What's New

The 2023 International Camera Show Listing Is Posted Sadly, many shows are still canceled. I will update this webpage throughout the year as more shows and fairs are confirmed. Updated: 09 February 2023.

Imperial No. 30 Triple Extension Camera Every once in a while, I am shown a camera I've never seen before. The 4x5 inch format Imperial No.30 is rare and this is the only example I've heard of over decades of collecting. The camera's front and back opens to make an extra-long extension for using long lenses.

Newly Acquired Cameras: Check my Most Wanted page to see "preview" pictures.
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Website Development: This website has been online since 1998 and over the years I updated the web development tools ... well not as often as I'd like. The site is currently developed on an older software platform and is not optimized for mobile devices. (Then again, mobile devices weren't around that much.) Additionally, other common features like dynamic resizing are not in place and you might see some misalignment, text overlapping and other issues. At some point I'll migrate this site to an updated platform, but rebuilding over 175 webpages will be quite a challenge and time consuming.

Photography (because I am often asked about it): The one thing I consistently update is my photography gear. I've been deep into photography my entire life and started collecting early cameras accidentally when I was gifted a Century No.7 studio camera outfit. Although playing with cameras early in life, I developed my first rolls of film at the age of 11 (had my own darkroom at that point) and was shooting 8x10 negs at 17. In 1980, I was accepted into and participated in one of Ansel Adams' famous Yosemite workshops. (Alan Ross was Ansel's darkroom manager in those days.) In some ways I miss the wet darkroom process but today I can do much more digitally. But honestly, using Ansel's zone system when shooting digital, which he would have never envisioned, is a great thing.

The goal is to present each camera online the best I can. My first digital camera was, let's face it, primitive. For the past 3 years I shoot a Nikon D850 with an incredible Tamron 90mm macro lens mounted on a heavy Manfrotto tripod with sliding rail. Raw+JPG format, Adobe colorspace. Cameras are staged on a table top with an infinity wall and color balanced softbox lights. Sometimes small details need auxilliary lighting; last year (2022) I started using Lumecube lights. Maximum front-to-back sharpness is achieved by focus-stacking. Image processing workflow uses Helicon Focus, Lightroom and Photoshop.

Thanks for visiting!