Film reigned supreme for more than a century, and in that time thousands of different cameras went from drawing board to factory floor to camera shop, a dizzying array of models from cheap and trashy compacts to sturdy pro SLRs and huge large format cameras.
Trying to list them all would be an almost impossible task.
Some film cameras – the Hasselblad 500C, the Leica III, the Nikon F3 and the Olympus OM-2 to name just a few – have achieved cult status, design classics that still command high prices to this day.
Others may be more personal. Some may have an affinity to something much less refined that brings back memories of their childhood. Perhaps the first film camera you ever used still has an allure that nothing you’ve used since can match.
In 2011, the UK’s photography magazine Amateur Photographer published their list of the 100 Greatest Cameras of all time – both film and digital, which had more than 15,000 entries. But on Kosmo Foto, I want to try something a little different.
I want to find the film photography community’s favourite film camera.
So what I’m asking every film fan to do is to tell me what their favourites are.
Here’s how you can vote:
- Choose three cameras – your No.1 camera gets three points, your No. 2 gets two points and your No.3 gets one point. Only want to send one? That’s cool with me – your choice gets three points.
- Title your email ’50 Favourite Film Cameras’ (so it goes into the right folder in my inbox)
- Send your email via the link below
You can vote only once (duplications will be ignored) and voting will close on 25 May 2017.
Once the votes are toted up, there’ll be special posts on Kosmo Foto, counting down to the most popular camera of all throughout the summer.
I’m wanting this to be as comprehensive as possible, so please:
SHARE with your film-loving friends, either on social media or on email – I don’t mind the extra work counting up the votes!
I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all choose.
Thanks!
Stephen
Kosmo Foto
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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Hasselblad 501c all the way