3

Cameras and Film Formats

Still cameras are not just distinguished by the way they are built, but also by the film size they use.

Sensor and negative sizes, from cell phone to large format camera

When deciding which camera type or format you want to work with, you should consider the subjects you prefer to shoot and/or how quickly (or inconspicuously) you want to work. Each type of photography has very individual requirements in terms of image quality and material. For example, photojournalists have a different set of needs from their equipment than photographers who shoot images of architecture.

Further Links

• Wikipedia: Film format https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format
• Wikipedia: Cameras https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera
• Camerapedia http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Camerapedia

3.135mm

35mm cameras use film that’s 35mm wide. These cameras usually expose frames that are 24×36mm. More rare models produce half-frame 24×18mm-sized images, or panorama formats of up to 24×70mm.

In 1905, development engineer Oskar Barnack had the idea of using the cine-film available in the early 20th century for a new, handy-sized camera. Barnack, who later became the head of the microscope construction department at Leitz, loved hiking but suffered from asthma. He wanted a lightweight alternative to his 13×18cm bellows camera so he could more quickly and easily take photos on his tours through the mountains.

35mm Olympus XA

“Dorotheenstraße,” 35mm on Kodak Tri-X

It took until 1924 for the first 35mm camera, designed by Barnack, to be mass-produced by Leitz. The Leica (Leitz Camera) was introduced to the public in 1925 at the Leipzig Spring Trade Fair. With it began a new era in documentary photography and photojournalism.

3.1.1The Film

35mm film is wound onto a spool (plastic these days, metal in the past) and stored in a lightproof cartridge. Nowadays, you usually buy this film ready-made in cartridges. Common units have availability for 24 or 36 pictures. Disposable cameras sometimes offer 27 pictures. Buying film by the meter and winding it yourself used to be very popular among pros and dedicated (and price-conscious) amateurs. This method is still available today—especially with black-and-white film—but it’s used much less.

35mm film

The cartridge with the 35mm film is placed into the camera and threaded into the winding spool either automatically, in the case of most modern cameras, or manually via the leader. Changing film halfway through a roll so you can use a different make or sensitivity of film is very complicated and rarely safe with most 35mm cameras. Rewinding makes the film leader disappear completely into the film cartridge; and reusable cassettes, commonly used in medium format cameras, are used quite rarely for 35mm cameras.

Thanks to their small format and quick film transport, 35mm cameras generally enable you to take a higher number of sequence shots in continuous mode than their larger film format brethren. The film cartridges take up less space, so the cameras can be built to be more compact. 35mm cameras are available in different designs; the most common types are single lens reflex cameras, viewfinder/rangefinder cameras, and compact cameras.

3.1.2Rangefinder

The rangefinder is still one of the lightest and quietest cameras, which is why it’s very popular, particularly in street photography and photojournalism. With this camera type, the viewfinder is on the left edge of the camera, outside of the lens axis. It is usually in the form of a little lens located behind a (generally rectangular) glass window. You can look at the subject with one eye through this viewfinder and keep the other eye on the surroundings. That takes a bit of practice, but can often be an advantage when it comes to picking the right moment to shoot.

Rangefinder camera KMZ Zorki 6

A disadvantage of this camera design is that the picture you see in the viewfinder does not match the picture seen by the lens. This is referred to as viewfinder parallax. Some rangefinder cameras compensate for this disadvantage by displaying an illuminated box in the viewfinder that you can move around to display the part of the picture you want to capture.

Most cameras of this type can be focused via a superimposed image. While targeting the subject in the viewfinder, a second viewfinder simultaneously records a second image. This image is projected into the viewfinder image via a rotating mirror. Through a mechanical contact below this mirror that is linked to the distance setting of the lens, this “ghost image” can be moved around. Once both images line up, the picture is in focus.

Rangefinder camera out of focus

Rangefinder camera in focus

Zeiss Ikonta with non-coupled rangefinder

The viewfinder image in cameras of this type is usually very bright for exact focusing in low light, so compared to cameras with autofocus systems, the manual focusing system of rangefinder cameras is advantageous in these situations.

Buying a Rangefinder Camera

Since the triumph of digital photography, we analog enthusiasts finally have the chance to buy film cameras at an affordable price. On camera stock exchanges, you can find at least one seller offering Leica-M models that are still pricey, yet affordable. Apart from Voigtländer, with the Bessa R cameras, Leica is one of the few manufacturers that still produces rangefinders for 35mm photography.

But there are plenty of other fish in the sea: on the secondhand market, the Yashica Electro 35 is a very interesting rangefinder camera with great optics for the cash-strapped photographer. Another exciting option—if somewhat idiosyncratic—is Leica replicas from Russia, e.g., by Zorki or FED.

Yashica Electro 35

3.1.3Single Lens Reflex Camera

The first mass-produced version of the SLR came onto the market in 1936: the Kine-Exakta by a company called Ihagee, in Dresden, Germany. This was a model with a waist-level finder, in which the finder image appeared inverted. With the invention of the roof pentaprism, which produces an (again) inverted (and therefore upright) image, modern finder designs became possible. Now you can see the picture at eye level and upright.

This type of camera offers the photographer an exact look at the frame of view. The picture captured by the lens is redirected via a flip-up mirror to the viewfinder above it. As a result, you see exactly what the lens sees. What you see is what you get—if your camera has a finder with 100% congruence. With single lens reflex cameras, you don’t get the parallax error of the rangefinder cameras, because the viewfinder is on the same axis as the lens.

Single lens reflex camera (SLR)

Schematic structure of a single lens reflex camera, seen from the side

Buying Single Lens Reflex Cameras

If you decide to (again) buy an analog single lens reflex camera, you have the choice between second-hand models from the pre-digital era or their modern equivalents. For about a hundred dollars, you can get a robust, high-quality secondhand camera by one of the big-name brands—e.g., a Nikon FE2 or models from the Canon A series. If you get ahold of a suitable standard lens or other fixed focal length on a camera stock exchange or online auction platform, you’re ready for analog photo excursions.

Only a few camera manufacturers still offer analog single lens reflex cameras. Nikon and Vivitar each have one model, both manufactured by Cosina (the Nikon FM10 and Vivitar V3800N); in the pro range, Nikon’s portfolio still includes its analog flagship, the F6.

3.2Medium Format: 6×6, 6×7, and 6×9

Size Does Matter

In the past, medium format, in its various versions, was expensive, and therefore used mostly by professional photographers. Nowadays, secondhand medium format cameras have become more affordable. Often it’s the tempting call of the larger format that draws hobby photographers from the digital realm (back) into the analog world. It’s exactly what happened to us. In medium format, you make first contact with the greater quality, sharpness, and rich tonal range of larger formats.

Medium format has a greater area available for receiving light, with more crystals than there are on 35mm film. This format can save more light information, but also more image information. Also, the light-sensitive silver halide crystals are smaller in comparison to the negative surface, which results in less visible grain.

The larger negative provides better image quality than the 35mm, but is still quicker and easier to process than the sheet film used in the even bigger formats. Due to the fact that the resolution capacity of the scanner does not have to be very high, hybrid post-processing is also quite affordable in this format. Suitable flatbed scanners are currently available for under 200 dollars.

The special charm lies in the option of being able to work with selective focus, even in wide-angle photography with a correspondingly open aperture. The following photo was shot with a Pentax 67, in which the normal focal length in relation to the 6×7 film format is approximately 100mm. The lens we used with 55mm focal length has about the same viewing angle as 28mm in a 35mm camera—but at the same time, it has the depth-of-field characteristics of the longer (55mm) focal length. Even at aperture 4, you get a depth of field that softly slides into blurriness.

Shot with 55mm on a Pentax 67

3.2.1Film Types

Roll Film Type 120

Roll film is the most frequent variety of medium format film. Depending on the camera you’re using, it can take about 15–16 exposures in 4.5×6 format (sizes in cm), 12 exposures in 6×6 format, 10 exposures in 6×7 format, and only 8 exposures in 6×9 format, the format used by many box cameras.

Medium format film with film spools, backing paper, and taped-on film

Roll film type 120 is 61.5mm wide, and not perforated (unlike 35mm film). A strip of backing paper, matte-black to film side, runs along the filmstrip. They are taped together at the beginning of the roll. This paper strip is slightly wider than the film and acts as a screen so you can load film into the camera in daylight. There are printed rows of numbers for the different film formats on the back of the paper strip that, in combination with a viewing window in the camera back, replace the frame counter in simple cameras.

Roll Film Type 220

Occasionally, you also still find rolls of type 220, but not every camera can use it. Type 220 does not have the continuous paper backing—just paper strips taped to it at the beginning and the end. You can fit twice as much of type 220 as type 120 on the same spool. Cameras with a counter window in the back cannot cope with this film, but many system cameras offer replaceable backs or rotatable/exchangeable plates to compensate for the lower thickness caused by the lack of backing paper.

Roll Film Type 620

This type of film has the same length and width as roll film type 120, but the spools are a bit slimmer and not directly compatible with cameras built for 120-type film—and vice versa. If you pick up one of the popular Brownie 620 box cameras from the flea market and try to use 120-type film, you’ll find that the film gets stuck in the camera sooner or later.

To fix this, you can modify film spools of type 120 film by removing the bulge on the edge. Alternatively, you can purchase old 620 spools on online auction sites or at flea markets, and then wind roll film type 120 onto the spools in the changing bag.

Film type 620 is no longer being mass-produced. You can find small quantities of type 120 wound onto 620-type spools offered by individual sellers on the Internet.

Roll Film Type 127

Type 127 is a 4.6cm-wide roll film introduced in 1912 by Kodak. Many box cameras, but also several twin-lens reflex cameras, such as the Baby Rolleiflex, use this narrow roll film. Like the wider type 120, it has a full-length paper backing with numbers printed on the back. As with type 120, these numbers are used for counting the frames in some cameras. The most common image format is 4×4cm with 12 exposures per film.

127 film is quite rare (e.g., as black-and-white film Rera Pan 100 127), but you can find some remaining stock from various brands online (e.g., Efke R100 and the Rollei Retro 80 S, Rollei Night-/Crossbird). Film 127, the “baby roll film” format, can be used with corresponding frames in a 35mm projector. As the 4×4cm image is about 1.7 times as large as 35mm, slide film of this type (sadly, no longer in production) is referred to as “super slides.”

3.2.2Image Formats

645

The format 645 stands for negatives in the size of 6×4.5cm, with which you can fit up to 16 photos on a roll of film type 120. This is the smallest film format in the classic medium format, and the most economic in terms of exposures per film. The cameras are, for medium format, usually quite small, and therefore lighter than their corresponding cameras in the larger film formats. Some cameras of the 6×6-class also offer a mask for this smaller format.

Mamiya 645

66

Square negatives are 6×6cm. This is surely the most popular medium format, and has a kind of cult status for many photographers. 12 exposures fit onto a roll of film type 120; 24 onto a roll of the more rare type 220. With this format, you’ll always have a nice, symmetrical frame to compose your shot in whether you’re in landscape or portrait orientation. However, if you are used to the aspect ratio of 35mm film, it can be quite challenging to find exciting compositions for the square format. Also, since all common paper formats for printing are rectangular, you end up with quite a lot of wasted space when printing square pictures.

For the square image format, there are cameras in all price classes, starting with plastic cameras from the universe of lomography (Holga and Diana) and cameras by the brands Pentacon and Kiev (sometimes lovingly referred to as “Eastern European divas” because of their particularities). Hasselblad is an example of a more expensive system camera.

Pentacon Six TL with Arsat 30mm lens, image format 6×6cm

67

The format 67 stands for negatives sized 6×7cm. Ten exposures fit onto a roll of 120 film. This format is also referred to as “ideal format” because its aspect ratio is the perfect size for most paper formats when printing.

There are some exciting cameras for this negative size: the Pentax 67 (classic SLR form factor) and the Mamiya 7 (rangefinder), for example. For SLR heavyweights of this class, there is a persistent rumor that you can hardly shoot hand-held because of the hefty mirror bounce. Personally, we have never found this to be a problem. The Pentax 67, which we refer to as “The Beast,” is one of our favorite “always-in-the-bag” cameras. In moderate wide-angle (55mm focal length), you can easily get sharp images at up to 1/30 second.

Pentax 67 (“The Beast”)

69

The negatives of format 69 are sized 6×9cm. This is the largest of the medium formats (apart from the even wider panorama formats) and is sometimes referred to as “small large format.” Many of the old box and viewfinder cameras use this format.

The format sizes mentioned above are always rounded values. The exact size of the exposures are as follows:

Voigtländer Bessa, film format 6×9cm

Roll Film Type 120, 220, and 620:

Roll Film Type 127:

3.2.3Camera Types

Medium format cameras are usually larger and wider than 35mm cameras in order to be able to hold the larger-sized film material. For medium format, there are cameras with mirrors (one-eyed or two-eyed cameras), viewfinders, and rangefinders that cater to different sizes and aspect ratios of negatives. The most common formats are 6×4.5, 6×6, and 6×7cm.

Twin-Lens Reflex Camera

The twin-lens reflex camera has two lenses, one for composing and one for the exposure, usually arranged above one another. To get a really bright picture onto the focusing screen, the lens for composing is often faster, even though it may have a simpler construction or lower-quality coating. With a few exceptions (the Mamiya C series), the lenses are not interchangeable. For close-ups, you can often get add-on lenses.

For most cameras of this type, the finder is a folding, waist-level finder on top of the camera, with an integrated Fresnel lens to distribute the brightness evenly. The picture in the waist-level finder is reversed (left to right), so it takes a bit of practice to work quickly and accurately with the camera. On the other hand, you can see the entire finder image with both eyes, which makes composing easier.

The “two-eyed” construction makes it possible to use a fixed mirror in these cameras. No moving mirror means less noise and vibration when you shoot. You can shoot silently and “from the hip” with these cameras, which is handy for street photography since this style of shooting is generally less conspicuous. In a portrait situation, the photographer can have constant eye contact with the model because there is no camera between them, just like with large format. This makes many people feel less targeted and more relaxed.

Most twin-lens reflex cameras can be found in medium format for roll film type 120 or 220. They generally expose negatives in the 6×6 format. A few camera manufacturers also offer a small version for 35mm and 127 film formats.

Rolleiflex

Single-Lens Reflex Camera

“One-eyed” cameras with mirrors are certainly among the most-sold cameras. In medium format, they often have the classic cube shape due to their high modularity (common brands include Hasselblad, Zenza Bronica, Rollei, and Mamiya). Their lenses, finder or prism modules, and film magazines are interchangeable. The flatter shape used in 35mm cameras is also available, both for cameras with a fixed pentaprism finder and cameras that offer the option of switching between pentaprism and waist-level finder (e.g., the Pentax 67 or Pentacon SIX).

Most of these cameras are more complicated to use effectively than a comparable 35mm camera. Few of these cameras have autofocus, and even the film transport is often manual. Integral exposure metering (partly with the function of automatic aperture control) is often only possible with a separate AE or measuring prism. The lower degree of automatization is usually not a problem, because these cameras are mainly used for landscape photography or photojournalism, not for sports photography.

Viewfinder or Rangefinder Cameras

The box cameras developed by Kodak are some of the oldest viewfinder cameras in medium format. These simple cameras, aimed almost exclusively at amateur and hobby photographers, were in production from 1900 to the late 1960s, and used the various roll film types. Later, it was more common for these cameras to use 35mm film. At the beginning of the box camera era, you would buy the camera ready-loaded, return it for processing complete with film, and then get the developed photos back with the camera already re-loaded. An early advertising slogan by Kodak summed it up neatly: “You press the button, we do the rest.”

Box camera

In addition to the classic box shape, there were also boxes with fashionably rounded plastic housing. Some special shapes, such as the two-eyed Bonita-Box 66 by Bilora, blurred the boundaries between the one-eyed box camera and the dual-lens reflex camera. Most boxes are designed for roll film type 120 or 620 and expose negatives in the format 6×9cm. Later, foldable field cameras (bellows cameras), all with different qualities of finder mechanisms, lenses, and shutters, expanded the range of available cameras in every class from amateur to pro. At the top end of this range, there were press cameras for formats 6×7, 6×8, and 6×9cm with interchangeable film holders, lenses, and flashes.

If a camera has an optical finder with a focusing aid linked to the distance setting of the lens, it’s referred to as rangefinder camera. In medium format, these models have a certain advantage regarding handling, size, and weight due to the absence of a mirror. A current representative of this camera type is the Fuji GF670 (outside of Japan, it’s sold as the Voigtländer Bessa III), which exposes photos in the 6×6 and 6×7cm format.

3.3Large Format: 4×5"

Freiburg Minster, Chamonix with 65mm

Now we move on to the premium class of film photography: the large format.

If medium format already offers a big leap in terms of quality compared to 35mm, the photographer can access an entire new dimension of detail clarity and rich tonal range if a negative can suddenly be a Letter/A4 size. As soon as you step into the world of large format, the negative size is theoretically unlimited. Some photographers even build their own cameras using film that’s three feet wide, or work with specially cut X-ray film. Others convert car trailers into cameras and pour the required photographic emulsion themselves.

Graflex Crown Graphic, 4×5” press camera

Whether you use a 4×5 inch field camera, an antique studio camera, or a home-built large format giant, all cameras have one thing in common: they are beautiful and endlessly fascinating.

What is large format?

Large format starts with negatives sized 4×5 inches. Film for the German 9×12cm or 18×24cm formats is rarely available today and the associated film holders sold on flea markets and camera markets are generally slow sellers. The international 4×5 inch format is currently the most widely used large format because the equipment needed for 5×7 or 8×10 inch formats is considerably large and heavy, and requires specific precision to use.

Cameras of this category are entirely mechanical and operated exclusively by hand. Each and every manual operating step has to be very precise, from loading and unloading the film cartridges to composing and focusing to measuring the exposure and finally, cocking the shutter and releasing it at the right moment. As a reader, you may ask yourself: “Why the heck should I go to all this trouble?” Having to do all these things yourself sounds tedious and awkward. With hardly any other camera do you ever have to think about the shutter or opening and closing a working aperture. Any halfway modern 35mm camera, whether analog or digital, will do the job for you. Even most medium format systems will guide you along. And now you’re suddenly supposed to work through a long checklist just to take one single shot? Why should you bother?

One reason is certainly that the image quality and richness of detail that a negative of this size can accommodate far exceeds that of smaller formats. The smooth tonal value transitions and differentiated representation of light and shadow paths is another. Many photographers also feel compelled to tackle this task because of the great deal of control over composition and perspective that these cameras offer. For some people it can be intimidating, but for others it’s a big playground.

The design of large format cameras gives you a large choice of possible settings that you don’t get with 35mm or medium format camera. Thanks to their special construction (more on this later), they enable the photographer to precisely align focus planes and correct distortions. This makes the large format ideal for landscape, product, and architectural photography. Sports or street photographers, on the other hand, will probably find the slow process, the long exposure times, and the unwieldy equipment less suitable to their purposes.

Working with a large format camera takes you right back to the beginning of photography. In using this type of equipment, you’ll become aware of aspects of photography that you were probably only implicitly aware of before. Getting to know the large negative format and the camera techniques that go with it is a great opportunity to dive deeper into your hobby.

3.3.1Large Format Cameras

The supplies needed for large format photography can be purchased at an affordable price. You can buy a secondhand camera with one or two suitable lenses for a few hundred dollars. Even if you are buying a new camera, a complete set of equipment often costs less than a full-frame DSLR.

At first glance, large format cameras seem to be from a different era—that’s part of their charm. Compared to a 35mm SLR, some of these cameras look relatively large and heavy. There are different kinds of large format cameras, the most common of which are the view camera with optical rail, referred to as a monorail, and the field camera. The camera housing for both types of camera consists of four important elements:

1. 1. The film plane: formed by the rear standard with the ground glass for the settings mounted on it. During the exposure, it carries the sheet film holder, instant print film back, or roll film back.
2. 2. The front standard: to which you can attach interchangeable lens boards with the camera lenses.
3. 3. The light-proof, harmonica-like bellows: made of nylon or leather, these connect both standards.
4. 4. The baseboard or optical rail: the front and rear standard are attached to it.

The distance between the two standards (referred to as the extension) determines the image scale:

• smaller extension = smaller image
• bigger extension = bigger image

You also use the extension to focus large format cameras. Usually, adjusting the front standard changes the focus, but in some cameras you can then fine-tune the sharpness by moving the rear standard.

Monorail

A view camera is mostly made of metal, and the two standards are attached to an optical bench in the form of a central rail (hence the name monorail). This optical rail gives you countless options for moving the front and rear standards relative to each other (tilt, swing, and so on). Common sizes for these cameras are 4×5, 5×7, and 8×10 inch. View cameras are usually used only in the studio due to their size and weight. Some models can be folded flat for transport, but for a day out with a view camera and tripod, you should either hire a strong assistant or consider acquiring a donkey.

Field Camera

A field camera is mostly made of wood or a mixture of wood and carbon fiber, so it’s much lighter than a view camera. It can be folded to be very compact, and is easy to stash in a backpack or bag, which makes it great for landscape photography or city tours. Most types of field cameras allow fewer camera movements and therefore adjustment options than the highly flexible monorail camera.

Chamonix 045N-2

Basically, a large format camera is just a dark, lightproof room with a lens on one end and a ground glass or film back on the other. The lens, in addition to its function during the exposure, also serves as a finder, and projects the image upside-down onto the ground glass of the rear standard. To compose and focus precisely, you must avoid ambient light by hanging a black cloth over the camera back. As the photographer, when you disappear under that cloth you’ll attract the attention of every passerby in the vicinity.

Taking a picture uses roughly the same process every time. You align the camera on the tripod, open the aperture and the shutter, compose the shot, and focus the important image areas via a loupe. Then you measure the exposure and set the required aperture and shutter time, close the shutter, and cock it (the sequence may differ depending on camera type). After inserting the film holder, you remove the dark slide, and trigger the shutter via a cable release.

Strangely enough, the difficulty of having to assess an upside-down image for composition is an advantage. The unfamiliar view causes you to concentrate more on lines, areas, and the distribution of light and dark in the picture, and less on details. This may help you find clearer and more interesting compositions.

3.3.2Film and Film Holders

Large format film is always supplied as sheet film. A pack usually contains 25 to 50 sheets of film packaged inside a box in lightproof plastic bags, often with paper in between each sheet. The individual sheets need to be loaded into suitable film holders in complete darkness. Each film holder can contain two sheets of film. Each sheet of film is protected from exposure by a dark slide that is only removed after the film holder is attached to the camera (in the dark) just before exposure.

The film holders for the 9×12cm and 4×5 inch formats are standardized in size as “International back,” so they fit on practically all corresponding large format cameras.

Loading the sheet film holders can be done in a large changing bag or a completely dark room. It takes a bit of practice to get used to carrying out this procedure without being able to see.

Large format film holders hold two sheets of film each

Notches

To make sure you load the film correctly into the holders, i.e., with the emulsion side towards the light, each sheet of film has a notch on one of the short sides. If you insert the film so the notch is at the top right or bottom left in portrait format, the emulsion is on the correct side.

The notches are specific to the various film types. The shape and pattern of notches forms a code that tells you which film you are loading or unloading, so you can tell, even in the dark.

Top notch, right?

3.3.3Camera Movement

For composing a shot with the large format camera, it helps to be aware of the various settings you can achieve by moving the two standards relative to each other.

Roughly speaking, you can divide these movements into two categories:

• Parallel movement up, down, or sideways (rise, fall, and shift): the front and rear standard can be moved independently from one another while staying parallel to each other. With these movements, you can control the composition and perspective.

Front standard moved upwards in parallel to film plane (rise)

• Rotating the standards around their horizontal and/or vertical axes (tilt and swing): swinging the front standard moves the focal plane, and tilting or turning the rear standard can compensate for or create perspective distortions. Remember: As long as the film plane is parallel to the subject you are shooting, parallel lines will be represented as parallel lines.

Front standard tilted to correct the sharp focus

Large format picture—perspective corrected through front standard rise

Much of this sounds complicated in theory, but is quite easy to accomplish in practice. And as they say, practice makes perfect! The important thing is that the large camera gives you a degree of freedom and flexibility in capturing your own reality that no other camera system can achieve.

While you are playing around with these options and consciously slowing down when working through the many different steps, you have a lot of time to reflect and concentrate on your subject. You will quickly realize that you only want to go to all this trouble for subjects that really matter to you. At the same time, many photography basics will really sink in to your creative brain.

3.4Tips on Buying a Camera

One of the easiest ways to get an analog camera at an affordable price is to buy one secondhand. More and more professional photographers are switching to digital or have already done so, and have abandoned their film-photography equipment. This gives many 35mm photographers the chance to get into medium format or even larger formats.

Apart from going to your local photo retailer, you can also try asking around among your friends and family. Many attics hold veritable treasures. You just have to find them. It can definitely be worth your while to ask the old-hand photographer around the corner about his former workhorses that may be gathering dust in the cupboard. You can also discover plenty of goodies online, both on the commonly used trading platforms and the various national and international online retailers. Once you have tracked down a secondhand gem or bought a new one, you are faced with a few important questions.

3.4.1Light Seals

To produce a good photo, an analog camera has to fulfill certain requirements. To avoid blur, the film must rest as levelly as possible on the negative carrier. When transporting the film between pictures, leave enough space between exposures or individual photos could overlap. But don’t leave too much space, or you’ll waste film.

The most important job of the camera is protecting the film from light. That sounds simpler than it is, because light can easily sneak in and cause damage, especially in the camera back door where you insert the film. To stop this from happening, the camera manufacturers have developed various ways of sealing the camera.

Labyrinth Seal

With the labyrinth seal, used mostly in older cameras, the light is trapped, so to speak, in several sheet-metal folds. It peters out and cannot reach the inside of the camera. Camera back doors with these light seals usually prevent unwanted light quite well. The only possible problems are a bent back door or the black paint that is supposed to absorb light flaking off the seal.

Labyrinth seal, Bilora Boy

Foam Seal

Foam materials were invented in the 1960s. Since the 1970s, camera manufacturers have been frequently using them for light seals in addition to mirror dampeners. Sadly, they prove vulnerable as they age. When these materials were new, none of the manufacturers had long-term experience with them, so now, a few decades later, the seals on some of these cameras are disintegrating into sticky, crumbly bits. Sadly, and especially with online orders, you often only find out if the light seals are okay once you are holding it in your own two hands.

If you like DIY, you can create a seal yourself. New, custom-made seal kits are available on eBay for many popular camera models. Plus, you can look around online for instructions on how to change the seal yourself, but be aware that it does require a bit of patience and skill.

Velvet or String Seal

Some cameras have light seals made of velvet. These have a wider surface area to keep light out.

Light seal in form of black wool yarn

String seals use a mixture of labyrinth seal and a string, usually a thread of wool, into which the edge of the camera’s back door presses when you close it. These wool threads are very durable and usually still lightproof after many years.

3.4.2Shutters

Old, purely mechanical shutters often have their problems, too. In other words, older models don’t consistently use the specified speeds. (Cameras from the 1970s onward are usually okay.)

Copal-0 shutter from a large format lens

Mostly you will find that the shutter speeds are slower than they should be, so it may happen that an exposure you set to 1/100 second is in fact 1/25 second long, and a second can actually last several seconds. Sometimes a shutter gets completely stuck.

These flaws are probably due to the fact that while the camera was sitting in the attic for years, the lubricants used in the shutters slowly hardened. Plus, dust can accumulate in the shutters and slow down or even block it from moving. With a mechanical self-timer that works via a clockwork delay timer, you’ll be able to hear the shutters running sluggishly.

There’s another snag: these symptoms can be more or less noticeable depending on the season. In cooler weather, the shutters operate more slowly, while the summer warmth makes them work more smoothly again. To check if a shutter has problems with gummed up lubricants, you can try placing the camera on a warm radiator for half an hour to see if the self-timer runs more smoothly afterward. If you have the skill, you can find instructions online for anything from treating the seal with white spirit to taking it apart and cleaning it with alcohol and lubricating it with graphite powder. But in serious cases of self-timer or shutter delay, the camera needs to go to an expert repairman.

You can try to prevent these problems by triggering the shutters regularly. We call it “shutter gymnastics.” We make sure to take out all our film-photography cameras and use them regularly.

3.4.3Lenses

The third aspect you should watch out for when buying a used camera is the lenses; in particular, the glass and the mechanics.

Photographic lenses: 35mm, medium format, and large format

The mechanical systems of old manual lenses are plagued by the same problems as the shutters in old lenses: the oil can gum up over the years, making them harder to focus, especially in cold weather. Despite claims to the contrary, dust that has collected on the optical lens is not usually a problem because it’s far away from the plane of focus and won’t be visible in the picture. The real problem is what’s referred to as lens fungus, a fungus that can affect glass surfaces in objective lenses, especially if they are stored in damp conditions. This fungus feeds on materials used in making cameras and camera lenses, such as leather, glue, fibers, and lubricants.

You can recognize lens fungus by the telltale thread-like patterns on the glass, which resemble cobwebs. Once lens fungus has formed, it can potentially be removed from glass surfaces if you can reach them, but you may have to sacrifice the antireflective coating, if there is one. Lens fungus in between lens elements that are bonded together is very hard or impossible to remove. To prevent lens fungus, you should always store cameras and lenses in dry conditions. For long-term storage, it’s a good idea to pack the lenses with little bags of silica gel as a desiccant.