If there’s one remark I always get from my friends, it’s that one about my cameras. Because, you know, I have the reputation to be the kind of guy who collects lots of cameras…

And yes, it’s true. That’s my big brother’s and my big sister’s fault. They had a camera first so I wanted to have one too. My .big sis’ studied photography in Paris and is now a photo-reporter. During My own studies, while I learned about making stuff up on a computer (it’s called 3D modeling), I bought my own camera. And I discovered the dark secrets of Black And White photography. 

Then, two years ago, my big brother brought me to a photography fair with lots of antique cameras shops. That’s when I began my foray into… well… old cameras and stuff. I first bought myself a Canon Demi without knowing anything about it except it was handsome as heck. I had lots of fun with this half format camera, in the streets of Paris, catching random instants that were meant to be catched. Of the hundreds of pictures I took, I found some of them quite satisfying. 

Sadly, I’ve had problems with the light meter, and now half the pictures are overexposed, but it’s not as bad as the other half, that are underexposed. So I don’t use it anymore. Then, well, I scourged eBay and other such ghastly places, sold pieces of my soul to the Devil, and bought more cameras.

One of them, quite expensive, takes panoramic pictures, the aptly-named Horizon. Imported from Russia. I love it a lot, but I’ve had some troubles with it as well. 

Another compact camera, the Canonet QL-17 GIII, with a rangefinder (if it means something to you). Small, lightweight, and I had it with me in my recent travels… it was quite useful. 

This picture was taken in Paris… Aside from the Canonet and the Demi, I had another camera with me on my recent trip. A Medium Format Camera. A Twin-Lens Reflex. The Yashica Mat 124 G. Instead of using 35mm in metal cannisters, it uses mighty 120 film, in rolls. The pictures are square, bigger, better and lemme tell ya folks, that’s real luxury. 

I also got a Bronica SQ-B bigger and bulkier medium format camera, a disposable one with a very wide angle but made of plastic, a Holga (with polaroid back), a Lomo Lubitel 166b, a Kodak Duaflex and a Menokta. The two last ones are like jokes but with shapes of cameras. So, yeah, my friends were spot on about my camera collection. The question they ask me is therefore very interesting.

And my answer might interest you also. I’ll bring my Yashica Mat 124G and my QL17 GIII. Yashy and Canonety. These are two complementary cameras, I don’t use them to make the same pictures. I take instant pictures with the Canonet, but I take my time with the Yashica. The picture from Venice you see up there, it took me 10 minutes to take it. The right framing, the right exposure time, the setting…

I’ll also bring a digital camera. Maybe. Someday, I’ll tell you about digital and film photography and how I see the big “digi vs. film” debate. 

Canonet I choose ya. 

And Yashica I choose ya too. And here’s what I look like when I take a picture of myself with my Yashica…

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