Essay Warming up to Cold War cameras By Steve Ford	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
冷戦時代のカメラに熱くなる 筆者が若かったころ、カメラはちょっと厄介で、お金のかかる、オタク的な趣味だった。 だからカメラを使うのは必要に迫られた場合に限られていた。 しかし、デジカメを持って訪れたモンゴルで感動的な風景に出会ったことをきっかけに、カメラへの思いが大転換。 年代モノへの愛着を次第に深めていったのだった。

Way before the present digital image revolution, George Eastman brought the joys of photography to the masses with the invention of rolled film and Kodak cameras. "You press the button and we do the rest," was his slogan in 1888.

When I was younger, photography seemed to be an exacting and expensive hobby that required arcane knowledge and was even a little geeky. Much to my regret, as I traveled the world I seldom carried a camera.

More out of necessity than any interest in taking pictures, a few years ago I bought a digital camera to photograph food for a newspaper column I was writing. The camera was small, easy to use and the image quality was pretty impressive.

But my real photographic awakening came when I took the new digicam on a trip to Mongolia. With its colorful culture, exotic people and endless vistas, the country is one enormous photo opportunity.

Snapping photos added an engaging visual "focus" to the trip, and by the time I got home and downloaded the images to my computer, I was hooked on both photography and Mongolia.

This digital experience made me curious about film and the cool old cameras that used it. I don't really know why, but a particular camera made in the Soviet Union in 1963 caught my eye. It is called an Iskra (spark).

The camera is all chrome and leatherette and when you press the shutter button it responds with a quiet "schnick" sound. There is something wonderfully nostalgic about taking pictures with a 45-year-old mechanical camera.

The world was a different place back in 1963. Nikita Krushchev was the leader of the U.S.S.R., John F. Kennedy was U.S. president and the two countries were locked in the Cold War, which would last decades. I can only wonder about the comrade who owned the camera before me, and what pictures he or she took.

Maybe the Iskra's appeal was its connection to history and the fact that it is nearly the exact opposite of a digicam. This strange looking camera is completely manual and folds open and shut with pleated bellows.

The Iskra was only the beginning. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I now own nearly 20 stylish vintage cameras, mostly made in Germany and Japan. Several are nearly 75 years old and they still take striking pictures.

The German and Japanese lenses from the 1930's to the 1960's produce top quality photos, and even with today's computer technology, have never been surpassed. Beyond that these old cameras have a certain gravitas that's lacking in today's plastic electronic imaging devices.

I wonder if anyone will have a kind word for "vintage" digital cameras in 75 years ... .

Shukan ST: Nov. 14, 2008

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