Vintage Digital Camera....?

[Edward]

Looking again just the other evening at photos from this year's Chap Olympiad got me to thinking.... Lots of photos of folks in great looking vintage and vintage inspired garbs, but the plethora of little silver boxes - digital cameras - killed the illusion just a smidge. Now, I'll never give up the convenience of digital, but wouldn't it be great if someone produced a reasonable spec (say 10MP, 4x optical zoom) digital camera in a housing that looked like a Box Brownie or similar vintage period camera? I've halfway begun to wonder whether, if I bought an old camera with good outer casing but dead innards, I could have a handy friend install the guts of a digital into it for me...?

 

[Chainsaw]

I can't remember if it was in one of FL's threads or not. But there was a conversion for the accordion style ones. It looked great, and functioned well.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Not quite that old...

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=11996&highlight=leica

possibly just what you want:

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9400&highlight=leica

 

[MisterCairo]

Here's a thought: Use FILM! Tons of great vintage cameras that actually work, and film is still available for many formats. They used film in the 30s and 40s, what could be MORE vintage?!

 

[Chainsaw]

I miss film. You actually have to think before you take a shot. Double check all the settings, check the focus et-cetera. There was a finality to each picture, because of film, because of cost, because circumstance, you had to be sure the shot was good.

Now, you can take a picture and adjust the settings based on how the picture looks. You no longer have to wait days, or even have spend money to get your pictures.

It's almost as if pictures no longer have value or meaning, or any essence, since they no longer have value. Even the intrinsic value of photos has dropped.

I still have my old Nikon FE, but never use it though. I still use my digital manually.

 

[Argee]

I've been toying with this idea for a while. An Argus C3 seems to be the perfect conversion candidate, certainly cheap enough, and the right size. I just haven't had the courage to crack open a digital camera to see if I could rearrange the components and keep it functional.

 

[Lottie]

The only vintage-ish camera i've been able to find were these:

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1088&L=1

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1094&L=1

I think they look nice (plus: square pictures. yaysies), but oooh so tiny!
I do agree that film is a great medium for meaningful shots, but for documentation purposes or snapshots of friends on a fun night out, I prefer the comfort of digital cameras (and not annoying everbody by taking ages to take a picture ;D)
I guess I'll have to buy a cheap digital camera and try to retrofy it with acrylic paint.

 

[Edward]

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9400&highlight=leica

Ohhh...... now that's gorgeous. I see they're up to 5.1MP now, which I like the idea of - sharp enough for vintage-style shots to be processed into B&W and/or sepia... (by the by, can anyone put a date for me on when b&w replaced sepia?) The price is still a little scary, but worth my keeping an eye on...

Thanks... I was looking for those threads, but couldn't turn them up when I searched.

I can't remember if it was in one of FL's threads or not. But there was a conversion for the accordion style ones. It looked great, and functioned well.

Any more word on that? That sounds like it could be very promising...

The only vintage-ish camera i've been able to find were these:

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1088&L=1

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1094&L=1

I think they look nice (plus: square pictures. yaysies), but oooh so tiny!
I do agree that film is a great medium for meaningful shots, but for documentation purposes or snapshots of friends on a fun night out, I prefer the comfort of digital cameras (and not annoying everbody by taking ages to take a picture ;D)
I guess I'll have to buy a cheap digital camera and try to retrofy it with acrylic paint.

Yeah, those are cute, aren't they? Absolutely agree with you on the convenience of digital...

Here's a thought: Use FILM! Tons of great vintage cameras that actually work, and film is still available for many formats. They used film in the 30s and 40s, what could be MORE vintage?!

It's a nice idea, but just not practical for me. I tend to run off so many photos and always want to crop this or that - it'd simply get too expensive too quickly to go back to film.

 

[LaMedicine]

Nikon Coolpix P6000

Probably not vintage enough in style for you, but I use the previous model of this line, and like it very much, and at least it isn't a silver box.

 

[57plymouth]

That seems like low resolution. I'm not a camera expert, but my junk digital that I use for home inspection (where it gets dropped and drug through the dirt in crawl spaces and otherwise abused and neglected) has 7.1 megapixels. I paid $60 for the last one. Since I destroy them at a rate of one per year I don't spend much for the ones I use on inspections.

My good Cannon that I use for pictures of my daughter and other stuff that I care about is a 12.1 megapixel camera. I would think that a camera as expensive as shown above would have more than 5 megapixels.

 

[Edward]

Oh, undoubtedly they're charging a lot for the novelty value. If I ran into a used one at a much lower price, though....

The ideal, I think, would still be to stick the guts out of a better, cheaper digital camera into an old shell.... I must look into that, as I've seen very many non-working old camera of that type selling for real cheap...

I wonder if the steampunk community has done anything with this....

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Oh, undoubtedly they're charging a lot for the novelty value. If I ran into a used one at a much lower price, though....

The ideal, I think, would still be to stick the guts out of a better, cheaper digital camera into an old shell.... I must look into that, as I've seen very many non-working old camera of that type selling for real cheap...

I wonder if the steampunk community has done anything with this....

of course they have.....here are but two...


http://dvice.com/archives/2009/12/man-builds-his.php


http://herrdoktors.blogspot.com/2009/08/electro-iconograph.html

 

[kpreed]

(by the by, can anyone put a date for me on when b&w replaced sepia?
As a pro and historical photo restorer my answer to this is: sepia photos are actually the result of faded chemicals. However, today's photographers often deliberately add a sepia tone to images where an antique feel is desired or the colors in the original image distract from the subject. Any help?

 

[jlee562]

Minox Rolleiflex digital

 

[Badluck Brody]

That is waaay too sharp!

Has anyone worked with one?? Any reviews??

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I bought one of those a couple of years ago, it's complete garbage. I don't even think you could call it a "toy" camera unless you define that as something that only takes blurry photos. I immediately sold it on Ebay. Unless they completely redesigned it since then I wouldn't waste you're time or money.

The only vintage-ish camera i've been able to find were these:

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1088&L=1

http://www.minox-us.com/index.php?id=1094&L=1

I think they look nice (plus: square pictures. yaysies), but oooh so tiny!
I do agree that film is a great medium for meaningful shots, but for documentation purposes or snapshots of friends on a fun night out, I prefer the comfort of digital cameras (and not annoying everbody by taking ages to take a picture ;D)
I guess I'll have to buy a cheap digital camera and try to retrofy it with acrylic paint.

 

[Edward]

I bought one of those a couple of years ago, it's complete garbage. I don't even think you could call it a "toy" camera unless you define that as something that only takes blurry photos. I immediately sold it on Ebay. Unless they completely redesigned it since then I wouldn't waste you're time or money.

That's a shame, thanks for letting us know, though.

of course they have.....here are but two...


http://dvice.com/archives/2009/12/man-builds-his.php


http://herrdoktors.blogspot.com/2009/08/electro-iconograph.html

Ohhhh...... Now, if only someone was to do a dieselpunk version of the second one, and make it available for sale.... the idea of a cover I can put over my existing camera is perfect!

 

[Edward]

(by the by, can anyone put a date for me on when b&w replaced sepia?
As a pro and historical photo restorer my answer to this is: sepia photos are actually the result of faded chemicals. However, today's photographers often deliberately add a sepia tone to images where an antique feel is desired or the colors in the original image distract from the subject. Any help?

So sepia is the photo aging, really? Does that mean that a B&W photo from, say, 1910 would have looked the same as a late Sixties B&W image originally?

 

[MissHannah]

Not that wikipedia is the font of all knowledge but the entry for Sepia has a different explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_tone#Sepia_toning

 

[Doc Average]

Many of Leica's compact digital cameras seem to still hold to their 1950s aesthetic:

http://uk.leica-camera.com/photography/new_products/

I don't know if that's quite the vintage look you're aiming for however. Unfortunately, they also come with a vintage price tag, so maybe not the thing for spilling Pimm's on!

I'm sure I've seen a black and silver version of this Olympus that has a similar feel, but I can't find any pics of it online:

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/21693_pen-camera_e-p2_22351.htm