How can I tell if my 35mm film is really loaded? This was a question I used to ask myself regularly, particularly if the film rewind knob didn’t rotate as I wound on, which was often the case.
I used to load a camera, close the back and then wonder whether the film had really engaged properly. The frame counter would advance, but that’s independent of the film transport, so sometimes I would open the camera to check. Inevitably, the film would have loaded perfectly well, and I had just lost several frames, until the time I ignored the lack of rewind knob rotation and got 36 photographs of nothing.
The problem is that the frame (or exposure) counter tells you that you have pulled the camera’s film advance or winding lever. On most manual 35mm cameras it does not tell you that the film has moved.
The reason is straightforward enough. On most manual cameras the frame counter is operated by the camera’s winding lever. It does not measure film passing through the gate. If the leader has failed to engage properly, you can operate the advance lever, cock the shutter and advance the counter without advancing the film.
That means the number of exposures displayed on the counter can climb without a single frame passing through the gate. You can therefore load a film incorrectly, close the back and apparently take 36 photographs. The lever advances, the shutter fires and the counter reaches 36, but the film is sitting in the film cartridge, unexposed. This is about as bad as it gets in film photography.
What should tell you that the film is correctly loaded is movement of the rewind knob or crank, but it may not begin to turn immediately. There can be enough slack in the film inside the cartridge for several advances before that slack begins to turn the cartridge spool.
To address this, I’ve found that if I take up any slack by turning the rewind crank very delicately in the rewind direction, it will turn immediately when I wind on. It is an extra step in the process and needs to be done carefully, but I’ve found it works well.
From the top clockwise: M6 slanted rewind knob and extended crank, M3 rewind knob with aftermarket crank, Nikon F2 rewind knob and extended crank.
I also wind and fire the shutter twice, with the back open. This lets me watch the frames advancing, see that the sprocket teeth have engaged the perforations, and the leader is being wound onto the take-up spool.
With the back closed, the rewind knob and crank rotate, confirming that the film is being pulled through the camera. I tested this on the Nikon F3 and subsequently applied the method to a couple of other models (Olympus OM-1n and OM-2SP) with the same results.
Loading a 35mm SLR, step by step
These steps are for a conventional manual-loading SLR with a hinged back and a wind-on lever. It does not apply to a bottom-loading rangefinder and should not be applied to a motorised camera.
Pull up the rewind knob, or flip the back-release latch, to pop the camera back open.
Drop the 35mm cartridge into the left-hand chamber.
Push the rewind knob back down so it locks into the cartridge.
Pull the thin, flat end of the film (the leader) across the open back.
Insert the tip of the leader into a slot on the right-hand take-up spool.
Line up the holes along the edge of the film with the small metal teeth, the sprockets.
Check the film lies straight across the film gate against the guide rails. Do not touch the shutter curtain.
With the back still open, wind the lever through a full stroke and fire the shutter once or twice. I like to leave the back open to watch the film move, and with two actuations I know there is enough film wound around the take-up spool. One is probably enough, but I’d rather be certain. The take-up spool should turn, the film should travel across, and the teeth should sit in the holes.
Turn the rewind crank gently in the rewind direction until the slack goes. Do not do this on a camera that loads using a motor as it could damage either the film or the camera.
Close the back until it clicks shut. The pressure plate on the door is now holding the film flat.
Advance and fire, and watch the rewind crank. If it turns, the film is moving and the load is good. Carry on until the frame counter reads 1. The frame counter only starts counting once the back is closed.
If the knob and crank does not turn, the film is not moving.
The rewind control tells me that the film itself is moving and, by taking up the slack first, I can rely on its movement as confirmation.
Open or Closed Back Slack Takeup
Some manufacturers describe exactly this process, which we can refer to as open back slack takeup, in the camera’s manual. This is an extract from the Fujica AX-5:
Pull out the film tip and insert it deeply into the slot of the Take-up Spool, but make sure it doesn’t go through the spool hub.
Wind the film with a stroke or two of the Film Advance Lever and make sure the Sprocket Teeth catch the film perforations.
Erect the Film Rewind Crank and turn it in the direction of the arrow to take up any slack in the film, make sure the film is properly positioned between the guide rails, then close the Camera Back.
Olympus specifies a similar sequence for the OM-40, as does Yashica for the Electo 35. Nikon does the same for the EM, but generally recommends taking up the slack after the door has closed. The F3, FE2, FM3A all specify closed-back tensioning in their manual.
Canon hedges its bets with the AE-1 and recommends both, if necessary. The original AE-1 instructions say to insert the leader, operate the advance lever and wind film around the take-up spool, checking that the perforations engage the transport sprocket. Then, before the back is closed, Canon says: “make sure that there is no film slack.” If there is slack, Canon instructs the photographer to gently turn the rewind crank to obtain proper tautness, and to operate the advance lever to ensure the leader is fully wound onto the spool “before the camera back is closed.” Interestingly, Canon then tells you to do it again after closing the back: “Gently turn the film rewind crank clockwise … to take up the film slack.”
Film Loading by Camera Generation
Given what I learned about film loading in these 35mm cameras, it strikes me that film loading can be divided into three generations.
Generation
Examples
Loading
Opportunities for error
Early 35mm manual/bottom-loading
Leica IIIf and similar screw-mount Leicas
Removable base and take-up spool, prepared (cut) film leader.
Incorrect leader preparation or engagement; film not transporting; counter incorrectly set.
Improved manual loading
Leica M3/M4/M6, Pentax K1000, Olympus OM-series, Nikon F2 and F3
Film path becomes more accessible and loading simpler. The M3 uses a hinged rear panel but retains a removable take-up spool; the M4/M6 rapid-load system uses loading prongs. Conventional SLRs expose the film path through a hinged back.
Leader or sprocket engagement errors remain possible; photographer can mistake an advancing frame counter for evidence that the film itself is moving.
Hybrid and late electronic
Minolta X-700; Nikon F6; Canon EOS-1V
Loading indicators or motorised loading, automatic first-frame positioning, DX coding and increasingly sophisticated detection of loading failure.
Considerably fewer opportunities for unnoticed loading failure. Model-specific procedures and overrides apply.
Film loading by 35mm camera generation
My Leica M3 with third party winder. When you pull up the rewind knob the crank clears the top plate.
The Rotating Dots of the Leica M3
My earliest Leica is an M3. The design retains Leica’s removable baseplate and take-up spool but adds the opening rear flap. The M3’s rewind knob does not rotate during normal film advance. Instead, the centre shaft, marked with red dots, rotates as film is pulled from the film cartridge.
It is an elegant piece of design, and cutched so you won’t suffer from flyback if you let go, but the result is slower winding. I added a third party winder to my M3, which doesn’t much mar its clean lines, and speeds up the rewind considerably.
An Exception – The Nikon F6
There is a caveat. The Nikon F6 manual specifically warns against turning the film rewind crank to reduce film slack as the film leader may come out of position and fail to advance properly.
In any event, the F6 does its own checking. The photographer positions the film leader and closes the camera; the motor performs the initial transport, and if the film is not seated properly, Err and E blink, and the rear screen reads FILM LOAD ERROR. This makes the classic blank-roll, whole film failure considerably harder to achieve, and raises the question of how we got from a tricky bottom load to an automated process with helpful messages.
Conclusion
I have seem videos on YouTube where film loads are performed at great speed with adminrable dexterity, without taking up any slack, and with the rewind knob/crank turning immediately. This leads me to conclude that the cautious practice described here is not for everyone, but it’s stopped me from fretting about taking 36 pictures of nothing rather effectively.
I shoot with both the Leica rangefinders and the Nikon SLRs. The most frequently used are my Leica M6 TTL 0.58 and Nikon F3, which is the camera that got me back into shooting with film. They are both legendary cameras, but very different to shoot with.
I’ve found the key to knowing them better is to gain an understanding of their metering systems. These, I learned, are separated by design philosophy and intended user as well as the underlying camera technology.
Nikon: SLR TTL Metering Through the Focusing Screen
Let’s start with the SLR. The Nikon F3 is a single lens reflex (SLR)of 1980 in this example. It was built for professional photojournalists, sports photographers, and anyone needing fast, reliable exposure in unpredictable environments. The F3 has a TTL (through-the-lens) metering system. It works like this:
Nikon F3 HP
Light enters through the lens.
It reflects off the mirror up to the focusing screen.
The focusing screen diffuses the light, spreading brightness across a visible field.
A silicon photodiode sensor reads this averaged light.
The focusing screen acts like a diffuser, helping the camera analyse brightness across a broad field.
This system allows the meter to “see” what the lens sees – including vignetting and out-of-focus area, making it perfect for delivering quick, intuitive exposures, and ideal for changing light and fast subjects.
For the F3, Nikon chose an 80/20 bias for the F3’s light meter. 80% of the metre’s emphasis is on a 12mm circlein the center of the frame. The remaining 20% averages the rest of the screen. The result is a broad center-weightedpattern.
From the F4 onwards, Nikon offered Matrix metering. See the second table for more details of the F3’s successor models – the F4, F5 and F6.
Leica: Metering from the White Patch
The Leica M6 TTL rangefinder was launched nearly twenty years after the F3 in 1998 (though the F3 was still being produced at that time). It was produced for the niche that Leica occupied by the time – photographers who prioritised craft, discretion, and classic rangefinder handling over automation or frames per second.
It was a refined version of the original Leica M6 (1984–1998). While the original M6 also offered TTLmetering,the TTL in the newer model refers specifically to TTL Flash metering. This meant the camera could now meter flash exposure through the lens, something the original M6 couldn’t do. Personally, that’s not important to me. The reason I chose the TTL model was the larger shutter speed control, which I find easier to use.
Leica M6 TTL
As the M6 TTL is a rangefinder, unlike the F3 it has has no mirror, no focusing screen, and you don’t ‘see’ through the lens. Instead, you compose through a separate optical viewfinder, while a TTL meter reads light reflected from a small white patch on the shutter curtain.
The M6 TTL meters light through the lens, but only from a small central area, about 12–13% of the frame. This metering zone corresponds roughly to the 90mm frame lines in the viewfinder, which is visible when a 28mm lens is mounted. This is the most common lens on my 0.58 M6 TTL.
Since there’s no focusing screen to average light across the image, the camera measures only from a narrow reflective patch inside the lens throat.
The meter behaves more like a semi-spot meter – it is accurate but limited. Leica assume (correctly in most cases, I think) that their photographers will meter, then recompose. This is ideal for slower, methodical shooting where tone matters more than speed.
F3 SLR Vs M6 Rangefinder Summary Comparison
Feature
Leica M6 TTL
Nikon F3
Viewfinder type
Rangefinder
SLR
Metering system
Center-weighted selective (~13%)
Center-weighted TTL (~80%)
Design intent
Precision, manual control
Speed, general-purpose shooting
Ideal for
Deliberate exposures, tonal control
Fast shooting, balanced exposures
Reflective surface
White patch on shutter curtain
Focusing screen and mirror system
Summary of Rangefinder and SLR Successors
Feature
Leica M7
Nikon F4
Nikon F5
Nikon F6
Viewfinder type
Rangefinder
SLR
SLR
SLR
Metering system
Center-weighted selective (~13%)
Matrix (5-segment), Center-weighted, Spot (3.5mm)
3D Color Matrix, Center-weighted (customizable), Spot (4mm)
3D Color Matrix II, Center-weighted (customizable), Spot (4mm)
Design intent
Classic rangefinder with auto exposure
Versatile, electronic pro workflow
Advanced metering and AF for high-speed pro use
As per the F5, but with increased digital-era precision
Ideal for
Rangefinder shooting with auto exposure convenience
Flexible metering in dynamic environments
High-speed, accurate exposure in fast-changing light
As per the F5, but with more precision and flexibility
Reflective surface
White patch on shutter curtain
Focusing screen and multi-sensor prism system
1005-pixel RGB sensor linked to AF and lens data
Enhanced 1005-pixel RGB sensor with i-TTL integration
Final Thoughts – SLR vs Rangefinder Metering
Researching and understanding SLR vs Rangefinder metering systems has been helpful in getting the most out of my M6 TTL and F3, but it has also helped me understand how different the cameras really are. The M6 TTL demands more from me during exposure, but offers more precision. The F3, meanwhile, provides faster exposures, which means I’m less likely to miss the opportunity.
Ilford XP2 Super 400 is best known for a unique characteristic: though it is a genuine black and white film, it can be processed using standard C41 processing alongside everyday colour films on the high street.
There’s much more to XP2 Super 400, of course. Ilford emphasises several virtues, including fine grain, sharpness, wide tonal range, wide exposure latitude and enhanced negative contrast.
Unsurprisingly, it has a fan base – I’ve seen it described in photographers’ blogs as ‘The People’s Black and White Film – cheap, accessible and plentiful’. I’ve also seen it eulogised as ‘the one…with its silvery highlights, shadow detail and deep blacks’.
I will declare myself a fan. I originally shot with it as part of my exploration of black and white film, but I’ve become a regular user. This article is a result of that exploration.
Deal seafront from the pier, shot with a Nikon F6 and XP2 Super 400
The History of Ilford XP2 Super (and Chromogenic B&W Film)
Ilford XP2 Super is part of the XP (eXpanded Process) series, launched by Ilford Photo (UK) in the early 1980s as a response to the emerging chromogenic black-and-white filmmarket.
To give XP2 its full backstory, it’s worth taking a brief diversion to summarise the history of chromogenic black-and-white films. These emerged in the mid-20th century as an offshoot of colour negative film development. Unlike traditional B&W films, which form an image from metallic silver, chromogenic B&W films form their images from dye clouds, developed through C-41 colour chemistry. In other words, they can be developed simply by just about any lab.
In the 1950s and 1960s Kodak and other companies experimented with dye-coupler technology in colour emulsions. This laid the groundwork for black and white chromogenic films and by the 1970s the use of C-41 chemistry to simplify black and white lab work had become attractive enough for consumers and press photographers for a market to develop.
Back to the XP Series, and in 1980 Ilford released XP1. This was among the first commercially available chromogenic B&W films. In 1988 XP1 was replaced by XP2, which offered improved grain, contrast control, and better exposure latitude. In 1998 the film was re-engineered and launched as XP2 Super, the version still in production today, featuring fine grain for ISO 400, broad exposure latitude (‘ISO 50–800’) and of course, compatibility with standard C-41 labs.
The other chromogenic black and white films were Fuji’s Nepoan 400CN and Kodak’s BW400CN. In 2014, Kodak discontinued BW400CN, citing falling demand. Fuji followed suit in 2020. Today, Ilford XP2 Super is the last chromogenic B&W film still in production.
Magic Without Silver?
Whether or not you think there’s any magic in Ilford XP2 Super, the film itself does contain silver in the form of halide crystals (just like traditional B&W film). Moreover, when exposed to light, the image is formed initially in silver. However, during C-41 development, the silver halides trigger dye couplers that form the final image from dyes. The silver is then bleached and fixed away, leaving only the dye image – without silver.
Appearance
XP2’s grain is virtually invisible in well-exposed areas, especially compared to silver halide-based films like HP5 or Tri-X. XP2 has smooth midtones, and offers slightly compressed highlights and shadows, which is ideal for architecture, and well-lit landscapes – which is what I use it for. When I get a good, well exposed shot, XP2 rewards it.
Who Uses Ilford XP2?
XP2 hasn’t built a celebrity or cult following like Tri-X, but I’ve read that it was valued by photojournalists working on tight deadlines in the 1990s and early 2000s, who needed fast, lab-friendly B&W film. Wedding and portrait photographers, especially in the UK and Europe, where high-volume C-41 labs were common, were also users.
Today, it is embraced by fine art photographers seeking grain-free wide tonal range, and those in architectural or documentary fields looking for the same. More recently, XP2 has gained popularity among some ‘hybrid shooters’, who scan the negatives rather than print in the darkroom.
Getting the Best from XP2 Super 400
The first step in getting the best results from any film is to know its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths – Good Light and a Little Over Exposure
Beyond convenient processing, XP2 is excellent in good light. With proper or slight overexposure and good light, XP2 delivers sharp, high-contrast images with a wide tonal range, which is especially good for landscapes.
The film has ‘high exposure latitude’ (film speeds can be ‘pushed’ and ‘pulled’) and apparently can be exposed between ISO 100 and 800 on the same roll and developed normally. I have tried one-stop variations successfully.
Weaknesses – Underexposure and Low Light
XP2 is vulnerable to underexposure: Underexposed areas tend to block up with deep blacks and lose their midtones. I have to be careful with XP2 as I tend to create more low-key than high-key images.
It’s also not the best in low light. Shadows can become muddy and somewhat lifeless. Though XP2 is known as being a ‘forgiving’ film, it is not as forgiving as traditional silver-based films in low light.
Shooting XP2 for Best Results
I’ve learned that XP2 thrives in bright daylight . A slight overexposure (ISO 200–320) can help preserve shadow detail.
I scan my images for this website. XP2 scans well, but when it’s underexposed, or the image is very high contrast, the scanner can amplify noise (especially in shadows), and the resulting scan simulates grain that isn’t technically in the emulsion. This is evident in the shot below, which looks quite grainy.
Ruined boat on the Kent Coast. Shot with a Leica M6 TTL on XP2 Super 400.
This is especially the case when you increase contrast (especially to give a bit more structure to a flat scan), as the texture becomes more apparent.
In the image here, the upper, darker sky shows grain. The battered, weathered wood is also detailed and “grain-revealing.” I’ve learned that even fine-grain film will show more texture when the subject contains lots of edges and patterns. There is some loss of shadow detail on the right of the shot. The shot was taken in bright sunlight, but I underexposed the image slightly.
Metering with the XP2
If you want to avoid losing shadow detail, as I have above, spot metering is your best bet. Just identify your darkest important shadow, not pure black, but a shadow where you want visible texture and take a spot reading of that area. Then expose 1 to 1 ½ stops below that reading and you should be in great shape.
If you only have a centre weighted meter, as I have both on my Leica M6 TTL and Nikon F3, (and no hand held meter), you need to know the size of the metered area to use it effectively. See the table below for the details on how to use centre weighted metering with two very different cameras.
While many photographers prefer silver-based films, chromogenic B&W has served as a practical solution for many working photographers from the ’80s onward.
XP2 remains unique as the only mainstream black and white film that uses colour negative development dye clouds instead of silver grain. It also has a unique look, and for many, including me, that’s it’s biggest appeal.
Although I’ve shot with quite a few auto focus film cameras, I haven’t any hands-on experience of the early, historically significant, models from the 70’s and 80’s described in this post. I only dimly recall the point and shoots I used for family photographs in the ’80s and 90s, and the auto focus film cameras I have used since I got serious about photography all date from the 1990s or later. The earliest models I own are the excellent Contax T2 and the notorious Konica Aiborg (‘eye-borg’) both from 1991.
Contax My T2 and a friend’s G2 resting on the seat of his car.
I’ve sampled an autofocus rangefinder (Contax G2, 1996), a trio of point and shoots (Contax T2, 1991, Nikon 28ti, Fujifilm DL Supermini, both 1994), a 35mm mid range SLR (Nikon F100, 1999), and a top of the range SLR (Nikon F6, 2004). In medium format, I’ve used the Pentax 645 nII (2001) extensively.
The shooting experiences and results have all been good except for the Contax G2, the autofocus of which was possibly faulty and the Aiborg, which produced good results but was frustrating to handle.
This isn’t the story of those later AF models – though the Contax T2 makes an appearance at the end. Instead, this is a brief account of the pioneering autofocus efforts of the 1970s and 1980s. The article started as a paragraph in a review of the Nikon FE2 and developed a life of its own.
As I did my research, it became clear that this is also the story of the transition from SLR to compact cameras in consumer market and the rise of Canon as a dominant player in the photographic industry. It’s also clear I should get a Nikon L35F – it sounds excellent!
If you’re not familiar with the different types of AF systems, it’s worth reviewing the short description that follows.
Types of Auto Focus Systems
Active Auto Focus
Active auto focus systems measures the distance to the subject using waves of infrared light or ultrasonic sound and then adjusts the optical system for correct focus. This kind of AF can be used in poorly-lit environments, but only works on relatively close, stationary subjects. The familiar ‘AF Assist’ button found on many cameras uses an active AF system.
Passive Auto Focus
As the name implies passiveauto focus systems use the same incoming light as the optical system and don’t beam sound or light waves on to the subject. Instead they make use of Contrast Assessment,Phase Detection or both.
TTL Auto Focus
TTL auto focus (Though The Lens) means that the system is integrated behind the photo-taking lens.
Contrast Detection
Contrast Detection (or Assessment) evaluates what the camera ‘sees’ and then moves the lens a fraction and then re-evaluates to determine whether there is more or less contrast. If contrast has increased, the system continues to move the lens in the same direction until contrast is maximised. If contrast decreased, it moves the lens in the other direction. This is repeated until contrast is at the highest level attainable.
Phase Detection
Phase Detection (PD) works on similar principles to a range finder by dividing the incoming light into pairs of images and comparing them. Mirrors and lenses, or a prism (beam splitter) are used to split the rays coming from opposite edges of the lens and a secondary lens system refocuses the rays onto the film plane.
When a point is in focus, the light rays coming from it will equally illuminate opposite sides of the lens and it is ‘in phase’. If the lens is focused in front of or behind the point in question, the light rays at the edge of the lens arrive in a different position ‘out of phase’.
The distance between the two images is then measured to see how far front-focused or back-focused the subject is. The camera then uses this information to instruct the lens which way to turn its focus and by how much. Phase detection AF is incredibly fast compared to contrast detection, and is well suited to moving subjects.
The Genesis of Auto Focus
The first auto focus patent for a ‘self focusing camera’ was filed in the United States back in 1931, by the prolific, yet largely unknown, Armenian-American inventor and entrepreneur LG Simjian (1905 –1997). Simjian held over 200 patents, mostly in optics and electronics and conducted pioneering development on the flight simulator, ATM and teleprompter.
As a medical photographer he became interested in portrait photography which led to him to invent a self-photographing camera, the PhotoReflex. This, in turn, led him to his work on auto focus.
Patents were also filed in the 1940s and 1950s and both Canon and Nikon made reference to prototypes in the 1960s and 1970s, but the first camera equipped with AF to break cover came from Leitz (Leica) at the 1976 Photokina event in Cologne, and the company is usually credited with its invention.
1976 – Leica’s SL-2 Prototype
Leitz started patenting auto focus technology in 1960 and continued to develop their system over the next decade and a half. As Leica’s cameras became more sophisticated, their engineers recognised their light meter’s sensitivity to contrast. This developed into contrast detection: two LEDs on top of the viewfinder detected the highest contrast of a subject and a motor turned the focusing ring. The prototype was based on the Leica SL-2 and was named Correfot. An observer familiar with the prototype commented:
“It worked surprisingly well in low light. It wasn’t that fast because it took a number of gears for the motor to generate enough torque to turn the focusing ring, but at the time it didn’t bother me. We hadn’t seen anything like it. The motor housing was converted to hold six batteries that lasted only an hour. It was not something they could really market.”
Leitz, a conservative company, decided not to commercialise the system and sold it to Minolta.
1977 – Konica C35 AF
Konica’s point and shoot compact C35AF of 1977 was the first commercially viable auto focus camera. This used Honeywell’s Visitronic AF (VAF) system, a patented mechanical autofocus system that used light-sensitive detectors comparing the two images in its rangefinder.
The C35AF was an autofocus version of the Konica’s C35 automatic camera with a Hexanon 38 mm f/2.8 lens, a leaf shutter, built-in flash, and automatic exposure.
1978 – Polaroid SX-70
The first AF Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera arrived in 1978 in the form of the Polaroid SX-70 Sonar OneStep instant camera, which was equipped with an active sonar autofocus system. This is essentially the original Polaroid Land Camera, a true (folding) SLR, with a sonar autofocus bar grafted onto the body.
1979 – Canon AF35M
The Honeywell Visitronic used in the Konica C35 AF was the system of choice of most manufacturers offering AF until Canon’s CAF system arrived in 1979. This system quickly became the standard for autofocus cameras. The CAF equipped Canon AF35M of the same year (the first of the Sure Shot range) offered auto focus, auto exposure, auto wind on and auto rewind. Canon claimed it as the world’s first 35mm autofocus camera.
The stage was set for a contest for auto focus supremacy and the compact cameras, and Canon, had a head start.
1981 – Pentax ME-F and Chinon CE-5
Auto focus 35 mm Single Lens Reflex cameras (SLRs) arrived in 1981 with the Pentax ME-F, which was based on the Pentax ME Super of 1979. This required the autofocus SMC Pentax AF 35–70 mm zoom lens equipped with a drive motor. It is easily recognisable by the bulky battery compartment below the lens. The ME-F used through-the-lens (TTL) electronic contrast detection system but focused poorly and did not sell well.
In the same year Chinon produced the CE-5, a Pentax K mount SLR that used infrared with large heavy lenses with lens-mounted motors. In the words of the manufacturer:
“Chinon “direct focus” electronics incorporated in the CE-5 match precisely to similar electronics in the optional 35 – 70mm zoom auto focus lens. Just depress the CE-5 shutter button to activate the 35 – 70mm AF lens; instantaneously the lens barrel rotates to the precise focus! This ingenious system even prevents accidental shutter release before the lens has completed focusing”.
1983 – Olympus OM-30 and Nikon F3AF
In 1983 Olympus introduced the OM-30 (OM-F in some markets), an updated version of the OM-G/OM-20), that could be used with an auto focus 35-70 mm lens which had a motorised focusing ring.
The camera offered three focus modes. With electronic autofocus mode, touching the release button focuses the lens ‘instantly’ (‘one touch autofocus’) with an electronic beep for focus confirmation. In electronic focus-aid mode, focus is obtained by rotating the lens focusing ring while watching LEDs. A tone sounds when the camera has obtained focus. Lastly there is ‘optical mode’, which is manual focus via a microprism/split image rangefinder and matte area.
Unfortunately, the auto focus mode was often inaccurate, slow and dependent on one zoom lens. As it offered focus confirmation with other lenses Olympus also promoted it as ‘the first focus-confirmation SLR for a photographer as serious as you’.
Nikon introduced auto focus with the F3AF which was based on the F3, and utilised TTL contrast detection. The launch was accompanied by two new auto focus lenses with internal focus motors, an 80 mm f2.8 and a 200 mm f3.5. These lenses featured Nikon’s usual optical excellence but their AF performance was relatively poor and the offering wasn’t successful.
Nikon also introduced its first compact AF 35mm camera, the L35AF, which was well received due to its excellent f2.8 35mm lens and accurate AF. The same factors make it popular with film photographers today for whom it has some bonus features. There’s a 46mm filter thread, and through the lens metering; there are icons in the viewfinder that will tell you where it is focusing as you shoot, and it also has a manual setting for ISO to over-ride DX if you want to push or pull the film.
1984 – Compact Auto Focus on the Rise
Nikon was the last of the major SLR manufacturers to offer compact AF cameras with the L35AF. By the end of 1984, that model had outsold all of Nikon’s SLR bodies (F3, FA, FE2, FM2, FG, FG-20, and EM) combined in that same time period.
At the same point in time Japanese 35mm SLRs had only 33% of the worldwide market versus 67% for 35mm compact cameras. In 1977 market share was 57% in favour of SLRs.
During the 70’s and ’80s there had been a shift from metal bodied, manually operated mechanical SLRs to more compact, automatic plastic-bodied models. This was supported by the rapid advances in electronics, including the rise of the integrated circuit, which made both automation and miniaturisation easier. The SLR manufacturers targeted amateur photographers using rangefinders and thought they would upgrade to SLRs equipped with sufficient automation. As the market share figures above show, they were not successful and compact cameras became the norm for amateur photographers.
1985 – Minolta 7000 and Canon T80
The Minolta 7000, released in 1985, was the first SLR with an integrated autofocus system – both the AF sensors and the motor were housed in the camera body. It was the first AF SLR that could focus quickly, accurately, and operate in low light levels and made use of phase detection (PD) autofocus. Minolta also provided a wide selection of lenses and accessories and priced their new Alpha (A) mount camera at a relatively affordable price point for mid-level enthusiasts. It sold well.
Canon introduced the Canon T80 as its first autofocus 35mm single-lens reflex camera that same year. It looked like nothing that came before, or after it, for that matter. The T80 had a modified FD mount with signal transmission capability known as AC, and a linear CCD array for TTL image contrast detection. There were three AC auto focus lenses available: an f1.8 50mm prime and two zooms – 35-70mm and 75-200mm.
Learnings from the Canon T80
The T80 was discontinued just over a year after its launch. The effort wasn’t wasted though as Canon explained on the 30th anniversary of EOS:
Canon T80 (Image credit: Mike Caine, Flickr, CC)
“The idea of a fully-electronic mount is largely attributable to the experience we gained from developing the T80, an AF camera that used lenses with built-in motors. In the case of telephoto lenses, having the motor inside the camera made it difficult to achieve high-speed focusing. Coordinating the aperture drive was also a test of limits due to the complex mechanisms of both the camera and the lens. However, we persevered because we felt that the future of next-generation cameras hinged on the development of a new, fully-electronic mount.”
In March 31 of that year Canon leaders and engineers from around the world met to discuss the development of a new system, known at the time as the “Entirely Organic System.”
1986 – Nikon F-501
Japanese industry analysts were predicting that the shipment of AF SLR cameras in Japan in 1986 would outstrip manual focus models. Nikon responded by hurrying to implement the ‘body-powered’ AF Nikon F-501 in April 1986 with TTL passive phase-detection autofocus and in the same year introduced new autofocus (AF) lenses.
The polycarbonate-bodied F-501 was the first successful auto focus SLR and offered automatic film loading and advance as well as a built-in motor drive. This provided single or continuous modes and a maximum film advance speed of 2.5 frames per second (frame/s) in continuous mode. Nikon adopted some design concepts from the camera in the Nikon F4.
The new lenses relied on the autofocus motor in the camera body to drive the focus mechanism via a screwdriver on the lens mount and could communicate electronically with compatible AF cameras.
1987 – The All New Canon EOS System
Canon introduced its ‘built from scratch’ AF system, which used a new lens mount for lenses with its own AF motors – the EF. Breaking compatibility with Canon’s FD mount, the aperture and focus were controlled via electrical contacts, with motors in the lens itself. In Canon’s own words from the same 30th EOS anniversary interview with the leading engineers:
“Before the EOS series was launched, our cameras featured the FD lens mount. However, a fully-electronic mount was essential in order to achieve a high level of AF technology with our wide variety of interchangeable lenses. To realise a high-precision AF that moves the focusing lens elements optimally according to the focusing distance or zoom position, it was a must for the lens to exchange information with the camera as well as to eliminate any mechanical error. This is why we chose to control the camera system by linking the camera with the lens via electrical communication. Through this, we were able to achieve high-speed and high-precision AF even at such super telephoto focal lengths as 600mm. What’s more the aperture was also electrically linked to enable smooth video shooting and playback, a feature that is taken for granted on cameras today.“
The system was introduced with the Canon EOS 650 in March and within two months it was the best-selling SLR in Japan and Europe.
1988 – The Nikon F4 and the Second Generation of AF
The Nikon F4 was introduced in 1988 as the next generation in Nikon’s line of F series professional cameras and was the first professional Nikon to feature a practical autofocus system. The F4 offered outstanding backward compatibility as it could mount any of Nikon’s manual focus or AF lenses from 1959 onwards.
The second generation of AF SLRs also began to appear in that year, the Minolta 7000i and Nikon F-801 being the most notable.
1989 – Compact Auto Focus Dominates
Of the 818,000 SLR produced in Japan in 1989 Over 90% were AF models. The manual focus SLR era that had been dominated by Nikon was over. Canon was the SLR market leader and Minolta was in second place. However, Minolta’s lead over Nikon was only temporary and the company was soon overhauled.
It wasn’t just manual focus SLRs that were declining. According to worldwide market share (CIPA figures) Japanese 35mm SLRs had only 15% of the market versus 35mm compact’s 85% in 1989. SLR dominance was effectively ended by auto focus compacts.
Post Script
The design of phase detection autofocus came from Honeywell and their patents of the 1970s. Honeywell sued Minolta for patent infringement and won, so all the camera manufacturers had to pay Honeywell for the rights to use phase detection autofocus.
A 1991 court decision found Minolta guilty and Minolta paid Honeywell $127.5 million in back royalties, and for license rights to continue using autofocus technology. The world’s camera manufacturers paid Honeywell over $300 million for licenses to their autofocus patents.
George Thorogood, London 2023, shot with Contax T2. No removable lens, no problem.
The Contax T2
The earliest auto cameras arrived in the 1970s and 1980s, but as we are wrapping up the story in the early ’90s it seems reasonable to give the Contax T2 of 1991 a mention.
The T2 was one of a range of high-end compact cameras produced by Contax between 1984 and 2002. The manual focus T was introduced equipped with a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 38 mm lens. The T2, used the same lens in an active autofocus system.
The T2 offered a high degree of automation, including auto focus and Program AE, coupled with a decent level of user control, including Aperture Priority exposure, manual focus and exposure compensation. Constructed of titanium and with a renowned lens, the T2 was a luxury model that has since become sought after and expensive.
It is rather too bulky to fit in any but the most capacious of pockets but it is very portable nonetheless. Its ideal for when you want a film camera with you and space and weight are at a premium. Those events where ‘professional cameras’ (those with removable lenses) are prohibited are also ideal for the T2.
The only real drawback to the T2, other than its cost, is that Program AE mode and Aperture Priority f2.8 share the same setting, so you can’t shoot wide-open unless the exposure level permits it.
Into the Digital Era
In the SLR market lens-mounted motors became the norm for auto focus, and in 1998, Nikon introduced AF-S lenses with their own ultrasonic “silent wave” motors built in, only a year before the launch of the digital Nikon D-1.
Nikon had the benefit of backward compatibility, but Canon had over a decade of experience with EOS by then and had gained a significant advantage. The two titans would continue to slug it out in a contest that was soon to enter the digital era, but they would be joined by electronics behemoth Sony, which acquired Minolta and its auto focus technology….
This article started as research into classic film cameras in movies, which led me to movies featuring photographers, and to my favourite movie Apocalypse Now, featuring Dennis Hopper as a manic photojournalist. The search for the origin of Dennis Hopper’s crazed character then took me on a voyage of discovery that proved to be nearly as winding as the Mekong River…
Dennis Hopper, festooned with Nikon Fs, as the manic Photojournalist in Apocalypse Now, shot by still photographer Chas Gerretsen
The Photographer of Apocalypse Now
In Apocalypse Now Dennis Hopper plays an unnamed disciple of the deranged Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who leads a renegade army of American and Montagnard troops from a remote abandoned Cambodian temple.
Hopper’s photojournalist appears at the end of Captain Willard’s (Martin Sheen) journey up the fictional Nung River to terminate Kurt’s command due to his ‘unsound methods’.
Hooper greets Willard as the ne plus ultra of combat photography; bearded and unkempt, wearing full camouflage with a red headband and sunglasses and covered in Nikon photography gear, some of it visibly battered.
Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now
Hopper’s improvisational skills and unconventional acting style shine through in his depiction of the Photojournalist. His character serves as a representation of the war’s impact on the human psyche, showcasing the blurred lines between sanity and madness in the midst of chaos. Hopper’s performance brings a sense of unpredictability and instability to the film, mirroring the disorienting nature of the war itself. Francis Ford Coppola has talked admiringly of Hopper’s dedication to his character, saying, “Dennis Hopper was out there being crazy, as usual. He was mad, but I loved him. I loved working with him.”
The Literary Inspiration for The Photojournalist
The Photojournalist appears in only three scenes, but despite these brief appearances, Hopper’s role is central to the sprawling story.
The Photojournalist is based on The Harlequin in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a Russian sailor who was Kurtz’s only European companion for several months before the steamboat arrives, and who acted as his listener and advocate.
The Role of the Photojournalist
The Harlequin and The Photojournalist are both insiders obsessed with Kurtz’s genius who attempt to convert outsiders to his way of thinking. Here is the Photojournalist’s unsuccessful attempt to justify the severed heads on poles outside Kurtz’s headquarters:
“The heads. You’re looking at the heads. Sometimes he goes too far. But… he’s the first one to admit it.“
Both cut absurd figures: The Harlequin with his colourful patches and cheerful demeanour in such a hellish environment; the Photojournalist a parody of the crazed hippy combat photojournalist in a headband. Both have a tendency to babble.
This is the Way the World Ends
Although the Photojournalist speaks many of the The Harlequin’s lines they do not play identical roles. The Photojournalist is also illustrative of the heavy price war photographers can pay, particularly the blurred lines between observer and participant and the internal conflicts set off by the accompanying moral ambiguity. The unimaginable trauma of Kurtz’s bloody compound and all that came before it must also weigh very heavily:
“This is the way the fucking world ends! Look at this fucking shit we’re in, man!“
An Ounce of Cocaine
Coppola builds the photojournalist’s crazed dialogue around lines from the Heart of Darkness and poems by Rudyard Kipling and T. S. Eliot. These are combined with Hopper’s hippy jive talk, which may have been delivered ad lib, fuelled by Hopper’s prodigious drug intake on set.
Hopper was reputed to difficult to work with on set because he was almost always high. George Hickenlooper’s documentary about the production Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse supports this: “Dennis recounted the story to me that Francis came to him and said, ‘What can I do to help you play this role?’ Dennis said, ‘About an ounce of cocaine.’
A Pair of Ragged Claws
This is in stark contrast to Coppola’s extensive use of poetry in the Photojournalists dialogue, which comes from Kurtz reading poetry to the The Harlequin in Heart of Darkness. The exceptionally strange last line of the speech below is from T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Captain Willard : Could we, uh… talk to Colonel Kurtz?
Photojournalist : Hey, man, you don’t talk to the Colonel. You listen to him. The man’s enlarged my mind. He’s a poet warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he’ll… uh… well, you’ll say “hello” to him, right? And he’ll just walk right by you. He won’t even notice you. And suddenly he’ll grab you, and he’ll throw you in a corner, and he’ll say, “Do you know that ‘if’ is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you”… I mean I’m… no, I can’t… I’m a little man, I’m a little man, he’s… he’s a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas…
The photojournalist’s evident admiration of Colonel Kurtz is because he had enlarged his mind, which is also what The Harlequin admired so greatly about Kurtz in Heart of Darkness.
We Were All Crazy
The role was suggested to Coppola by the set stills photographer Chas Gerretsen, the still photographer for film. Describing war photographers he told Coppola that “we were all crazy” – and so the role was born. Chas had served in Vietnam and routinely carried Nikon F’s, some of which he sold to the production company for use in the film.
When Dennis Hopper arrived on set Chas was asked to advise Francis Ford Coppola: “on how to dress a combat photographer” and the role of Dennis Hopper as Captain Colby was changed to the photojournalist. Chas sold three of his old Nikon F cameras with lenses to the production company and they were used by Dennis Hopper in the film. The Nikon F cameras are on display in the Coppola Winery Movie Museum.
FORGET IT
All that was left to do was to replace the role of Captain Colby, Willard’s predecessor, in which Hopper had originally been cast. Colby appears only very briefly and does not speak, surrounded by Montagnard natives and stroking a rifle. His appearance is set up in Willard’s briefing:
“There has been a new development regarding your mission which we must now communicate to you. Months ago a man was ordered on a mission which was identical to yours. We have reason to believe that he is now operating with Kurtz. Saigon was carrying him MIA for his family’s sake. They assumed he was dead. Then they intercepted a letter he tried to send his wife :
SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE CAR SELL THE KIDS FIND SOMEONE ELSE FORGET IT I’M NEVER COMING BACK FORGET IT
Captain Richard Colby – he was with Kurtz.“
Bad, Dope-Smoking Cats
The Cultural References section of Sean Flynn’s entry in Wikipedia references him as the basis for the Photojournalist in Apocalypse Now. Though it is not substantiated it is entirely possible. Flynn, along with Englishman Tim Page, are portrayed as the lunatic journalists and “bad, dope-smoking cats” of Michael Herr’s classic book on the Vietnam War Dispatches.
Herr went “chopper-hopping round the war zone” with Page and Flynn, taking huge risks according to one reviewer of Dispatches. He later collaborated on the narrative of Apocalypse Now.
In Dispatches Herr described Page as the most extravagant of the “wigged-out crazies running around Vietnam”, largely due to his drug intake. Page’s Wikipedia page also describes him as part of the inspiration for the character of the Photojournalist, who specialised in wigged-out craziness:
“One through nine, no maybes, no supposes, no fractions. You can’t travel in space, you can’t go out into space, you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions – what are you going to land on – one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Venus or something? That’s dialectic physics.“
I thought dialectic physics was pure invention and part of the madness. It is not, and is helpfully described as “a living method of cognising nature and of searching for new truths in modern science, and in physics in particular” in M. E. Omelyanovsky’s Dialectics In Modern Physics.
In Like (Sean) Flynn
Whether he acted as an inspiration for the role or not SeanFlynn, the only child of hell-raising screen legend Errol, has one of the most fascinating, but also one of the saddest stories of the war.
Initially following in his fathers footsteps as an actor (his first film was Son of Captain Blood, sequel to his father’s classic Captain Blood), he abandoned the craft to start a new life in Vietnam as a combat photographer.
He exploits are truly intrepid. He shot his way out of an ambush with the Green Berets with an M16; incurred injuries from a grenade fragment in battle; made a parachute jump with an Airborne Division, and identified a mine whilst photographing troops, saving an Australian unit from potential destruction. Flynn used a Leica M2 in Vietnam, and it came to light, complete with a strap that fashioned from a parachute cord and a hand grenade pin, just a few years ago.
The Disappearance of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone
In 1970 Flynn was captured by Viet Cong guerrillas at a checkpoint along with fellow photojournalist Dana Stone. The pair had elected to travel by motorbike rather than the limos the majority of photojournalists were travelling in. Neither he or Stone were seen again. Despite the efforts of his mother to find him, Flynn was declared dead in absentia in 1984 and the fate of two remains unknown, notwithstanding the continued efforts of friends and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), the organisation responsible for recovering the remains of fallen soldiers.
Sean Finn’s story is told in a film inspired by his life entitled The Road to Freedom which was filmed on location in Cambodia in 2011. It also the subject of an eponymous track on the album Combat Rockby The Clash.
A CIA Kurtz?
Whilst the role of Colonel Kurtz and his ‘unsound methods’ was clearly inspired by ‘Heart of Darkness’, there is another potential influence which is less well known. This is revealed in the UK documentary ‘The Search for Kurtz’ which describes how CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Tony Poe and his leadership of Operation Momentum, which was launched in 1962 to turn the Laotian Hmong people into anti-communist guerrillas.
The Wrath of Klaus Kinski
Another significant influence for the Vietnam river epic is Aguirre, Wrath of God by Werner Herzog, starring a barely sane Klaus Kinski in the role of his life. The story follows the self styled ‘Wrath of God, Prince of Freedom, King of Tierra Firme’ Lope de Aguirre, who leads a group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in search of El Dorado, city of Gold.
It is an astonishing and spectacular film, described by Robert Egbert as is “one of the great haunting visions of the cinema”. Curiously, I did not make the connection with Apocalypse Now until researching this article. Like Apocalypse Now, which was troubled by a heart attack, an overweight star, a mental breakdown and storms that destroyed the sets, the filming of Aguirre is the stuff of legend. Herzog allegedly pulled a gun on Kinski to force him to continue to act in the remote fever-ridden jungle district where the film was shot.
Has a character in a movie, especially an unnamed one, ever had such a rich set of sources?
The Photojournalist’s Cameras
The Photojournalist’s cameras are Nikon Fs with a variety of lenses; possibly a fast 50mm, a 105mm and a 200mm. This isn’t a a surprising photographer’s rig as the Nikon F, along with the Leica M2, was the leading film camera of the Vietnam war and carrying multiple cameras was common. Richard Crowe a former Combat Cameraman who served between 1966–1972 described the practice on the Q&A website Quora:
“If we are talking about photojournalists, they usually carried two to three 35mm cameras each with a different focal length lens. Nikon and Leica cameras were the favorites and the photojournalists usually owned their own equipment. The guys that I worked with often carried both a Leica with a UWA lens and two Nikons with normal and short telephoto lenses. The Canon SLR cameras of the day would often not stand up to the rough usage and dirt and grime in Vietnam. The photojournalists began to paint the silver portions of the camera bodies black so the camera would not be a point of aim for a sniper. Later on, camera companies began to supply cameras with black bodies and called them “Photojournalist Models”. BTW: no photojournalist that I knew or met ever carried a zoom lens on his camera. The early zoom lenses for SLR cameras were pretty crappy in image quality.”
The Nikon F was not the first SLR, that distinction belongs to the Exakta, which is the subject of another blog about photographers – Rear Window. Prior to its introduction, however, no SLR could challenge the mighty German rangefinder in the 35mm camera market; SLRs were often compared unfavourably to rangefinders as heavy, slow and less than reliable, with dim viewfinders.
The F swept away that dominance and many professional photographers abandoned Leica for Nikon. Leica lost its market dominance and never recovered it, though it has prospered in its niche of late.
The long shadow of the Nikon F
The Nikon F brought many advancements to market simultaneously:
A system camera with interchangeable viewfinders and focusing screens
An automatic diaphragm and an instant-return mirror, which made it the quickest SLR by far.
An impressive lens line up
A large reflex mirror that kept the viewfinder bright, and reduced vignetting
A 100% viewfinder, an SLR first
A focal plane shutter with titanium-foil blinds—also a first
These advancements made the technical advantages of the SLR over the rangefinder compelling. The need to match lenses to frame lines and for external viewfinders to use wide angle lenses disappeared. Gone too were the framing and parallax compensation issues and the limitation on zoom and lenses longer than 135mm.
Over time the F became legendary for indestructible levels of reliability and durability. It still casts a long shadow.
The Legacy of Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is an iconic movie, savage and darkly comic, and an expedition through insanity from start to finish. It is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. I have watched it many times and it has retained its power for me.
Robert Egbert said of it: “Apocalypse Now is the best Vietnam film, one of the greatest of all films, because it pushes beyond the others, into the dark places of the soul. It is not about war so much as about how war reveals truths we would be happy never to discover.“
Related Articles on Flash of Darkness
If you enjoyed this article, another movie that is a favourite of mine and features a photographer is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. The journey wasn’t quite as twisting as Apocalypse now but it was interesting nonetheless…
There are also two articles on classic film cameras in the movies on this site – one of Leica and one on Nikon.
This article was inspired by classic film cameras in movies – specifically , Leicas and Nikons. From cameras in movies, it’s a short step to movies about photographers. My favourite movie with a photographer as the lead character is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and I was intrigued by the camera and telephoto lens Jimmy Stewart used in the role – hence this article.
Jimmy Stewart, his Exacta Varex with Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter in Rear Window
Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window contains probably the most iconic photographer/film camera combinations in movie history. The film is based on a short story, “It Had to Be Murder” and stars Jimmy Stewart as LB ‘Jeff’ Jeffries, a New York magazine photographer. Recuperating from a broken leg, Jeffries is confined to a wheelchair in his apartment in Greenwich Village.
Jeff’s rear window looks out onto a courtyard and his neighbour’s apartments, which he observes during his convalescence in a stifling Manhattan summer. The include a lonely middle-aged woman, a new wed couple, a dancer, a husband and his sick wife, an alcoholic pianist and a couple who often sleep out in the balcony in the hot weather. Jeff’s observations include some suspicious sounds and behaviour and he becomes convinced one of his neighbours, Lars Thorwald, has committed a murder.
Inspirations for a Murderer
Mischievously, Hitchcock modelled the murderer on a former meddling producer he did not care for, David O. Selznick. Grace Kelly plays the archetypical Hitchcock blonde heroine in Lisa Carol Fremont, a stylish and resourceful socialite who has to engage in much of the action as Jeff is wheelchair bound. Although he did not write the the screenplay, Hitchcock also supplied colour for the murder story from two cases he head read about in the newspapers: the infamous Dr. Crippen and the less well remembered Patrick Mohan, both of whom dismembered their victims.
The Role of the Photographer
Rear Window is another of my favourite films, and the role of the photographer is pure Hitchcock. David Campany describes it well in the essay Re-viewing Rear Window:
“For Hitchcock’s purposes, a photographer is above all someone who looks. It is their socially accepted voyeurism that is significant, not their images. Voyeurism requires a safe distance, a vantage point for the observer beyond the reach of the observed (much like a movie audience, watching but not accountable). In Rear Window, the photographer is cut off not just by the lens of his camera, or by the glass window of his apartment, or indeed by the abyss of the courtyard across which he stares. It is his professionalized looking, with its fantasy of objectivity, that cuts him off. It demands his separation from the world. Despite witnessing what he believes is a murderer covering his traces, he feels no urge to get it on film. Rather, he uses his camera’s long lens as a telescope to watch, swapping it for binoculars when things get really intense.”
That Obscure Object of Desire
Jeff’s camera was an Exakta Varex VX 35mm film SLR made by the improbably named Ihagee of Dresden, which was in East Germany at the time. This manufacturer is best known for the Kine Exakta (1936-1948), the first 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera in regular production.
The Exakta Varex VX was introduced in 1951 and was based on the Kine Exakta. The Exakta Varex VX was a system camera that could be used with either a waist level finder or with a pentaprism and a variety of focusing screens. Other specialised equipment available for the camera system included microscope adaptors, extension bellows, stereo attachments and medical attachments.
Exakta as Witness
In addition to a staring role in Rear Window Josef Koudelka used an Exacta Varex to photograph the invasion of Prague in 1968. He had returned to Czechoslovakia from Romania recording his photo-essay Gypsies (also with an Exacta Varex) two days before the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
These photographs, of crowds staring down the barrels of tank guns, defiant youths waving resistance flags in smouldering streets and anti-Soviet graffiti that sprang up every day and was whitewashed every night, came to define one of the pivotal moments of 20th-century history. However Josef Koudelka would have to wait another 16 years for an exhibition at London’s Hayward Gallery before being credited as the photographer. Until then, the pictures had been attributed to PP (Prague Photographer) to protect Koudelka and his family from reprisals.Josef Koudelka: the lonely, rebel photographer
Rear Window
In Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window the Exakta Varex VX was paired with a huge 400mm telephoto lens; the catchily named Kilfitt fern-kilar f/5.6 model. The f/5.6 400mm lens weighed 1.76kg and almost certainly required a tripod to obtain sharp shots.
Collectively the camera/lens combination is known as the ‘Rear Window stalking camera’ and is much desired by collectors.
Although scarcely known today beyond its association with the Hitchcock classic, Kilfitt was an innovative German lens manufacturer who introduced the first production varifocal (zoom) lens for still 35mm photography – The Zoomar of 1959, which arrived the same year as the Nikon’s game changing F. Kilfitt also produced the first macro lens to provide continuous close focusing in 1955. If you are interested in photography milestones such as these, take a look at the timeline on this site.
My Own 400mm Rear Window Lens
The Nikon 400mm f3.5 prime mounted on an F6
I have a 400mm lens prime also. Not wanting to spend several thousand on a lens I would use only occasionally I purchased an old school manual focus Nikon Ai-S 400m f3.5 IF-ED from a Japanese eBay seller.
A Beast of a Lens
It’s an all-metal 2.8kg beast of a lens, a whole 1kg heavier than the Rear Window 400mm, and built like the proverbial tank. Mine came with a protective clear 122mm filter, which made it even better value. It is an amazing piece of kit but not the most practical. There’s no VR and it requires a tripod and a gimbal head, which makes the combined shooting weight pretty substantial.
The first version of the lens was introduced in 1976 and was followed in 1977 by an Ai version. Mine is the Ai-S lens version introduced in 1982 and which can be identified by the minimum aperture number which is engraved in orange. The expression ‘they don’t make them like that anymore’ was never more true than with this lens which is an incredibly solidly engineered piece of work.
I used it originally for shots of the moon with the Z7 and the FTZ adapter using focus peaking, but I have recently acquired the new 100-400 mm zoom for that kind of shot. It’s better optically of course, and far lighter, but has nothing like the presence. I’ve kept the old monster for use with my older Nikon cameras – the F series and FM film classics. Sometimes, only film will do.
Other Movies Featuring Photographers
Whilst my favourite movie with a photographer as lead is Rear Window, but there are many others featuring photographers. My favourite is Apocalypse Now – the subject of another article on this site, but here’s a list of some of the most notable of the others.
Blow-Up (1966)
Double Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White (1989)
As a Nikon user and collector, I’ve noticed quite a few Nikon film cameras appearances in the movies and on TV shows. This short article outlines those appearances. I’ve also written in more detail about the Nikon F’s appearance in one of the all time great movies – Apocalypse Now and there is an equivalent article on Leica M cameras in the movies.
“The Nikon F reinforced its reputation and established itself as modern design icon through its starring roles in films such as Blow-Up, with David Hemmings as a fashion photographer in London; Apocalypse Now with Dennis Hopper as a Photojournalist; and, later, with Clint Eastwood as National Geographic photographer in The Bridges of Madison County.”
Nikon SLRs in Movies
1971 Nikon F with the classic 50mm f/1.4 NIKKOR-S Auto lens (1966-1974)
Beyond those described above, the Nikon F series Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras appeared in several movies, including more greats like Full Metal Jacket and Taxi Driver. I found additional appearances from a little internet research, which revealed quite a few more. The Nikon F, F2, F3, F4 and F5 have all made appearances, but despite searching, I can’t find a movie with Nikon’s final pro SLR, the mighty Nikon F6 in it. Whilst I haven’t included TV, I saw Josie Packard in Twin Peaks conducting surveillance at the Timber Falls Motel with an F2. I am also pretty sure that my favourite TV detective, Columbo, used a Nikon F or F2 in one episode but I can find no reference to it. I suppose I will just have to watch every episode again… I am also yet to see another favourite, the Nikon FM3a on the screen, though the FM and FM2 have made appearances. With retro cameras becoming more popular its by no means impossible it’ll appear one day.
Lolita (1962, Nikon F, S2 rangefinder)
Blow-Up (1966 Nikon F)
The French Connection (1971, Nikon F Photomic)
Diamonds are Forever (1971, Nikon F)
Jaws (1975, Nikon F2)
Taxi Driver (1976, Nikon F2)
The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978, Nikon FM with MD motor-drive)
Apocalypse Now (1979, Nikon F)
Cannonball Run (1981, Nikon F)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982, Nikon F)
Under Fire (1983, Nikon F2)
Ghostbusters (1984, Nikon FE2)
The Killing Fields (1984, Nikon F)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986, FE2)
Full Metal Jacket (1987, Nikon F) Private Joker and Rafterman!
Gorillas in the Mist (1988, Nikon F)
Home Alone (1990, Nikon L35AF)
Groundhog Day (1993, Nikon F Photomic)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995, Nikon F with S36 motor drive, Nikon SP)
Heat (1995, Nikon F4)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997, Nikon F5)
Ronin (1998, Nikon FE2)
City of God (2002, Nikon F)
Walk the Line (2005, Nikon F Photomic)
The Bang Bang Club (2010, Nikon FM2)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013, Nikon F3/T)
Batman v Superman (2016, Nikon S3 Y2K)
Ford v Ferrari (2019, Nikon F Photomic)
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020, Nikon F3 HP)
The First SLR?
Today many people think of the Nikon F as the first Single Lens Reflex camera, but it was actually the much less well known Ihagee (who made the Exakta VX Ihagee Dresden famously used in Rear Window) that manufactured the first 35mm SLR outside of prototypes.
The F brought the innovations and features of earlier models into a single body so well that earlier models seem to have faded from consumer memory. Its effect on the camera market is similarly profound as it ended the dominance of German rangefinders from Zeiss and Leica. If you are interested in the history of photography there are a couple of comprehensive timelines on the site. From Chemistry to Computation is the timeline of the photographic process, whilst the Camera Timeline Year by Year describes camera introductions and innovations every year from 1900 to the present day.
My Nikon Film Cameras
Beyond Nikon Film cameras in the movies, I have a small collection of Nikons I enjoy shooting with. Some of which are reviewed on this site (The F6, F3, FE, FE2FM3a).
I have a late Nikon F from 1971 and it shoots very well. It has the original standard non-metered eye level finder, like the ones Dennis Hopper was carrying in Apocalypse Now. As much as I like an integrated light meter, the Photomic heads spoil the lines of the F too much so I use a hand held lightmeter. The Photomic heads are a little easier on the eye on the F2 and I have added a DP-12 Photomic head to my 1975 F2. I have a rather battered 1980 F3, which I bought in Sweden, and a 2004 F6, which I use a great deal. I also have an FM3a and FM2n, both of which are very lightweight and great to shoot with.
Other Classic Film Cameras in Movies
A huge number of film camera manufacturers have come and gone and their products have appeared in hundreds, if not thousands of movies, but below are a few of the more notable ones. Of the models listed below, I have only shot with the Olympus OM-1, another game changing camera which began a shift towards more compact, lighter 35 mm SLRs, away from the increasing weight of the Nikon pro SLRs and back towards the smaller form factor that Leica had always delivered with rangefinders.
Though I don’t have any of the Rolleiflex models listed below (2.8F and T), I have a Rolleiflex 3.5F from 1961 which I absolutely love, and is considered by many to be one of the finest film cameras ever made. The Rolleiflex uses 120 medium format film which produces huge and very detailed 6x6cm negatives. Shooting a Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera is an entirely different experience to shooting either an SLR or rangefinder, and though manual focus can be challenging, gazing at the world through that illuminated ground glass screen that sees the world back to front is absolutely entrancing.
This year by year camera timeline lists significant milestones and cameras representative of the year, as well as some curiosities and evolutionary dead-ends, from 1900.
1900 Kodak introduces the first of the Brownie series which brings the snapshot to the masses. It is a cardboard box camera with a simple meniscus lens that takes 2 1/4-inch square pictures on 117 roll film
Kodak markets the The No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak Camera, a camera that would go on to have probably the largest number of model variations of any Kodak camera made
1901 The Kodak No.2 Brownie is the first camera to use 120 roll film
1902 The Royal Ruby is introduced by Thornton-Pickard, an early pioneer in the development of the camera industry, as its top of the range field camera
1903 The Century Camera Co. introduces the Grand Century Senior. It is constructed of mahogany and features a revolving back and triple extension bed in addition to front standard adjustment
1904 Century introduces the No. 2 Field Camera offering front and rear focus via rack and pinion; double swing; reversing by removable back and a three-piece lens board for 5 x 7, 6.5 x 8.5 and 8 x 10 inch plate film
The No. 4 Screen Focus Kodak combines the use of roll film with a ground glass with an unusual construction that allows the roll film back to be swung out of the way to make place for the ground glass
1905 The Soho Reflex single-lens reflex camera is introduced and becomes the definitive SLR model until after WWII
Houghtons Limited introduces the Ticka Watch Pocket Camera. It is about 2½ inches in diameter with the lens mounted in the barrel and the film in a cassette
1906 Kodak markets the No. 4A Folding Kodak, a large camera for amateur photographers, producing negatives of 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 inch on roll film or glass plates
1907 The Revolving Back Auto Graflex camera is first patented by the Folmer and Schwing division of the Eastman Kodak company. The camera’s main feature is a revolving back for taking horizontal or vertical pictures without having to rotate the camera
The Butcher Royal Mail Stamp Camera is the simplest type of multiplying camera, featuring a polished mahogany box with fifteen lenses, an internal septum to separate the images, and spring mounted metal plate shutter to produce fifteen images on small 3-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ dry plates or film
1908 Kodak markets the No. 4A Speed Kodak, a specialist camera for the professional or serious amateur photographer offering shutter speeds from 1/5 to 1/1000 of a second
1909 The 1A Graflex SLR is introduced. It shoots 2¼ x 4¼ inch Kodak 1A roll film and is notable for its pantograph viewing hood
Houghtons Ltd. introduces the Ensignette Camera, an all metal bellows camera which folded into a vest pocket size camera like the Kodak VPK. It is a milestone in popular photography, providing for the first time a practical, truly compact camera at an affordable price to the average person
1910 Kodak launches the No. 2A Folding Pocket Brownie folding roll film camera for 116 film producing 2 1/2 X 4 1/4″ images
1911 Newman & Guardia Ltd introduces the Model 11A Postcard Sibyl for 5 ½” x 3 ½” plates featuring a folding reflecting view-finder with spirit levels
c. 1911 The original Makina model is launched by Plaubel. It is a strut folding press-type camera, taking 6 x 4.5cm film plates
1912 The first Speed Graphic press cameras are produced. Production continues until 1973
The Vest Pocket Kodak camera, or ‘VPK’ as it was usually known, is launched and becomes one of the most popular and successful cameras of its day. Over 2 million would be sold before the model was discontinued in 1926.
1913 The Homeos stereo camera is the first 35mm camera to go into production
The first commercially successful 35mm camera is the American Tourist Multiple produced by Herbert & Huesgen, New Ideas Mfg. Co
1914Oskar Barnack, creates the Ur-Leica, the prototype of a small-format 35mm camera
Kodak introduces the No. 0 Brownie, the smallest in the range. It takes pictures the same size as the popular Vest Pocket Kodak of 1912
1915 The Minnigraph, made by Benno Levy-Roth of Berlin, may be the first still camera to use cine film. It makes what will later be considered half-frame (18 x 24 mm) pictures, on film held in special cassettes
1916 Kodak introduces the 3A Autographic Special. Generally regarded as the first rangefinder camera, it has a 3-band split-image coupled rangefinder built into the base of the front standard
c. 1917 Conley’s Kewpie No. 3A is a postcard format box camera for type No. 125 roll film with two reflecting type finders, one for horizontal and one for vertical exposures
1918 The Adam, a cardboard box camera, is the first Japanese camera to sell for ¥1
1919 The Cocarette is one of the first new products of German camera maker Contessa-Nettel after the merger that led to the foundation of that company in 1919.
1920 The Venus is a folding camera made by Ihagee in Dresden optimized for exposures in horizontal format
1921-1930
1921 Newman & Guardia Ltd launches the N&G Folding Reflex with a collapsible focusing screen and mirror
The Paff-Reflex is introduced by Ihagee. It is the first SLR made by the company which will later introduce the first 35mm SLR
1922 The Ensign Cupid is the first camera to use a ‘double window’ arrangement for doubling the number of exposures on a roll
1923 J.H. Dallmeyer Ltd introduces the Dallmeyer Speed with a a fast focal plane shutter capable of providing speeds up to 1/1000th of a second accompanied by a fast Pentac F2.0 lens.
1924 The first common wide aperture lens becomes available with the f/2 Ernemann Ermanox, manufactured by Heinrich Ernemann A.G. of Dresden
1925 Leica introduces the Leica I (A), a watershed design that makes the 35mm format truly viable
c. 1926 The Agfa Standard medium format roll film and plate cameras become available with an optional coupled coincident rangefinder at extra cost. Ingenious and advanced for their time, they would serve as the inspiration for later Zeiss Super Ikontas and Voigtlander Bessas
1927 The first monorail camera, the Stegemann Studien-Kamera-C, a 9 ×12 model is designed by the Pictorialist photographer Heinrich Kuhn
1928 The hugely influential Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera (TLR) is introduced, with an ingenious focusing mechanism using a the carriage that held both the viewfinder and the imaging lens, achieving the same function as bellows but with metal
1929 Zeiss-Ikon introduces its top product line of folding medium format cameras, the Ikonta
Minolta, originally named the Nichi-Doku (which means “Japan-German”) Photographic Company, introduces its the first camera, the Nicalette, which is equipped with a German shutter and lens.
1930 The Leica I (C) offers a camera with interchangeable lenses using the Leica Thread Mount (LTM)
1931-1940
1931 The first 35mm prototype SLR is the Filmanka developed by A. Min in the Soviet Union
1932 The Leica II is launched, the first Leica camera with a rangefinder, which becomes a signature of the company
This Rolleiflex Standard K2 Twin Lens Reflex upgrades the original camera with several significant features, including support for 120 format roll film, a film rewind crank, sports finder, removable back and exposure counter
The first Voigtländer Brillant is released, resembling a TLR but functionally closer to a box camera, since it cannot be focused in the viewfinder using zone-focusing.
1933 The Leica III is introduced – a response to the introduction of the Zeiss-Ikon Contax and Oskar Barnack’s last design. It will remain in production in various iterations until 1960
Kodak introduces the The Jiffy Kodak Six-20, a folding camera for 620 film with a Twindar periscopic lens with zone focusing and three selectable apertures
The first Rolleicord is introduced, a simplified version of the Standard Rolleiflex
1934 Zeiss Ikon introduces the Super Ikonata folding camera, which takes 16 4.5 x 6cm images on 120 film and is equipped with a coupled rangefinder
Kodak enters the 35mm market with the Retina I which introduces the 135 cartridge used in all modern 35 mm cameras.
Berning introduces the Robot I camera with a stainless steel body, a spring drive that can shoot at 4 frames per second, and a rotary shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/500th second
Houghton-Butcher introduces the Ensign Midget, a tiny roll film strut folder with a 3-speed shutter
1935 The Leica IIIa is released with a top speed of 1/1000th of a second
1936 the first widely-distributed 35mm SLR camera, the Kine Exakta, is introduced, with a design that will influence many subsequent SLRs
Canon introduces the Hansa, the first Asian 35mm camera
Zeus Ikon launch the Contax II, the first camera with a rangefinder and a viewfinder combined in a single window
1937 Franke & Heidecke unveil the Rolleiflex Automat which features an ingenious automatic first frame positioning and frame counting system which monitors the length of the film as it passes between rollers and sets the camera accordingly, eliminating the need for a red window
Russian manufacturer GOMZ introduces the Sport. Designed between 1934 and 1935 It is the earliest known production 35mm SLR camera ever to be built, but fewer than 320 examples were made and is overshadowed by the Kine Exacta.
Swiss watch maker Jaeger LeCoultre & Company manufacture the ultra compact Compass for the Compass Cameras Ltd. of London, one of the most complicated miniature camera ever made. Measuring a mere 6.5×2.5×5.5cm, it packs a multitude of features into its trim body
The Purma Special (named after the founders Tom Purvis and Alfred Mayo) is a British 127 roll film viewfinder camera with an innovative gravity controlled shutter
1938 Kodak Introduces the Super Six-20, the world’s first camera with built-in photoelectric exposure control
Leica introduces the first commercially successful 35 mm motordrive, the mechanical MOOLY
The Leica IIIb is released with a redesigned viewfinder optic, which brings the RF and VF eye pieces close together
British camera manufacturer Gandolfi launches the Precision, a development of the Imperial model introduced in 1899, which will remain on sale into the 1970s
Voigtländer introduces the Focusing Brillant adding a small opaque spot in the brilliant finder
1939 The Praktiflex 35mm SLR is launched by the Kamera-Werkstätten AG. The design is simple but will constitute the pattern along which virtually every subsequent 35mm SLR camera will be built, regardless of place of origin
The Argus C3 is introduced and becomes the world’s best-selling 35mm camera, offering affordable 35mm rangefinder photography to amateurs
1940 The Leica IIIc is introduced in 1940 with a total redesign of the body and shutter crate. It will remain the mainstay of Leica’s line-up through out the 1940’s
The Mamiya Six is introduced, offering a unique 6 x 6cm coupled rangefinder with film-plane focusing
1941-1960
1941 The Kodak Ektra offers a rangefinder that could accurately focus a 153mm telephoto and the first complete anti-reflection coated lens line for a consumer camera
1942 The F24 aerial reconnaissance camera is developed into the F52 model with an image format of 8.5 ×7 inches and magazines up to 500 exposures
1943 the FS-3 FotoSniper prototype is developed by GOI for the Soviet Baltic Fleet Navy as a long-range reconnaissance camera. It has a FED body and a 60cm lens with an f4.5 aperture
1944 The Alpa-Reflex 35mm SLR is presented to the public at the Swiss Trade Fair in Basel
1945 Houghton-Butcher introduces the Ensign Commando, a folding coupled-rangefinder 6 x 6cm camera for the British Military. It is released so late in the war it does not see much active service
1946 Houghton-Butcher introduces a dual format civilian version of the Ensign Commando offering the smaller 6 x 4.5cm format in addition to 6 x 6cm
The Universal Camera Corporation offers the Mercury II which adds support for normal 35mm film rather than the proprietary Univex film used in the original. Both Mercury cameras use a unique rotary focal plane shutter that enable a maximum shutter speed of 1/1000 second whilst keeping costs low
1947 Konishiroku introduces the Konica (later known as the Konica I), a knob-wound camera with a single eyepiece for a coupled rangefinder and viewfinder, based on an earlier camera called Rubikon, developed c.1938
The Bolsey B is introduced, a 35mm rangefinder camera with a finely cast aluminium body
1948 Instant photography is introduced with the first instant-film camera, the Land Camera 95 or Polaroid camera
The Gamma Duflex is the first SLR camera with an instant return mirror. Production is limited and few models find their way beyond the domestic Hungarian market and so the later Asahiflex IIb is often credited with this innovation
Hasselblad launches the1600F, a 6 × 6cm format focal-plane shutter SLR camera with a revolutionary modular design that allows lenses, viewfinders and film magazines to be exchanged
The Nikon 1 is released, the first Nikon-branded camera, featuring a smaller than standard picture format which produces up to 40 negatives from a single roll of 36 exposure film.
1949Contax S camera is introduced, the first 35mm SLR camera with a pentaprism eye-level viewfinder
The Canon II B is launched with a three-mode optical viewfinder offering magnifications from 0.67x to 1.5x to match the focal length of the lens fitted.
The Ilford Advocate is introduced, the first British 35mm camera introduced after WWII. It is made of white-enamelled die-cast aluminium alloy
Nikon releases the second iteration of the Nikon rangefinder, the Nikon M, with a slight increase in picture size from 24mm x 32mm, to 24mm x 34mm
1950 The Leica IIIf is launched, offering built-in flash synchronization
Voigtländer introduces the Bessa II, the ultimate iteration of the model first available in 1929 and offering a combined viewfinder and rangefinder and 6 x 9 images
Voigtländer launches the Perkeo 6 x 6 folding camera. Measuring just 125 x 85 x 40mm when closed, and 95mm deep when the lens is extended it is one of the smallest medium format camera.
The Agiflex II is a 6×6 SLR, made by Agilux and derived from the British WWII military aerial camera ARL that was in turn derived from the German Reflex Korelle
1951 The Nikon S becomes available, retaining the unusual 24mm x 34mm format
The Ilford Witness, an advanced 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera, is introduced with either a 2-inch f/1.9 Dallmeyer Super Six, or a 5 cm f/2.9 Daron. Production difficulties led to less than 350 cameras being made
The WrayFlex I is a British SLR which uses two mirrors instead of a pentaprism, so the image is reversed and not very bright. It has a full complement of speeds from ½sec to 1/1000th sec in the focal plane shutter.
1952 Kodak introduces the Brownie 127, a plastic box camera with no aperture or focus controls, and a single-speed shutter that produces eight 4 x 6 cm pictures on 127 film. It rapidly becomes an extremely popular snapshot camera in Britain with over a million made.
The Asahiflex, built by the Asahi Optical Corporation (later to become Pentax), is the first SLR camera built in Japan
The Canon Camera Company markets the Canon IVSb 35mm rangefinder, the first 35mm camera to support flash sync for both flash bulbs and electronic X-sync through Canon’s proprietary rail mounted flash shoe
1953 The Coronet 6×6 Flashmaster is introduced with a rigid Bakelite body, a fixed lens and a simple shutter with no aperture or speed setting
The Graflex KE-4 Combat Camera, a 70mm model, is manufactured for the military. Since the design resembles a giant Contax camera it is given the nickname “Gulliver’s Contax”
The Periflex 35mm camera is launched by K. G. Corfield Ltd. It resembles the Leica Standard, Model E but provides through the lens visual focusing using an inverted periscope lowered into the light path between the lens and the film
1954 The Leica M is introduced with the new Leica M mount and popularises the combined rangefinder and viewfinder
Nikon introduces the S2 rangefinder that takes conventional 35mm film and a 1.0X finder. It offers the option to attach the world’s first battery powered motor drive
The Asahiflex IIb is the first volume 35mm SLR with an instant return mirror. Early SLRs left the mirror in its up position until the camera was wound for the next shot, blacking out the viewfinder. The introduction of instant-return mirror mechanisms and the subsequent elimination of mirror blackout is an important step in the acceptance of SLRs
1955 The Miranda T 35mm SLR camera is launched by the newly established Japanese Orion Camera Co. It is the first Japanese 35mm SLR camera with an eyelevel Pentaprism finder.
1956 The Rolleiflex 2.8E is the company’s first model with a built in, uncoupled light meter as an option
The VT is Canon’s first camera to have a camera back which swings open for film loading. The film advances with a fast-winding trigger at the camera bottom instead of a knob on top.
1957 The Asahi Pentax SLR is introduced, placing controls in locations that would become standard on 35 mm SLRs
Tokyo Kogaku KK launch their first 35mm SLR camera, the Topcon R, ahead of Nikon and Canon
Leitz releases the Leica IIIg as the final model in the series with a newly designed top cover with a larger and improved viewfinder
The Nikon SP is the worlds first rangefinder to include built-in frame lines for 6 different focal lengths
Hasselblad introduces the medium format 500 C, which will go on too become one of most influential and successful cameras of all time
1958 The Minolta SR-2 is the first SLR camera with an automatic diaphragm which maintains maximum aperture for brightest viewing and stops down only when the picture is taken
Nikon releases a new rangefinder, the S3, a stripped down version of the Nikon SP at a lower price
Konishiroku introduces the Konica IIIA with three finder windows and offering 1.0× finder magnification
1959 The Nikon F is introduced, marking the transition from rangefinders to SLRs for professional photographers
Canon introduces the Canonflex, its first SLR
The Olympus Pen is the first half-frame camera produced in Japan. It is one of the smallest cameras to use 35mm film in regular 135 cassettes.
The Zenza Bronica is the first Japanese 6 x 6cm format camera with interchangeable lenses and film backs
1960 Konishiroku introduces the Konica F, featuring the Hi-Synchro, the first SLR shutter with a speed of 1/2000s
Nikon introduces the S3M, a half-frame variant of the Nikon S3 with a modified viewfinder and a frame counter that displays up to 72 exposures
The Leica M3 Rangefinder 1954-1966. This model is from 1963.
1961-1970
1961 Canon introduces the Canonet, a mid-market 35mm camera with a fast f/1.9 lens. Two and a half years later, a million Canonets had been sold.
1962AGFA introduces the first fully automatic camera, the Optima, with an automatic programmed exposure, using a selenium-meter-driven mechanical system
The Nikkorex F is the first production single-lens reflex camera with the metal Copal square shutter
1963 Kodak introduces the Instamatic range of cameras, with an easy-to-use film cartridge and the phrase ‘load it you’ll love it’
1965 The Konica Auto-Reflex of 1965 is the first focal-plane-shutter auto exposure 35mm SLR. This is not TTL metering, although it does offer a shutter-preferred, auto-exposure mode
Hasselblad launches a new design, the 500EL, with an electric motor integrated into the camera body
Eastman Kodak replaces the individual flashbulb technology used on early Instamatic cameras with the Flashcube
The Practica mat by VEB Pentacon Dresden is the first 35 mm single-lens reflex camera with TTL exposure metering
1966 The Electro 35 rangefinder camera is introduced by Yashica with a coupled and fixed 1:1.7 45 mm lens. It is the first electronically controlled rangefinder camera offering aperture priority ‘auto’ mode
The Rollei 35 becomes the smallest 135 film camera
The Olympus Pen FT updates the F model with a single-stroke film advance and an uncoupled, integrated light meter
1967Nikon F Photomic SLR is the first camera with a centre-weighted exposure metering system
1968 Leica introduces the Leicaflex SL, the world’s first single-lens reflex camera with a precisely defined microprism zone for TTL spot exposure metering displayed in the viewfinder.
Konishiroku launches the Konica C35, combining light weight and compact size with the simple operation of “auto only” exposure
1969 The Olympus-35 EC, an electronically controlled 35mm compact camera, is introduced. It features a fixed Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 lens and and an automatically controlled Seiko shutter with a range of 4 to 1/800 sec
The Mamiya C220 is released as part of the Mamiya C series of interchangeable lens medium format TLR cameras
1970 The Sinar P 4×5 sets the standard for high-end, large format cameras with asymmetric tilts and swings, as opposed to traditional centre or base tilts.
1971-1990
Nikon F: 1959-1973. This example is from 1970.
1971 The Canon F-1 is introduced, a highly durable model built to endure 100K picture-taking cycles, temperatures from -30 C to 60 C, and 90% humidity.
Nikon’s F High Speed Motor Drive camera, developed for the ’71 Chicago Photo Expo offers a blazing 7 frames per second
The Leica M5 is introduced, departing from the traditional silhouette of the Leica rangefinders and the first of those cameras to feature through-the-lens (TTL) metering
1972 Kodak reduces the popular Instamatic Camera to pocket size with the introduction of the Pocket Instamatic Camera.
Olympus launches the OM-1, an ultra-compact 35mm SLR that initiates the compact SLR revolution of the ‘70s and ‘80s
Polaroid founder Edwin H. Land announces the SX-70, taking out a folded SX-70 from his suit coat pocket whilst on stage and taking five pictures in ten seconds
The Wista 45 wood and brass Field Camera is launched – an evolution of a design available since the 1890s. Later models offer several choices of wood including Japanese cherrywood,rosewood and ebony
1973 Minolta releases a new flagship model camera, the SR-T 303 (102 in the US) which bought open aperture metering to a wide audience
The Leica CL, a compact rangefinder, is designed in Germany by Leitz Wetzlar and built in Japan by Minolta with Leitz lenses
1974 Canon introduces the Datematic, which features date imprinting and a body and exterior made of reinforced plastic.
1975 Olympus launches the XA series, one of the smallest rangefinder cameras ever made
1976 Canon introduces the AE-1, the world’s first 35mm AE SLR camera equipped with the shutter speed-priority TTL metering and a Central Processing Unit (CPU).
The first of the Zenza Bronica ETR series of 4.5 × 6cm SLRs manufactured by Zenza Bronica Industries Inc. of Tokyo is introduced.
1977 The Asahi Pentax K1000 is launched and goes on to becomethe most successful basic student SLR of all time, combining a Pentax Spotmatic F with Pentax K-type bayonet mount to produce a competent and affordable camera
The Minolta XD11 is the world’s first camera with aperture priority and shutter priority, as well as a fully metered manual mode.
1978 Konica introduces the C35 AF, the first point-and-shoot autofocus camera
Canon introduces the A-1, a sophisticated electronic camera with all-digital control featuring the first fully automatic program AE mode, pre-set aperture-priority AE, and speedlite AE mode.
1979 Canon launches the SureShot, the world’s first lens-shutter 35mm autofocus camera, with a triangulation system incorporating a near-infrared emitting diode (IRED)
The Nikon EM is introduced the first model in a revised design concept by Nikon to introduce a series of ultra compact bodies characterized by compactness, light weight and ease of use.
1981 The low-tech plastic Holga camera is introduced, which will later attain cult status with the advent of Lomography and become a major source of inspiration for Instagram
Canon introduces the AE-1 Program camera to succeed the original AE-1 offering shutter speed-priority AE and program AE modes.
1982 Nikon introduces the FM2, which uses an improved Copal Square Shutter to achieve an unheard-of speed range of 1 to 1/4000th second
Kodak launches the disc photography format with a line of compact cameras built around a rotating disc of fifteen 10×8 mm exposures. Labs resisted investing in new development equipment resulting in poor quality photos and the format was short-lived
The Nimslo 3D camera is launched – the first camera offering lenticular printing from 35mm negative film. A lenticular print combines four pictures into a single print that appears 3 dimensional
1983 The Olympus OM-4 is the first camera with a multi-spot exposure meter
The Nikon FA is introduced as the first camera to feature a multi-segment (matrix) metering, using a five-zone evaluative system.
Minolta launches the Disc-7, a disc camera with a small convex mirror on the front plate. With the help of a telescoping stick that anticipates the later selfie-stick, this allows the user to take self-portraits.
1984 LOMO begin mass-producing the LC-A, achieving popularity within the USSR and kickstarting Lomography
The Leica M6 heralds the renaissance of the rangefinder system in a market dominated by single-lens reflex cameras
Canon introduces the new F-1 High Speed Motor Drive Camera which is able to zip through a 36-exposure roll of film in 2.57 sec. at 14 fps, a record at the time.
1985 Minolta introduces the world’s first fully integrated autofocus SLR with the autofocus (AF) system built into the body – the Maxxum 7000 a.k.a. the Dynax 7000
The Canon T90 marks the pinnacle of Canon’s manual-focus 35mm SLRs
The Canon RC-701 becomes the first still video camera marketed, offering10 fps (frames per second) high-speed shutter-priority and multi-program automatic exposure
1987 Canon launches the EOS (Electro-Optical System), an entirely new system designed specifically to support autofocus lenses
1988 The Nikon F4 is introduced as the first professional Nikon to feature a practical autofocus system.
The Fuji DS-1P, the first digital handheld camera, is introduced, though it does not sell
The first of the Genesis series from Chinon helps to define the category of 35mm bridge cameras
The R6 is the first mechanical, manual-exposure-only SLR produced by Leica since the Leicaflex SL2 was discontinued
1989 Steven Sasson and a colleague, Robert Hills, of Kodak create a prototype camera which is the first modern digital single-lens reflex camera that looks and functions like today’s professional models. It is known as the D-5000 or Ecam (electronic camera) and features a 1.2 megapixel sensor and uses image compression and memory cards.
1990-2000
Contax G2 with 45mm lens, produced 1996-2005
1990 first digital camera shipped in the United States is the Dycam Model 1, which comes with a neutral density filter to prevent over exposure in bright settings.
Logitech introduces the Fotoman FM-1, a modified Dycam Model 1, and the first consumer point and shoot camera sold in Europe
The Konica AiBORG is introduced as the world’s first moving frame auto focus camera. It will go on to achieve infamy as the Konica “Darth Vader” due to its bulbous looks and poor design.
1992 Leica introduces the R6.2 SLR, an update of the R6, with a higher top shutter speed and an improved TTL flash mode
Contax launches the S2 fully mechanical, manual-focus SLR to commemorate the company’s 60th anniversary. It offers only a spot meter and no centre-weighted or matrix metering options
The Nikonos RS is the world’s first underwater Auto-Focus SLR camera
1993 The Vivitar Opus 20 is a late example of a 110 film camera with a modern new look, motor-driven film advance, a built-in flash, and red eye reduction
1994 The Apple Quicktake 100 is the first camera to use USB to connect to a computer.
1995 The Casio QV-10 is the first camera to incorporate an LCD screen on the back for image preview and playback
The Ricoh RDC-1 is the first digital camera offering a dedicated movie mode. It is capable of recording 5-second 768×480-pixel clips at 30 frames per second, and saving them in the new MPEG format
The Nikon D1 is the first fully integrated digital SLR designed from the ground up, rather than a digital modification to a film SLR
The Minolta RD-175 combines an existing SLR, the Dynax500si Super, with a three way splitter and three separate CCD image sensors which are combined digitally and interpolated to produce a 1.75 megapixel image
1996 the Canon PowerShot 600, Canon’s first consumer digital camera, is released featuring a 0.5 megapixel sensor
The Coolpix 100 is Nikon’s first consumer digital camera. It features a 1/3 megapixel sensor and a PCMCIA interface which enables it slot it into a laptop, where it appears as a removable drive
Canon introduces the first IXUS APS ultra compact as Canon’s contribution to the launch of the Advance Film System (APS). The model will later form the basis of the Digital IXUS range and is considered a milestone of compact camera design.
Minolta introduces the TC-1, a high-end, titanium-bodied compact autofocus 35mm camera with the smallest frontal area of any professional-grade compact autofocus camera
1997 The Pentax 645N is the first autofocus medium format SLR camera
Yashica’s first digital camera, the KC-600, is announced
The Epson PhotoPC 550, the third Epson digital camera and the first Epson to feature an external memory slot for SmartMedia cards, features a microphone to record up to six seconds of sound per photograph
1998 Fuji reveal the FUJIX DS-1P at Photokina as “the world’s first camera to save data to a semiconductor memory card”. It captures images using a 400 kilo-pixel CCD that Fuji had began developing in the 70s.
Kodak launches the DC 210, the first affordable megapixel resolution digital camera
1999The Nikon D1 is the first professional digital SLR to displace Kodak’s previously-undisputed reign over the professional market
Canon introduces the IXUS II in the most successful camera range in the APS market. This success will go on to make IXUS an important trademark in the compact camera market
Canon launches the first camera in the PowerShot S range, the S10 with a fully retractable zoom lens with built-in lens cover, advanced functions including Spot Metering and AE Lock, and compact, high-density packaging
2000 The Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro is the first interchangeable-lens DSLR to hit the market. It is based on a Nikon N60 with Fuji’s APS-C-format Super CCD Sensor and is capable of creating 6.13 megapixel images
Nikon reissues the 1958 Nikon S3 rangefinder, the Nikon S3 Year 2000 Limited Edition, with an improved chrome finish as and a redesigned 50mm f1.4 lens with modern coatings
Canon launches the Digital IXUS range of ultra compact cameras, based on the technology of the PowerShot S10 in a body similar to the APS IXUS II
The Canon EOS D30 is the first ‘native’ DSLR made in-house by a camera manufacturer with a price tag that is affordable to enthusiasts
The Nikon FM3a, the last manual film camera shipped by a volume manufacturer
2001-Present
2001 Nikon introduces the FM3a, the last manual focus film camera to be launched by a volume manufacturer
Ricoh launches the GR21, the first compact camera in the world to have a super-wide 21mm wide angle lens
Pentax introduces the 645NII medium format film camera which adds mirror lock-up to the list of features
2002 Contax launches the N Digital the first full frame digital SLR digital camera
Nikon introduce the D100, which becomes the first digital SLR to score a resounding sales success amongst both professional and serious enthusiast photographers
Leica departs from the mechanical design of previous M cameras with the introduction of the electronic M7
2003 The Olympus E-1 is the first removable lens digital SLR with a lens mount and imaging system specifically designed for digital
Leica introduces the all-mechanical MP rangefinder film camera which incorporates many design features of the 1954 M3 and a TTL lightmeter.
The Minolta Dimage A1 is the first model to stabilise images by shifting the sensor instead of using a lens-based system
Canon introduces the EOS 300D, arguably the first digital SLR for the mass-market
2004 The Epson R-D1 is the first digital rangefinder camera
Leica makes the detachable DMR (Digital Module R) digital back available, making it possible to transform the Leica R8 and R9 film cameras into digital SLRs
The Nikon F6 is launched, Nikon’s last high end professional film camera
2005 The Canon EOS 5D is the first consumer DSLR to feature a full frame sensor
Kyocera announces the company is to cease production of film and digital cameras, ending one of oldest brands in photography, Contax.
2006 The Flip video camera is released as a “Pure Digital Point & Shoot” video camcorder
The M8 is Leica’s first digital camera in the rangefinder M series
2007 Nikon’s first full frame DSLR, the D3, pushes the ISO range into six figures for the first time – to ISO 102,400
Microsoft introduces RoundTable, a videoconferencing device with a 360-degree camera with active speaker detection technology, which switches between different meeting participants as they speak.
2008 Panasonic releases the Lumix G1, the world’s first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera
The Nikon D90 is the first DSLR with HD video recording capabilities
2009 Leicalaunches the M9, a full-frame digital rangefinder compatible with almost all M mount lenses.
2010 Samsung introduce the first APS-C format mirrorless camera, the NX10
Sony introduces the SLT-A55, the first camera to incorporate a translucent mirror design which offers live view with full-time fast phase-detection AF whether in stills or movie shooting.
2011Lytro releases the first pocket-sized consumer light-field camera, capable of refocusing images after they are taken
Nikon Introduces the J1 and V1 mirrorless cameras which offer on-sensor phase detection autofocus
2012 Sony launches the world’s first full frame compact camera – the RX1, with a fixed 35mm F2 lens
Olympus introduces the OM-D E-M5 with a 5-axis sensor-shifting image stabilisation system – the first of its kind in a consumer camera
Fujifilm unveils the X-Pro1 mirrorless interchangeable-lens digital with a Hybrid Viewfinder that allows photographers to choose between an optical finder and an electronic view (EVF)
Canon launches the EOS 6D DSLR which introduces full frame photography to a new generation of photographers who had previously discounted it due to cost
Rolleiflex’s last TLR model, the FX-N, is introduced at Photokina. It is similar to the Rolleiflex FX, but can focus down to 55cm
Leica releases the Monochrom, with a monochrome sensor based on the same Kodak CCD sensor as the Leica M9 but without the colour filter array
2013 Sony announces the ⍺7 which starts the full frame mirrorless revolution.
The Android powered Samsung Galaxy NX unsuccessfully attempts to combine the best features of a smartphone and a dedicated camera
Hasselblad discontinues the last of its film cameras – the V-series 503CW
2014 Samsung introduces the mirrorless APS-C NX1, offering new features and higher levels of performance unheard of in the mirrorless market
Leica launches the Leica T, a camera made from a solid block of milled aluminium with an app-like touchscreen interface that resembles that of a smartphone
Leica releases the M-A, a purely mechanical 35 mm rangefinder film camera devoid of electronics and based on the designs and features of previous Leica M models
2015 Sony announces the first camera to employ a back-side illuminated full frame sensor, the α7R II
2016 Leica introduces the Leica Q, a full frame, mirrorless camera with a Summilux f1.7 lens that brings the brand to a new audience
Hasselblad launches the H6D range of medium format digital cameras with a choice of 50 or 100 megapixel resolutions
Fujifilm introduce the GFX 50S medium format camera, opening the format to photographers who had never considered it before
2017 The Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 is introduced, bringing high quality low cost video production capabilities to a wider audience
Intrepid Camera launches its Kickstarter project for a light-weight, low cost, compact, 10X8 large format film camera
Sony introduce the ⍺9, a mirrorless camera designed to compete with DSLRs in sports and action photography and the first camera to feature Eye Auto Focus that works in continuous AF mode
Nikon introduces the D850, one of the most technically impressive DSLRs ever made
2018 Nikon introduces the Z6 and Z7 full frame mirrorless cameras with the new Z mount.
Within days of the Nikon Z system launch, Canon launches the EOS R system, its first full frame mirrorless system
Leica introduce the Leica M10-D, a digital camera without an LCD screen designed to combine the excitement of film with digital technology
2019 Worldwide camera shipments drop by 87% 2010-2019, wiping out four decades of growth
Fujifilm launches the GFX100 with a 100 megapixel medium format, BSI-CMOS sensor
2021 Sony introduces the ⍺1, a 50.1 megapixel, 8.6K camera capable of shooting bursts at up to 30 frames per second
Olympus exits the camera market, completing the sale of its camera business to JIP, a venture capital
Nikon launches the Z9 which is the first production camera to eliminate the mechanical shutter without the compromise of rolling shutter
2022 Leica introduces the M11 rangefinder with a 60MP full-frame back side illuminated sensor
Leica announces a reissue of the Leica M6 film camera, along with its remake of the original 35mm Summilux
2023 Sony launches the a9 III which delivers the world’s first full-frame global shutter sensor, which allows the camera to freeze motion in captured images with a max shutter speed of 1/80,000 second and 120 fps continuous shooting.
Sony has a prolific year of new releases with six camera launches, solidifying its position as the number one full-frame mirrorless brand.
Nikon releases the Z8 which delivers the majority of the Z9’s capabilities into a much smaller, more portable camera body
2024 Fujifilm announces the launch of the X100VI , the latest model in the popular series of high-end compact digital cameras originally introduced in 2011.
If you spot omissions or errors in this year by year camera timeline, please let me know in the comments.
Nearly three years after I first posted about my new Leica Q on this site, it was stolen from a South Kensington Pub. This was after a visit to the Natural History Museum to see the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. I am fairly sure it was a professional thief, rather than an opportunist, who stole it as the camera was right next to me in its bag and our table was never unattended – yet we saw nothing. As the pub had no CCTV the police soon closed the case. Happily the camera was insured, and I was able to replace it.
Always on the Move…
The Empty Quarter, UAE
2016-2018 were big travel years for me as my work took me to the US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and, for a short while, the Far East. I also went on a couple of road trips – one from Canada to Mexico, and another across Japan. I was rarely at home during those years and I took my Leica Q everywhere I went. I took around 25,000 shots along the way and came to love my camera; it took everything the world could throw at it, whilst remaining perfectly usable, was a joy to handle and allowed me to create some of my best images. In this post I’ll share what I learned along the way.
Lessons Learned
Firstly, the Leica Q is extremely tough and resilient . When I changed straps from the elegant, but thin, leather strap that came with the Q to my preferred, and wider, M strap I didn’t attach it correctly. It later came unfastened – just as I was about to shoot the Sydney Opera House. It hit the ground hard but fortunately had only a small ding on the top plate to show for it. Many other cameras would have been rendered unusable by the impact, if not damaged beyond repair.
This shot was taken just after my Leica Q hit the ground with some force.
The reason the Q survived the impact so well is because the top plate is machined from a solid block of aluminium that sits atop a tank -like body of magnesium alloy. For travellers there is just no substitute for a resilient camera – knocks are inevitable over time.
It’s worth mentioning that there is a knack to putting the strap on correctly to avoid testing the Q’s build quality the way I did. The easiest way is to take the metal fastener off the strap, put it on the camera first and then attach the strap. It’s actually pretty hard to get it wrong if you do it that way.
For a camera that lacks weather proofing it does very well in harsh conditions. Eventually the sensor needed cleaning, but that was after two years of shooting in some hostile climates including a couple of visits to one of the most inhospitable – the Rub al Khali desert, otherwise known as the Empty Quarter.
The Summilux f1.7 stabilised lens is unparalleled for sharpness. It’s the best lens I have ever owned, works incredibly well with the full frame sensor and of course delivers the recognisable but difficult to define Leica look. It is an aspherical (ASPH) lens, a design that tends to be more compact, sharper in the corners wide open and offers a bit more contrast.
I also found Leica’s choice of 28mm for a fixed lens to be a good one. 28mm is wide enough for landscape and urban work and you can easily crop in a little for street photography.
Shooting with the Leica Q is enjoyable and intuitive. The Q combines minimalist manual controls with modern electronic assistance to create a first class user experience.
After service is incredible. When I had the sensor cleaned (which was free of charge) Leica service replaced the chequered outer covering of the camera as part of the service!
It is worth considering both the hand grip and the Match Technical Thumbs Up for improved ergonomics. I prefer the Thumbs Up both in terms of handling and because the hand grip needs to be removed to change the battery or a memory card. It comes off quickly, but it will still slow you down a little. I use the Thumbs Up EP-SQ2 which is machined from solid brass and locks onto the hot-shoe with a hex key. It is pricey, but worth it as it is beautifully made. Once the Thumbs Up is on the camera it really does feel like it was always there and part of the original product.
When I got my replacement camera I was reminded of just how excellent the packaging is. The ‘chest of drawers’ that contains the camera, its accessories (all in their own little Leica bags) and documentation is really well designed. Just search YouTube for Leica Q unboxing to see how many people have been enthralled by the experience.
Despite its relatively small size it is a camera that attracts attention – good and bad. I keep the famous red dot logo covered, but Leica cognoscenti still comment favourably on my choice of camera from time to time. This is particularly the case in Deal, Kent where my parents live, and where I often visit. It seems there is a high concentration of Leica users there…
Black and white images often possess a timeless quality that is more difficult to achieve with colour images. This is largely because colour provides more visual clues as to when a photograph was taken.
Variance in the colours themselves can sometimes suggest a specific era – the difference between the colour renditions of the 1970s for example, and today are often clearly discernible; this is due to differences in colour processing, which have changed significantly over time.
Printed colour images may also be subject to varying degrees of instability as they age, which is also helpful in dating them.
The Advance of Colour Film
The first permanent colour photograph was taken in the 1860s using the colour separation, a method which required shooting three separate black and white photos using three different coloured filters. These were then projected together to create a colour image.
By the first decade of the twentieth century colour separation using the Autochrome process which used millions of tiny colour filters made of potato starch spread over the surface of a plate of glass was available.
In the 1930s multi-layered colour film was developed, the first of which was Kodachrome. The 1960s saw the development of instant photographs by Polaroid, and in the 1970s the C-41 chromogenic colour negative process replaced the C-22 process that Kodak had introduced in the 1950s. For more on the history of photographic processes, see the article on this site ‘From Chemistry to Computation’
It was not until the 1970’s that colour photography became the form of photography. Monochrome photography continued but in niche markets such as fine art.
The Advent of Digital
With the advent of digital photography the clues provided by film have disappeared, but colour is also an element of fashion which inevitably gives a better sense of when the picture was taken. Regardless of changes in fashion, colour provides a level of detail absent from black and white pictures – there is just less information for us to process, making a picture more difficult to date. This is helpful in many genres of photography but is especially so for travel, street and portrait photography. Whilst we know the approximate date we took our pictures, if when these photos were taken is difficult to discern, it seems to imbue them with additional value. Why this should be a virtue is largely attributable to the notion of the ‘classic’ – something long-standing that does not date with age. Synonyms of the word classic give us a clue to the value implied by the term: simple, elegant, understated, uncluttered, restrained, time-honoured, timeless, ageless, abiding, enduring and immortal. Portrait photographer Anne Geddes made the point well when she said: “The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed.”
Photographing souls
Another aspect of timelessness, although more subjective, is that many photographers consider black and white photography promotes a stronger emotional connection with people. Canadian photographer Ted Grant’s quote on this is well known: “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!“
Souls being more durable and important than clothes (to all but the fashion industry!) this quality naturally creates a more timeless photograph.
The Weight of History
Another factor is that because black and white photography preceded colour, many of the pioneers of photography from Adams to Weston including many pioneering women, shot in black and white . Monochrome images were dominant beyond photography’s formative years – leading the way for the first 120 years or so of photography’s history. This resulted in a huge number of iconic black and white images and creates a significant pedigree and a degree of nostalgia for what is now a genre rather than a technology.
The accompanying photo is of Newcastle based photographer Irena Childers and was shot in Garth Park, Bicester, as part of a camera club shoot. It is a digital shot but it strikes me that the picture could have been taken at any time between from 1950 and the present day. This only became apparent when I performed the mono conversion with Silver Efex. The colour version just didn’t have the same timeless quality…
When a photograph is converted to mono and the colour removed, what remains is tone. Tone is in fact one of the reasons black and white photography has continued to be popular after the advent of colour. It was the tonal quality of Paul Strand’s work that inspired landscape legend Ansel Adams to make a career change from classical pianist/hobby photographer as a hobby to full time professional. It was the“full, luminous shadows and strong high values, in which subtle passages of tone were preserved” in Strand’s photography that Adam’s found so compelling.
Tonal Range
Tonal range refers to the range and distribution of tones in an image from the darkest to the lightest values. An image with a wide tonal range will include very dark (black) and very light (white) elements, whereas as one with a narrow tonal range will be limited to a more restricted area and will have less contrast. Lighting conditions have a great impact on tonal range. On a misty day in Oxford, UK the difference in brightness between the lightest part and the darkest parts of the scene will be relatively insignificant, but under the harsh light of the mid day sun in Arizona the range will be much greater. Extremes such as that aside, images with a wide tonal range tend have both greater contrast and greater appearance of drama and depth. A narrower tonal range makes the image look flatter, though this may be by design. Tonal range is influenced by the amount of and quality of light (harsh or soft) and the reflectance of the subject. The addition of a polarising filter, something I use extensively, improves contrast and can thus help expand the tonal range. Tonal range is different from dynamic range which refers to the ability of the camera’s sensor to capture shadow detail from the darkest values and highlight detail from the brightest values in the same shot. Dynamic range is maximised in RAW format which records all the image data the sensor is capable of recording, and is one of the main reasons this format is used. Tonal range is the number of tones an image has has to describe the dynamic range.
Tonal Contrast
Tonal contrast is created when light tones and dark tones are adjacent to one another – it has the effect of directing the viewers attention to the contrasting area and is the basis of the success of many black and white images. It is an essential element of composition, but is not as well known as other compositional rules such as leading lines, the rule of thirds, framing, and diagonals.
A tonal curve is typically applied to the image by the camera by default as the image data from the photo sites is linear (the values are directly proportional to the light received), whereas human vision is non-linear. The process is known as (tone curve correction aka gamma correction) and makes the pictures look right to the human eye on a screen display. This process generally lightens the midtones. This default tonal curve can be adjusted in the curves tool of RAW conversion programs (such as the ageing but excellent Aperture, which I still use). The Aperture user manual describes the use of the Curves tool quite well:
“You use the Curves adjustment controls when you want to manually set the tonal values of the shadows, midtones, and highlights in an image using a tonal curve. Unlike the Levels adjustment controls, the Curves controls do not reapportion the luminance values in the image by constraining the white and black points. Instead, you use the Curves controls to precisely remap the position of the midtones relative to the white and black points. Because the human eye’s perception of light is logarithmic rather than incremental, a curve is necessary to distribute the luminance values across all tonal ranges in an image in a way that matches how the eye perceives light in nature.”
Applying a Tone Curve
Applying an S-shaped curve to the data, which is initially shown as a straight line, applies a steep curve in the mid tones, which increases contrast and give the image greater impact. A correctly exposed film image has an inherently more S shaped tone curve than a digital image, and film, being based on a chemical process, and therefore essentially analogue, also creates a smoother continuum of tones than digital cameras. This difference diminishes with every generation of sensor. As much as I care about tone, the advantages of the digital dark room, for me at least, vastly outweigh any disadvantages of digital photography. Let’s take the example of dodging (applying reduced exposure locally) and burning (applying additional exposure locally), both of which are important techniques to modify tone. To quote Ansel Adams once again: “dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.” Both are fiendishly difficult to master with film to the level Adams used, and far simpler with image editing programs such as PhotoShop. It is worth noting that some photographers also consider that dodging and burning can give a more natural impression than adjusting the tonal curve. I use both techniques.
The Black and White Advantage
Here are some of the advantages that the various attributes of tone confer over colour:
With only tones to work with, black and white forces the photographer to pay closer attention to composition – which is in itself an advantage.
The simplicity of a race of tones makes the subject easier to focus on, which is one of the reasons so many street photographers eschew colour.
Simplicity can be enhanced by discarding extraneous detail more easily in monochrome images. I often burn out distracting detail in dark areas to further simplify the image.
Editing a photo converted to black and white provides a much greater opportunity to redistribute the light to create finely graduated tones, which can make architecture and sculpture both more three dimensional and more beautiful.
In portraiture, skin tones are evened out.
Graphical elements and patterns are more evident.
Abstract images are stronger.
Textures often appear to have more depth.
Black and white photography is more effective in low contrast situations, such as under heavy cloud
My example of tone from Flash of Darkness is the Colossus of Constantine in the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums) on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. The statue, built c. 312-315 AD is truly immense and once stood at around 40 feet high. I have experimented with many different versions of this image, from low key to high key and with varying tone curves and application of dodge and burn. The image I prefer however is the one on this page which is fairly neutral, with only a slight increase in contrast; it seems to be the most effective at describing the shading of the marble forms and the subtle changes in the tones of the painted plasterwork.
We have had colour photography since the 1930s and the invention of Kodachrome, though it took until the 1970s for it become the norm. So why has black and white photography persisted?
Perhaps the most obvious difference between colour and b&w photography is that unlike their colour equivalents, black and white images are not direct renditions of their subjects. By omitting colour and substituting shades of grey, black and white photography presents an abstract and therefore less realistic image. This takes us into the representational world of art, where the artist tries to portray what is perceived and interpreted with the mind rather than what is seen directly by the eye. Both the artist and the photographer are working with a 3D subject in a 2D medium and this is where black and white photograph has an advantage over a colour rendition – black and white excels at tone; which describes the darkness or lightness of a particular area of an image. This is important as tone is essential to convey the illusion of form – or how the subject looks in three dimensions. Black and white draws more attention to the shadows and lines that depict form and gives a better illusion of depth. This is one of the reasons that black and white is often an effective medium for both landscapes and architectural shots as it can emphasise the shapes and forms within the scene. The case for black and white is even stronger with a side lit photo where light intensity varies across the person or object and the scene is subject to strong shadows. This is one of the reasons why I am fond of film noir which uses a lot of side lighting, shadow and contrast as opposed to the the more evenly exposed lighting of mainstream Hollywood.
On to my example, which is a shot of the columnar and iconic Marina City Towers on Chicago’s Riverfront, designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg. This is one of Chicago’s most notable buildings and was designated a city landmark in 2015. I was much taken with this 65-storey building complex, the tallest residential concrete building in the world at the time of completion in 1964, and known locally as the ‘corn cobs’, as I was driven to my hotel in a taxi. At the time I thought it was the world’s most elegant car park, but actually only the lower 19 floors are used for parking, whilst the upper floors contain apartments, restaurants and a concert hall. The towers were used as a back drop for a chase scene in Steve McQueen’s 1980 film ‘The Hunter’ . In his last film appearance, McQueen played a bounty hunter who is himself being pursued by a psychotic killer and chases a fugitive up the parking ramp in one of the towers before the car he is pursuing skids off the edge into the Chicago River.
I shot the towers from several locations, including the river, whilst on an architectural tour of the city, and eventually captured this image, which I felt depicted the organic form of the building best – the contrast between the light edges of the circular elements and the dark background, together with the sweeping curves of the tower in the foreground, draw the eye and help describe its form. It was shot in the morning, and, as usual, I used a circular polariser to darken the sky and increased the contrast between the building and its background. I took the shot with a Nikon Df with a ‘walk around’ 28-300 lens at ISO 200/45mm/f11/1/250 sec. The towers have a constantly changing pattern of light and shadow over the course of the day and are an ideal subject for black and white photography as well as a great piece of architecture. I was much taken with Chicago, which I visited for the first time in 2015 – it is undoubtedly one of the finest cities for modern architecture in the world and I am keen to return to capture more of it, but my enduring memory of my first visit is those iconic, sci-fi columns of Marina City.
I have seen some astonishing black and white photography that uses very strong neutral density (ND) filters such as the B+W ND 110 to blur cloud movement using a long exposure. I wanted to get some shots with the same effect into my portfolio. The B+W 110 is not for the faint hearted because it is so black the camera typically can’t meter or focus through it, but I’ve tried lesser NDs and they are just not strong enough for the full effect. The real full on long exposure effect can be stunning, and I obtained reasonably pleasing results on the shoot, so I’m going to keep going. The picture on the left is entitled ‘The Road to Nowhere’ and is a small road that runs just off the A41 between Aylesbury and Bicester towards Brill, where I also shot that day. After some experimentation I found the following to work quite well:
Ideally you should shoot on a cloudy day with strong winds so that you can capture the movement as a blur. The direction and speed of movement of the clouds is of interest as movement across the frame versus towards or away from you look quite different.
Set up your camera on a tripod. Make sure it is really secure, especially if you are in a high wind. If you have a strap attached to the camera make sure it is not flapping about. Ideally you should be using a cable release or remote to release the shutter.
Compose a test shot without the filter, in aperture priority mode – setting the desired aperture, which will typically be small (I mainly used f16). Typically you will want to set a low ISO, shoot using Raw and disable lens vibration reduction as it is not helpful on a tripod.
Focus using auto focus and take note of the shutter speed.
Next, screw in your B+W 110 10 stop neutral density filter, and switch to manual focus and manual mode.
In Manual mode set the shutter speed to 1000 times the shutter speed of the meter reading for the test shot, keeping the same aperture setting and using the bulb setting if necessary.
Take the shot and look at the result. Adjust the shutter setting as desired until you get the exposure you want.
Take off the ND filter, flip back to aperture mode and autofocus and take a bracket of 3 shots that can be used with the long exposure to create a properly exposed image.
We have had colour photography since the 1930s and the invention of 
I have seen some astonishing black and white photography that uses very strong neutral density (ND) filters such as the