Sources: English language

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General books on cameras

McKeown's Guide

McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005–2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). (Template:McKeown12 and inline shortcuts Template:McKeown and Template:MK)

Matanle's Classic Cameras

Matanle, Ivor. Collecting and Using Classic Cameras. London: Thames & Hudson, 1986. First paperback edition, 1992. ISBN 0-500-27656-0.

Matanle's Classic SLRs

Matanle, Ivor. Collecting and Using Classic SLRs. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996. ISBN 0-500-01726-3. (Template:Matanle SLR)

A Century of Cameras

International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House New York: A Century of Cameras. New York 1973

150 pages about a lot of historical cameras

Discovering Old Cameras 1839-1939

White, Robert. Discovering Old Cameras, 1839–1939. 1st edition 1981, 2nd ed. 1984, 3rd ed. 1995, reprinted 2001

88 pages, competent brief introduction of the world of old and oldest photographic cameras

The Hove international blue book

Price guide and handbook for collectable cameras, 14th edition, 2003 Hove Collectors books, Hove books Ltd. ISBN 1-874707-36-7

Interesting rarity scale for each camera. Contains a lot of inaccuracies, like listing a camera Yashicamat 635 while the picture above the text shows a TLR with aYashica 635 nameplate. (p.553). Lists Flektogon and Biometar lenses as Flektagon and Biometer (p.270) etc.

Your Camera And How It Works

W. E. Dobbs and Charles A. Savage. Your Camera And How It Works, Chicago and New York 1939

130 pages, Guide to cameras of the 1930s: large format to 35mm miniature cameras, old style SLRs to modern press cameras, lenses and shutters, well illustrated, excellent book to learn the photographic terminology as it was developed 100 years after the invention of photography, in the era of the legendary "prewar" classic cameras. Written by Instructors of the Department of Photographic Technology of the Athenaeum Mechanics Institute, Rochester (N.Y.) .

Hand Cameras

Bayley, R. Child. Hand Cameras - A Handbook for Amateur Photographers, 3d edition, London 1913

183 pages, a fine document, not as many illustrations as in other publications, but several fine photo prints added. A not too brief British guide to amateur photography from the end of the great era of British cameras.

Camera Accessories

White, Robert. Photographic Accessories 1890-1970. Princes Risborough, 2002

richly illustrated brochure about the camera accessories which were used by our forefathers.

Michel Auer's collection

Auer, Michel. 150 ans d'appareils photographiques - 150 years of cameras (French and English), Hermance (Switzerland)

Fine images of finest pieces of Auer's collection, mainly showing important as well as eccentric camera types of the 19th century

Antique Cameras

Smith, R.C. . Antique Cameras, London 1975

An illustated description of milestones and further characteristic cameras of 19th century

Spy Cameras

Pritchard, Michael and St. Denny, Douglas. Spy Cameras — A century of detective and subminiature cameras. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1993. ISBN 1-874485-00-3. (Template:Pritchard)

Leica Copies

HPR. Leica Copies. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-874485-05-4. (Template:HPR)

300 Leica Copies

Pont, P.-H., and Princelle, J.-L. 300 Leica Copies. Neuilly: Fotosaga, 1990. ISBN 2-906840-03-3. (Template:300LC)

German cameras

Zeiss Compendium

Barringer, C. and Small, M. Zeiss Compendium East and West — 1940–1972. Small Dole (UK): Hove Books Ltd., 1999 (2nd edition). ISBN 1-874707-24-3.

Exakta Cameras

Aguila, Clément and Rouah, Michel, Exakta Cameras 1933–1978. Hove Foto Books Ltd. 1989 (1st edition, reprint) ISBN 0-906447-38-0


Das Linhof Kamera Buch

  • Bluth, Hans and Schlegel, Gert, Das Linhof Kamera Buch, Peter Bauernschmid (Publisher), second revised edition, München, 2000. No ISBN stated, not published under the name of the authors. Text in German and English.

British cameras

  • Channing, Norman and Dunn, Mike. British Camera Makers. An A-Z Guide to Companies and Products. London : Parkland Designs, 1996. ISBN 0-9524630-0-8 (Template:Channing Dunn and inline Template:CD)
  • The British Camera 1840-1960. The Jim Barron Collection. Auction catalogue. Christie's, South Kensington, 11 December 2002.

Former USSR cameras

  • Jean Loup Princelle und Valia Ouvrier: The Authentic Guide to Russian and Soviet Cameras. Made in USSR: 200 Soviet Cameras. 1996. ISBN 1874031630

Other European cameras

  • Fejér, Zoltán: Hungarian Cameras. Budapest 2001
  • Tunec, Jan: Czech cameras, Bratři Bradáčové and Optotechna. Published by: Nakladatelství Jakoubě, 2006, no ISBN. Interesting booklet on the development of Czechoslovak TLR cameras, from the Bradac brothers to Optotechna.

Japanese cameras

The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras

Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. (Template:Zukan and inline Template:Sugiyama or Template:SUG)

A large, clothbound book that presents a photograph of and a little very dry text (in both Japanese and English) about each of thousands of cameras. (The Japanese title means "illustrated catalogue" and is more accurate.) Hundreds of these cameras are obscure, giving the impression that the book is comprehensive. It is not: there are glaring omissions among even cameras that are well known (e.g. the Fujica G690 and its interchangable-lens successors). There are also some odd mistakes, many of them concerning the Roman (mis)reading of Japanese names. (The book is acknowledged to be a major resource for McKeown's Guide, and some of its mistakes — such as attributing the Mine Six to "Takamine" instead of Takane — are reproduced there.) While the book should be used with care, it is cumulatively very informative and a remarkable achievement; and it is greatly enlivened by the informal and irreverent asides scattered here and there. Although now (late 2006) out of print, new copies are still available at some retailers (e.g. JCII Camera Museum) for the original (high) price; the price of used copies is sometimes lower than this, more often higher (sometimes with the predictable if dubious claim of rarity).

The History of the Japanese Camera

Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), ISBN 0-935398-16-3 (hard). (Template:Lewis)

A large and handsome paperback, whose title page reads From a translation by William and Amy Fujimura of Nihon Camera No Rekishi / Published by / The International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House / For / The Japan Camera and Optical Instruments Inspection and Testing Institute. One wonders what this translation was like. The book consists of sixteen chapters, each originating from an article by one of the following authors: Tanaka Yoshiro, Suzuki Hachiro, Tanaka Masao, Miyabe Hajimu, Shirai Tatsuo, Saeki Kakugoro, Ogura Iwao, Hibi Takashi and William Fujimura. After extensive editing by Lewis, the finished book is most interesting and well written, but it is unfortunately marred by a lot of minor errors. The book supersedes a 1984 exhibition catalogue from the International Museum of Photography, The Evolution of the Japanese Camera (although the minority of cameras in the earlier publication that are shown in photographs are shown larger and more clearly than that for any camera in the later one).

The Japanese Camera

Baird, John R. The Japanese Camera. Yakima, WA: Historical Camera Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-879561-02-6. (Template:Baird Japanese)

The Japanese Historical Camera

The Japanese Historical Camera. 日本の歴史的カメラ (Nihon no rekishiteki kamera). 2nd ed. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2004. (Template:J historical)

A clothbound book in a simple slipcase that presents a photograph and a very few facts about each of over seven hundred cameras, from 1903 to 2003. Most are innovative in some way (often only a small or merely gimmicky way, and sometimes innovative only among Japanese cameras rather than cameras in general). A very few are presented with no claim of innovation but because of their reputation, sales or both; there are surprising omissions, such as the original Asahi Pentax. The terse text is in both Japanese and English (the latter not always completely understandable), the Japanese (but not the English) also appearing in the camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. This book has no ISBN and perhaps is only sold at and from the museum (for ¥3500). The museum shows it here; however, the site seems to presume that anyone interested in buying it would be living in Japan and would order via fax.

Canon Rangefinder Camera

Miyazaki Yōji (宮崎洋司). Kyanon renjifaindā kamera (キヤノンレンジファインダーカメラ) / Canon Rangefinder Camera. Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1996. ISBN 4-257-04011-4. (Template:Miyazaki Canon)

A large book on the Canon rangefinder cameras, from the Kwanon onwards. Bilingual: the text is in Japanese and (largely but not completely) also in an English translation that is sometimes not fully idiomatic but is clear enough. It has a lot of material (particularly on lenses and accessories) that is not covered by Dechert, but this is in Japanese only. Although he politely cites Dechert's earlier work, Miyazaki seems curiously unaware of its content; for example, he does not mention that there are two very different (and easily distinguishable) versions of the Canon 7s (for the later of which Dechert coined the name "7sZ"). The book seems to have gone out of print rather quickly and is not easy to find in Japan, let alone anywhere else.

Canon Rangefinder Cameras

Dechert, Peter. Canon Rangefinder Cameras 1933–68. Hove, East Sussex: Hove Foto Books, 1985. ISBN 0-906447-30-5. (Template:Dechert Canon)

A compact, highly informative, and excellently written book that provides a detailed history of Canon's Leica-inspired cameras, and brief looks at other aspects of the company and its products. Dechert goes into enough detail to satisfy earnest rivet-counters, but also clearly enjoys using some of the cameras; the book thus gives plenty of information about how the equipment holds up in use, and thus a copy is an excellent investment for anybody wondering whether or not to buy this or that Canon with the intention of using it rather than merely sticking it in a display cabinet. Used copies of the book are now (2007) often described as "rare" by more optimistic or unscrupulous dealers; meanwhile, new copies are being sold at the modest list price by dealers such as Andrews (Teddington, suburban London).

Nikon Rangefinder Camera

Rotoloni, Robert. Nikon Rangefinder Camera. Hove, East Sussex: Hove Foto Books, 1983 (second edition). ISBN 1-874707-07-3. (Template:Rotoloni Hove)

A book on Nikon rangefinder cameras, lenses and accessories. More detailed books have been written on the subject since, including some by the same author, but it remains an excellent compact source of information.

Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras

Baird, John R. Collectors guide to Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras. Grantsburg, WI (USA): Centennial Photo Service, 1991. ISBN 0-931838-16-9. (Template:Baird Petri)

Topcon Story

Antonetto, M. and Russo, C. Topcon Story. Lugano: Nassa Watch Gallery, 1997. ISBN 88-87161-00-3. (Template:Antonetto Russo)

Chinese cameras

Cameras of the People's Republic of China

St Denny, Douglas. Cameras of the People's Republic of China. Leicester, UK: Jessop Specialist Publishing, 1989. ISBN 0-9514392-0-0.

Photography

History of Japanese Photography

Tucker, Anne Wilkes, et al. The History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-300-09925-8.

An unusually large and lavish catalogue for what must have been a major exhibition. Quite rightly, the vast majority of this book is about the photographs themselves and very little of it is about the cameras used for these photographs. But in addition to its discussion of aesthetics, the book contains a considerable amount of material on the social, economic and political history of photography in Japan, and thus the early history of the Japanese photographic industry, which reached adolescent vigor while exports (and even sales to foreigners within Japan) were negligible. The book has a number of informative and valuable appendices. The production is up to Yale University Press's usual excellent standard.

Birth of Photography

Coe, Brian, The Birth of Photography: The Story of the formative Years 1800-1900, London (?) 1976, illustrated: London 1989

A history of photographic processes, cameras and photographic artistry, written by the former curator of the Kodak Museum, Brian Coe. The newer illustrated edition is enriched tastefully with a lot of examples of images of some of the most famous photographers. The only weakness of the book is that the era of photography's final popularization around 1900 is described very kodak-centrically.

History of Colour Photography

Coe, Brian, Colour Photography: The First Hundred Years, London 1978

A history of colored photographic images, from water-colored Calotype images of 1840 to the Kodachrome Professional slides of 1940, written on the base of the rich knowledge of one of the best popular authors on photography technological topics, Brian Coe.