Anthony!

Oct 7, 2024 1 hr 12 min

One of the benefits to having four hosts is that if something comes up and someone can't be on a recording, the show can go on. For Episode 78, we were short Anthony, so what did the guys decide to talk about while he wasn't there? One of Anthony's favorite cameras of course! The Zeiss-Ikon Super Ikonta 532/16 is a medium format folding camera that shoots 6cm x 6cm images and is one of the very few medium format folding cameras with both a rangefinder and fast f/2.8 lens. In addition to it being one of Anthony's favorite cameras, it is also a favorite of professional photographer Johnny Martyr who, along with a stable of vintage Leicas, shoots his Super Ikonta professionally, offering medium format prints to his clientele. On this episode, Johnny shares with us his motivation on why he incorporated medium format into his business and why he chose this specific camera. Episode 78 was light on guests as Paul, Theo, and Mike were also joined by returning callers AJ Gentile and Miles Libak, but we made up for it with a nice discussion of GAS! The conversation eventually moved from 6x6 folders to 4.5x6 folders and Mike gave his recommendation on one of the best Japanese 4.5x6 folding rangefinder cameras, the Konica Pearl IV. In addition, Mike also recommended an unlikely 6x9 folding camera as a value champion that still punches above its weight with a great lens. Paul shares some recent cameras he's dug out of his crypt and Theo talks about his recent adventures with a Nikon S2 and Olympus Pen FT and how he accidentally redscaled some film without knowing it. We briefly discuss the merits of prism based viewfinders and what would happen if you purposely loaded black and white film backwards. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or coll...

Episode 77: Camerosity Blogging

Oct 1, 2024 1 hr 37 min

In what is a record for the longest time between recording and release, Episode 77 is finally here! Recorded more than 2 weeks ago, in this episode we follow up Episode 76 with a second episode about "stuff we know". Before they were podcast superstars, Theo, Mike, and Paul have blogs and we wanted to share some behind the scenes secrets of the wonderful world of blogging. Joining us are fellow bloggers, Peggy Marsh, Alex Luyckx, Eric Jason, Dan Cuny, and Jim Grey who tell us their origin stories, what their process is for how they choose what to write about, and what's next for their blogs. Joining us are non bloggers, A.J. Gentile and Will Pinkham who get inspired and consider making their own blog! As a group, we also discuss the state of blogging, has the luster of long form reviews been replaced by byte sized content from TikTok and Instagram Reels? Alex discusses his experiences with Adox Scala and black and white reversal developers, Dan Cuny talks about his collection of vintage film negatives that he scans and posts online, and Paul reveals a guy he found in China that can modify standard Hasselblad backs, turning them into Hasselblad XPan sized panoramic backs. Because of a combination of regular delays along with a laptop crash which required this episode to be edited from beginning to end twice, Episode 78 has already been recorded before Episode 77 was ready for release. Paul, Theo, and Mike had an intimate discussion with Johnny Martyr, A.J. Gentile, and Miles Libak about shooting medium format, Mike's favorite Japanese 4.5x6 folding camera, and how the process of professionally shooting film in the digital age has changed from before. Episode 79 will be all about medium format SLRs. If you're interested in Bronica, Mamiya, Kowa, Norita, Praktisix, (but hot Hasselblad) SLRs, this is the episode for you! We will record on Monday, October 14th at 7pm Central Daylight Time and 8pm Eastern Daylight Time. The guys and I rarely know where each ep...

Episode 76: Buying and Selling Cameras

Sep 11, 2024 1 hr 47 min

For most episodes of this show, we rely on experts to come and talk to us about a specific topic. We value the experiences and knowledges of people who know a lot about a brand or a style of camera to teach us something that we didn't already know. For Episode 76 however, we decided to go with something the Camerosity hosts are already experts on, which is buying and selling cameras. You don't get to have the experiences between the four hosts without access to a great deal of hardware, so we thought for this episode we would share some stories of how we all got to where we are at today. In addition to our personal experiences, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike share their best tips and tricks not only for buying cameras but also when it comes time to sell something. Joining us on this episode are returning callers, Mark Faulkner, Mike Litwin, Will Pinkham, and first time caller Cody Yoder. We cover the basics of buying and selling on eBay but also ways in which we've accumulated gear through estate sales, Facebook Marketplace, and through good old human interaction. Paul shares his thoughts on the state of buying and selling, Mike discusses one of his favorite eBay sellers and why he doesn't buy from them anymore, and Anthony shares his story for how he met one of the most eccentric camera collectors in Florida. In addition to buying and selling, Cody tells us a story about how he literally walked into a garage full of Hasselblads, Theo gives us an update on what it was like shooting and developing film while on vacation in Vietnam and Paul answers a question for how he decides how much to offer a seller when buying a large collection. For the next episode, we are sticking with topics we know well and will dedicate Episode 77 entirely to blogging. This podcast wouldn't exist if Mike had never started mikeeckman.com and met Anthony, Paul, and Theo through his site, so if you've ever been interested into the behind the scenes of researching and reviewing camera...

Episode 75: The Definitive Pentax Podcast with Gerjan van Oosten

Aug 15, 2024 1 hr 17 min

A brand of camera that we've talked quite a bit about on this show is Pentax, but in every episode where this brand came up, the same book and author gets brought up as a great resource for screw mount Pentax and Takumar lenses, which is "The Ultimate/Definitive Asahi Pentax Collector's Guide 1952-1977" by Gerjan van Oosten. While this is a great book to read, this is a podcast, so we like to talk to people, so for Episode 75, rather than continue to talk about a book, we went straight to the source and got the book's author, Gerjan van Oosten to join us! For this episode, we were missing Theo, but joining Anthony, Paul, Mike, and Gerjan are returning callers Patrick Casey and Wannes Scheipers. Gerjan discusses some of his least favorite Takumar lenses, backwards compatibility of Takumar lenses, what's so special about the 8-element Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 lenses, why the Spotmatic doesn't actually have a spot meter, what Honeywell had to do with Pentax, export market cameras like the Asahiflex H2 and Asahi Pentar, and a fun discussion about a prototype camera called the Pentax Metalica. In addition to Pentax camera and lens GAS, we get into discussions about why so many early SLRs had 58mm lenses, a little bit of Nikon history, Anthony's recent habit of breaking into churches, shooting the Horseman Convertible, and Mike's thoughts on the Leica M5. Gerjan covers his book and that there's three editions of the camera, all with significant changes from the earlier versions. Only the latest 2023 edition is currently for sale direct from him, so if you're interested in buying this excellent book straight from him, he sells them direct on eBay at the following link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/335212596808 We had a lot of fun recording this episode, but we will be taking a break from new shows for a little while. Although we have some ideas for future shows, nothing is planned at the moment, nor do we know when the next episode will be recorded, so be sure to look...

Episode 74: Third Party Lenses and Home Developing Hacks

Jul 25, 2024 1 hr 52 min

As the world's first, number one, and only open source film photography podcast, we take pride in that in each episode you all get to influence the discussions we have. For Episode 74, we decided to take it a step farther and dedicate the entire episode to two broad topics that listeners of this show have suggested to us. The first is to cover the confusing and wide array of third party lenses and the second to go over some tips and tricks for home film development. Never ones to disappoint our listeners, the gang took your suggestions to heart and turned both into a whole episode...mostly! Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike was a full house of returning callers A.J. Gentile, Dan Cuny, Dan Hausman, Mario Piper, Michael Wescott (Wes) Loder, Miles Libak, Ray Nason, Robert Coates, Will Pinkham, and Mark (sorry, Mark, we didn't get your last name!) We quickly jump into a lens discussion first clarifying what exactly is considered a Third Party Lens maker? From there the wormhole quickly opens as we bounce around with discussions regarding Asanuma, Vivitar, Kiron, and what Mike calls the "German B-List Lens Makers" like Steinheil, A.Schacht, Staeble, Enna-Werk, and many others. Wes jumps in and pivots the discussion to the vast array of lenses available for the Akarette/Akarelle and Lordomat systems, and then Mike quickly gets back on track professing his love for the Wirgin Edixa. We cover the Voigtländer Zoomar and the rash of very good Chinese lens makers like TTArtisan, 7Artisans, Light Lens Labs, and the obscure Japanese lens maker MS-Optics. For home development, we cover a whole host of hacks from doubling up on rolls of 120 on a single spool, how Mike pushes HC-110 to the absolute limit when developing black and white and Anthony chimes in with his suggestions for how to make shooting a Minox camera the most affordable way possible. We get into other things like tips for flatbed scanning and what everyone thinks about digitizing. It was certainly a l...

Episode 73: Fuji and Ricoh

Jul 20, 2024 1 hr 47 min

For the second episode in a row, we promised to deliver a thrilling discussion about two brands of Japanese cameras that have more in common than you might think. Fuji and Ricoh both started making products for the photography industry right before the war, but originally started out in different industries, for Fuji, it was celluloid plastics and Ricoh (then called Riken) it was as a chemicals research company. Each took a path making lenses and cameras, but in both instances photography was never each company's main focus. Both Fuji and Ricoh invested heavily in the photocopier industry in the later part of the 20th century, and both successfully made the jump into the digital camera world. Both companies continue to make new cameras today, Fuji with their excellent lineup of X-Series digital mirrorless, and Ricoh with their GR point and shoots and their ownership of the Pentax brand. In this episode, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike are joined by Paul's personal Fuji rep, Bob Grzesiak, returning callers Brad Swain, Howard Sandler, Mark Faulkner, Miles Libak, and first time caller, Dan Cuny. We extensively cover many of Fuji's medium format cameras from the Texas Leica, their variety of 4.5x6, 6x7, 6x8, 6x9, and even their lone 6x17 model, plus the company's mid century rangefinders, the extremely compact and very quirky Fujica Mini, their entry into SLRs with the Fujicarex, the Fuji ST-series, and the unloved Fuji AX-series. For Ricoh, time is spent on their Auto-Half series and Hi-Color 35, along with some of Ricoh's screw mount SLRs and Mike's favorite Ricoh, the Anscomark M interchangeable lens rangefinder camera. In addition, we get to hear which of these two companies used to throw the best parties for camera dealers, a little bit of history regarding the Fuji Finepix S-Series DSLRs, a bit about the Ricoh GR-series, plus a strange digital camera that had not only interchangeable lenses, but also interchangeable sensors, plus some bonus discussion about...

Episode 72: Pentax 17, Rollei 35 AF, and Widelux-X OH MY!!!

Jun 28, 2024 1 hr 46 min

We return with the first episode with all four hosts in nearly two months with a great show. We had plans to discuss Fuji and Ricoh on this episode, but like our reputation as the first and only open source film photography podcast, sometimes things don't go as planned. Recorded within a week of the release of the new half-frame Pentax 17 and a video preview of the upcoming Rollei 35 AF, the gang and I just knew we had to share our thoughts on these two new cameras. But since none of us have actually seen either camera, we called someone who we knew would have some insight into what it is like to make a new camera in 2024, Marwan El Mozayen from Silvergrain Classics. As you remember, in Episode 52, Marwan came on the show and talked about his project re-releasing the Widelux panoramic camera, along with the support of none other than Jeff Bridges. Joining Marwan, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this episode are returning callers AJ Gentile, Daniel Bemes, Patrick Casey, Patrick Rapps, Skip Williams, William Pinkham, and first time callers Antony Hands, John Frank, and Brad (we never did get Brad's last name!) We extensively cover the Pentax 17 and the announcement of the Rollei 35 AF with some behind the scenes thoughts on the development of both cameras, but after covering those two models, Marwan shares with us what's new with the new Widelux, where in development it is at, and possible futures for the camera. Beyond that, we discuss other swing lens cameras like the Noblex and Viscawide 16, and after that we finally manage to get into Fuji a bit, mainly with their instant film cameras, we cover models like the FP-1, the merits of Instax Wide, and even a brief mention of Fuji's Integral film, called Fuji Ace. Antony shares with us his love for the Fuji GF670 and GF670W, and Mike promotes a new Argus book that was recently released. This was a very fun episode chock full of great discussion and interesting information. As always, the topics we discuss on...

Episode 71 Part 2: The Second Part

Jun 20, 2024 1 hr 30 min

As promised, here is the second half of the first ever two part episode in the Camerosity Podcast's history! This one features your two favorite Camerosity hosts Theo and Mike, but unlike in the first half, we had the call in lines open. Joining us are returning callers Brian Howard, Ira Cohen, Mark Faulkner, Patrick Casey, Will Pinkham, and first time caller Erik Geiger. In this episode we get into a variety of topics such as the effects World War II had on the production of cameras during and after the war, Mark admits that he doesn't like his Leica M3 and wishes he had an M2 instead, how Ira ended up with two Ensign Multexes with no lenses, Theo's recent pickup of a Balda Super Baldinette, Mike's "reverse GAS" pickup of a Canon A1 and his recent test of a Super Pentacon 35mm SLR, and how much everyone loves the Pentax Q series for shooting C and D-Mount lenses. If two Camerosity Podcast releases in the same week isn't enough to satisfy your "nerdy podcast cravings", look for our upcoming announcement for Episode 72 on Friday. We will record this episode on Monday, June 24th at our regular time of 7pm Central and 8pm Eastern. We are going to get back to what we do best and talk about cameras! For this episode, we have chosen the one-two punch of Fujica and Ricoh cameras. The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance. Links The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” sect...

Episode 71 Part 1: Our First Two Parter!

Jun 18, 2024 50 min

In what has been the most hectic period of the podcasts history, Paul went on a month's long vacation to Ireland, Theo became the most important man in Corporate Australia, Anthony's personal life dialed it up a notch, and Mike became Mr. Soccer Tournament Man so the scheduling of four hosts in three different time zones, two continents, and one podcast became difficult. Not wanting to deprive you all of more of the nerdiest film photography discussion, we decided to throw caution to the wind and record separately, first with Anthony, Paul, and Mike, and then again with Theo, Mike, and you all. The original plan was to edit these two separate recordings together, but even that became too difficult, so we decided to break up both recordings into two halves of Episode 71...our first Two Parter! In this episode, Anthony tells us about alligator mating calls and how he's thinking of selling his collection to buy a Leica M2, Paul meets up with Brian MacDomhnaill and then convinces another site listener to buy a Nikon point and shoot, and Mike tells us about a rare camera he was loaned by a reader of his site. We cover a great deal of other topics as well, but unlike most episodes where I painstakingly type up an index of topics, for this one, you'll just have to listen and discover whatever nonsense we discuss, on your own! As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you've been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining! You won't have to wait long for the next episode as Episode 71 Part 2 will be just around the corner, but after that, we are planning Episode 72 to be recorded on Monday, June 24th at our regular time of 7pm Central and 8pm Eastern. We are go...

Episode 70: The Best of the 1970s

May 4, 2024 1 hr 44 min

Is it a coincidence or did we plan it all along? Episode 70 of the Camerosity Podcast is all about the 70s! In this episode, the gang does our best to fit the best, the worst, and other noteworthy camera and photographic advancements of an entire decade into a 104 minute podcast! Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this episode are returning callers Daniel Belmes, Jordan Berube, Patrick Casey, Tim Peters, and first time callers Gheerwijn Clicque and Will Pinkham. We start off this episode dedicated to the 1970s, discussing a camera from...the 1960s! As we often do, the show gets off topic quickly and we end up discussing the merits of the Canon Pellix and pellicle mirrors, but we get back on track with other Canon SLRs like the Canon AE-1 and A-1. We discuss the beginning of the auto focus era, and cover the first ever auto focus SLR. In addition, the topic of everyone's favorite 1970s film, Pocket Instamatic Type 110 is discussed, why it was invented, notable cameras that used it, and some tips and tricks to home developing and scanning your own 110 film. We declare the two companies who we think were the most and least innovative camera makers of the 1970s. Can you guess who they are? I'll give you a hint, one of them rhymes with "Schmoloroid"! Realizing that we made it more than halfway through the show without discussing too many cameras, we did a lightning round asking everyone to share their favorite, least favorite, and at least one noteworthy camera from the 1970s. Be sure to listen to the show and see if your 1970s camera was mentioned. As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you've been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!...

Episode 69: Mike Butkus, King of Camera Manuals

Apr 19, 2024 1 hr 31 min

In the 68 previous episodes of the Camerosity Podcast, we've had the pleasure of talking to a wide variety of fascinating guests. We've had collectors, historians, former Kodak employees, camera repair technicians, and a variety of other bloggers and other assorted people in the industry. Each of those people were fascinating guests, but each had a special niche where their skill and experience fit in and not every listener of this might would have known who they were. In this episode however, our special guest is Mike Butkus, someone whose name should ring a bell to anyone who has ever picked up an old camera and searched for information on it online. It is impossible to collect cameras and never have stumbled upon the massive collection of cameras manuals at Mike's site. His site has over 6000 high resolution scans of manuals for film and digital cameras, flashes, exposure meters, and much more, available for everyone to view and download for free. Mike's site is not only big, but it has been around for over a quarter of a century, making it one of the oldest still operating film and digital photography sites out there. Be sure to check out Episode 69 where Anthony, Paul, Theo and Mike are joined by returning callers Ray Nason, Howard Sandler, and first time callers Brian Zeman and Jordan Berube. In addition to hearing Mike's origin story and getting a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes at the world's largest depot of camera manuals, we venture into a wide variety of other topics, such as tips and tricks to selling a large camera collection, what is everyone's favorite 6 x 9 camera, and how heavy is a Koni-Omegaflex M TLR. Theo shares a story about a camera he bought, then returned, and may one day buy again, Mike gets yelled at by a site reader for mistaking a 2¼ x 3¼ camera for a 6 x 9 camera, and Howard asks why old folding Kodaks aren't valued by collectors. Donate to Mike Butkus: For the past 25 years, Mike Butkus has run his camera manual...

Episode 68: April Fool's Day with Johnny and Dan

Apr 7, 2024 1 hr 39 min

For this, the 68th episode of the World's Number One Open Source Film Photography Podcast, the gang invited our friend and film photographer Johnny Martyr to share with us his love of Leicas. As is the case any time the topic of cameras made by everyone's favorite Wetzlar based company is mentioned, the Force™ beckons our own resident Leica Master, Dan Tamarkin, who also joins us on our first ever April Fool's Day episode! What is real and what is fake?! Are Johnny and Dan really here or did Mike just find a really convincing AI voice generator?! NO ONE KNOWS! Helping Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike differentiate between reality and imagination, are returning callers Bob Rotoloni, Mark Faulkner, Patrick Casey, Raymond Nason, and first time callers Alan Peres, and Brock's Garage! Starting off the episode, Johnny talks a bit about his business, shooting film and digital with his wife and what kinds of customers would hire a film photographer. Of all the reasons someone might want a professional photographer, there is one type of gig that people tend to favor film more, but what is it? Johnny also talks about how when he first got started, his customers struggled to differentiate his film shots from his wife's digital shots, so he sought out ways to come up with his own style. For the second episode in a row, Leica R SLRs have captivated the Camerosity Crew, and Paul, Mike, and Dan discuss all of Leicas different SLRs, and what they like about each one. Mike recently shot three different Leica SLRs and clearly loved one over the others, but which one was it? Have you ever struggled loading film into bottom loading Leica screw mount (and similar) cameras? Does trimming the leader to the necessary length cause you heartache and slow you down too much? If so, Johnny has found a new type of take up spool that works in most screw mount Leicas (and copies) that greatly simplifies loading film into these cameras without having to trim the leader. Enter Ausgeknipst...

Episode 67: The Return of Rick Oleson

Mar 22, 2024 1 hr 37 min

There's the old saying "If you're going to shoot the king, don't miss..." In a recent episode of a rival podcast, shots were fired at the Camerosity crew, especially Mike for a perceived slight given by us. War was declared and many casualties were sure to ensue. Would the world's first and only open source photography podcast respond? Of course we would! In this, the 67th episode of the Camerosity Podcast, Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike have some good natured fun at the expense of Jeff Greenstein and Gabe Sachs of the I Dream of Cameras podcast. Throughout the episode we make repeated jabs at them, some obvious, some very subtle, can you spot them all? Of course, this IS the number one open source film photography podcast, so we did eventually get on track with the exciting return of Mr. Rick Oleson, which we haven't seen since way back in Episode 2. Rick is a master repair technician, who most recently became well known in the film community for a line of improved Bright Screens which can be adapted to a wide variety of medium format SLR and TLR cameras. Joining Rick and the Gang are returning callers, A.J Gentile, Eric Jason, Ray Nason, and Tim Peters. During the show we spend a great deal of time learning about Rick and his history repairing cameras and how he got into making the Bright Screens. If you thought you knew everything there was to know about focusing screens, you really need to listen to this episode as Rick puts on his cap and gown and schools us on how focusing screens work, why the Bright Screens are better than the stock screens, why you cannot simply cut down his screens to 35mm, and why focusing screens in the auto focus era were brighter than in the past. We talk about Fresnel patterns and the advancements made throughout the 20th century to make your viewfinders brighter, and how to install a new screen in large format cameras. In addition to everything you didn't know you needed to know about focusing screens, Rick raves about a...

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Episode 115: Four Favorite Cameras

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🇳🇿 Technology Best #67

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🇨🇦 Technology Best #144

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Podcast details

Created by: Mike Eckman
Status: Active
Latest episode: Nov 6, 2026
Episodes: 100
Release period: Monthly
Avg. episode length: 1 hr 37 min
Explicit: No
Language: English

Links

Official website ↗ Apple Podcasts ↗ RSS feed ↗

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