"Free Space" this week means just about anything goes. But since I talked about photographic negatives in week 12, I thought I'd continue that into cameras. Believe it or not, we have a collection of every camera that was used to make those same negatives.
Because my husband is an amateur photographer and was usually the one with camera in hand at family gatherings, some vintage family cameras were sent our way. Some we picked up because no one else wanted them. And the rest are cameras that we have owned through our life. Ebay and Etsy have been great in finding some vintage film and flash bulbs and manuals to go along with various cameras in the collection.
We have about 30 cameras that range in age from 1901 to 2011 (not counting cell phones!) My favorite one is the Pocket Kodak 1A because of it's style. It was made from 1926-1932. The one that we have was owned by my grandfather and confirmed as we have a photo of him with the camera in hand.
My grandfather Floyd Heacock in center holding his No 1A Pocket Kodak Series II Camera
My husband became interested in photography when he was a young boy. He had found an old camera in his home's attic. It was an Imperial Debonair camera made from the 1950's to 60's. Over the years, the camera disappeared and he always wished he still had it. We started searching the internet for one, going just by his memory of what it looked like. Through trial and error, we actually found one! A great kid size for a beginner.
Imperial Debonair camera
Sometime in the 1980's my husband, after years of not using a camera, jumped back in. He started out with a Canon AE1P using film, a more professional 35mm camera compared to the usual family camera. He upgraded once to another 35mm film camera and I moved on to a few nice compact film cameras. I kind of became our snapshot and video person, while he developed an interest in outdoor photography, landscapes and such. Over the years my husband built a nice collection of lenses and accessories to go along with his camera. When digital cameras came along, he waited to switch over until he found just the right model to continue his hobby. This was the Canon EOS 5D. He has used it ever since.
I can't forget to mention Polaroid cameras. We have two. One was ours and the other one belonged to my grand aunt. They were fun to use but never became our main camera.
We also have had some movie cameras over the years. The one from the 1950's, a Brownie Fun Saver, is the same one that we used for movies of our children born in the 70's. No sound in those days unless you had one of those bulky VHS movie cameras. We skipped those and later upgraded to the Canon 514XL, still no sound but that was coming. We upgraded once last time to a Canon ZR800, finally sound movies! Each time the upgrade was usually due to the film and then battery packs becoming obsolete or very hard to find in pre-internet days.
After these movie cameras, digital cameras were being made that had the capability of video recording in addition to snapshots, so only one camera was needed. This time, I moved on from a film camera to a digital. With the freedom to take as many photos and videos as I wanted, I also became somewhat more interested in taking photos of things other than family. By this time, we were hiking and traveling to places that we wanted to photograph. Using cameras has taken us to places we may never have seen otherwise. Lot's of fun and memories.
I still break out my last camera, the Canon Power Shot from 2011 once in awhile, but I now rely on my Iphone for most of the photos and videos I take. And I sometimes still get a bit nostalgic for the film camera experience. You take your photo, wait to finish the roll, anxiously wait for the film to be developed so you can relive the memories through the printed photo. Today, we take so many photos with our phones that sometimes they get lost or are not often looked at as much as we used to with film. But we all still take photos. A moment frozen in time that gives us memories every time we see it.
One side story to share is about this ashtray.
The owner of the photographic shoppe advertised here is my husband's 1st cousin 2 times removed. He was Irvin Sinton who was born in 1889 and died in 1945 in the town of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, also our hometown. Irvin's wife Maude, ran the shoppe for many years after Irvin's death. Irvin was also a photographer. A classmate of my husband's, posted a photo of this ashtray a few years back. I knew right away who it was. After sharing a few family related comments on the post, the friend sent it to my husband. It sits with our camera collection. It would also appear that my father in law used the Sinton Photo shoppe to have film developed as well. We found the envelope with some negatives inside. Imagine --- only $1.30 to develop 3 rolls of film!
Photography seems to be prevalent in our immediate Sinton family. Two nephews of this family are making some side income from photography, one with portrait work and the other as a freelance sports photographer for his local newspaper. And both of our children are blossoming amateur photographers. And grandchildren -- we became the ones to buy them their first cameras. Most of them used them for awhile but phones eventually replaced them as well. But happy to see them using something to still take photos.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
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