Intro I found this camera tucked away in an antique mall in San Diego, from a vendor I have bought from before. They are usually great about testing their cameras before putting them up for sale, and the tag simply read “working condition.” It is a 1950s Burke & James 4Ă—5 Press Camera, a solid metal large format camera that feels more like a tool than a collector’s piece. It could use a little cleaning, […]
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Intro I found a neat metal photo viewer at one of my favorite antique shops in San Diego last weekend, so here I am blogging about it 🙂 It was tucked in one of those glass display boxes, behind a few old cameras and postcards. It is small enough to almost miss, but once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. The design immediately stood out: sturdy metal, very minimal wear or rust, […]
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Intro Earlier this year I shared a set of early 1900s stereograph photos of Silver Lake that I picked up at a local antique store. On a recent visit back, I came across another batch from the same era (1914–1916). I’m pretty sure these are part of the same set as the ones I found before!! Either I missed them the first time around, or the collector who runs the booth set them out later. […]
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In April 1906, San Francisco was hit by a massive earthquake followed by fires that burned for three days. Entire blocks downtown were destroyed and thousands of people ended up in makeshift refugee camps across the city. Not long after, the H. C. White Company, a stereograph publisher based in Vermont, released a series of stereoview cards documenting the disaster. They produced around 37 cards in total, each showing a different view of the city’s […]
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Intro: How I Found These Stereographs Just yesterday, I was digging through an antique/consignment shop in San Diego when I found a stack of stereograph cards. At first, I thought they’d be the usual Keystone or Underwood & Underwood mass-market cards I always come across, but these were different! No publisher stamps. No world landmarks. Just handwritten notes. When I read the captions, I realized they were from Silver Lake, Los Angeles, and dated around […]
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Introduction: The Original 3D “Virtual Reality” Over the weekend, I came across an 1890s stereoscope viewer and a small stack of stereoview cards at an antique store. It immediately stood out—not just for its age, but because it represents the 19th-century version of 3D viewing, long before VR headsets or television existed. If you’ve ever used a View-Master or tried a modern VR headset, you’ve experienced the same principle at work. In the late 1800s, […]
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Introduction There’s something magical about stumbling upon a camera you’ve never seen before, especially one that feels like it holds a story. That’s exactly how I felt when I found my Stereo Realist camera. I had never heard of the Stereo Realist before then, but holding it felt like holding a piece of photographic history. It represented a milestone in the evolution of 3D imaging technology — a bridge between the past and what would […]
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Introduction: Why I’m Falling in Love with Super 8 You know that feeling when you stumble across something at just the right time? That’s exactly how I felt when I found the Argus Cosina Model 706 Super 8. It was a spontaneous consignment shop discovery in San Diego—unassuming, a little dusty, and totally irresistible. I didn’t have a Super 8 camera in my collection yet, and this one looked like a fun fixer-upper with some […]
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Introduction Hello shutterbugs! Very excited to introduce my newest addition to my vintage camera collection, the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95. I found this particular gem at an antique shop near my house, one that I frequent for cameras and record albums. Read on for an overview of this camera, its significance in history, and what I’ve learned from tinkering around with it so far! The Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 About the Camera The […]
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Introduction Welcome to a journey through time with the 1916 Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic Camera! In this blog post, I’ll be chatting about this vintage gem, not just for its age and old-timey charm but for the remarkable history it represents. Join me as we delve into the history, features, and sample photos captured with this fascinating piece of photographic heritage. The Vest Pocket Kodak Camera – A Snapshot of History Significance in the Early […]
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