These cameras are mirrors to the fashions, cultures, thinking and attitudes prevalent at the time of their creation, from the Art Deco Rolleicords of the 1930s to the utilitarian simplicity of 1970s Canon and Nikon SLRs all the way to the insanity that produced 1996’s Polaroid PDC-2000/40 you see above. The look, the feel in the hand and the variations and interpretations of solving common problems, what’s not to love? There’s beauty almost everywhere but let’s just say that I’m glad Polaroid’s particular vision of future technology below didn’t become reality.įilm cameras provide us with a living history which we can use to trace the development of design, aesthetics, technology, engineering and manufacturing capability across more than 150 years. It’s no secret to regular readers that I’m a fan of most vintage film cameras – and more than a few which don’t yet deserve that term. The list follows below but please allow me a bit of a preamble…