I actually only started investing in old film cameras a year ago when in June 2023 I bought a Koniflex TLR camera from Japan mainly as something that would look cool on my desk. From there I fell down a rabbit hole of buying old classic cameras and spent hours watching Youtube videos and scanning eBay for bargains. My buying addiction continued with 6 further cameras and came to a head just before Xmas 2023 when I bought the famous Hasselblad 500C camera. After selling a few I’m now happy and settled with my collection and look forward to getting better at using the cameras I have rather then scanning eBay for deals. Many of them have already gone up in value since I bought them. Here’s the list

Koniflex - TLR 6X6 Medium Format Camera - 1955 - Japan

TLR stands for Twin Lens Reflex. You have a viewing lens and a taking lens which is the reason for this iconic design. I just love the way this camera looks. It is the oldest camera I own being made in 1955 and I find it amazing that this purely mechanical machine is still working perfectly after all this time. I spotted this camera while looking for a Rolleiflex and after some research realised this one had a 5 element Hexanon 85mm lens and I fell in the love with the images I saw online. This was bought on eBay from Japan.

Rollei 35 T - 35mm Camera - 1978 - West Germany

The worlds smallest fully mechanical full frame 35mm camera from Rollei who were famous for their Rolleiflex cameras of the 1950s and 60s. The Queen owned one and used it throughout the 1980s. This is a special camera in history and the size is hardly bigger then the roll of film that goes into it. Focus is achieved by something called ‘Zone Focusing’ where you work out how many feet are in focus from your aperture and focus point. Once mastered it makes this camera very fast to use but not great for close portraits unless you have a measuring tape handy.

Canon 514XL - Super 8mm Movie Camera - 1975 - Japan

This camera is the only film camera on this list I have used for paid work. It shoots Super 8mm Kodak cartridges 2 1/2 minutes in duration (50 feet of film) at 18 frames per second. The resulting footage is quite magical and useful for creating that authentic 1960s & 70s home video look. I bought this camera off someone who had hardly used it since 1975 and it was still in its box. It takes AA batteries and works perfectly. It is very fun to use as it has a trigger to shoot like a gun. However because you only get 2 1/2 minutes per cartridge and the cartridges and development are so expensive (£80 for film, dev and scan) you have to edit in your head and only shoot the things you actually want to use for the edit. A world away from digital where you can shoot as much as you like. It is probably quite a good training exercise to get me to think more about what im shooting and how each shot will be used. I just wish the film and development wasn’t so expensive.

Leica R4 - 35mm SLR Camera - 1981 - West Germany

I decided last year I wanted to buy a camera that was made the same year I was born. So I did some research on what cameras came out in 1981. Around that time by chance I came across this Leica R4 photo manual book published in 1981 by Hove Foto books down the road from where I lived in Brighton. I took this as a sign and spent months looking for a decent copy of the camera. I ended up building one up from different bits I found and now have this mint condition copy from 1981 and its works and sounds fantastic. I also tracked down the 28mm F2.8, 50mm F2 and 90mm F2 Leica lenses which were all more expensive then the camera. The camera came in the original presentation box from Leica and is something I really enjoy owning.

Hasselblad 500C - SLR 6X6 Medium Format Camera - 1968 - Sweden

This camera is probably the jewel in the crown of my film camera collection. It is certainly the one that cost the most but I got a bit of a bargain on it. I was’t actually meaning to buy one but saw it on eBay that had a few bits missing. He was using a Pringles lid as a body cap and the lens had a lot of fungus in it. Even with all these problems the price was too good to turn down and I decided to take the risk. I probably wouldn’t have taken the risk if I didn’t know the guys at Camserve in East Sussex. They are experts at bringing old cameras back to life and considering their knowledge and skills they are reasonably priced as well. I took the Hasselblad to them for a full service and to get the lens cleaned inside and out to remove the fungus. Amazingly they did a perfect job and along with buying the official Hasselblad accessories it was missing it is now a fully functioning Hasselblad worth 4-5 times what I paid. The camera is my favourite camera on this list to use. I have spent hours just firing the shutter with no film in it as its so satisfying. The camera comes apart like a gun and is a marvel of engineering. Its fully mechanical and is capable of taking photos of a arguably better quality then even my Canon R5C £5000 45MP modern professional digital camera. Its the only camera on this list that isn’t from Japan or West Germany and must be one of Sweden’s finest moments. I’m looking forward to shooting a lot of film with this camera this summer.

Going forward I think the only addition I might make is a 1990s Canon Film SLR as I already have 50s,60s,70s and 80s covered. If anyone has any questions about any of these cameras or film cameras in general then drop me a message. If you want to contact the good guys at Camserve then their website is http://camserve.co.uk

Thanks for reading

TJK