Travelers

In the 1980’s I was a college student in the Philippines with little means of acquiring gear. All I could do was desperately pine for these magnificently engineered specimens of photographic equipment. ( We did have a capable Minolta XD-5 that my dad had sent from the U.S. for us to use ). But just like how someone could lust over a Porsche or a Ferrari, we dreamed of owning and using what was considered the state of the art in professional cameras. (My brothers are also photographers)

Over 30 years later and with a little more means (Check out my Graflex post that sort of started this film renaissance) I’ve been slowly re-acquiring these objects of desire.

And what’s really incredible is how these cameras have withstood time and abuse to not only still be around, but fulfill what they were designed for: Take amazing images. Holding these in my hand, I can’t help but think about who used to own these fantastic machines made of steel and glass. The stories it could tell…

The cameras: 1973 Nikon F2 Photomic SLR, 1978 Canon F1 SLR, 1960 Canon Populaire Rangefinder - The common thread in these cameras? They’re all 100 percent mechanical

(Photos shot on a Leica D-Lux 109)