May Meeting Notes

Ed Jackson showed us some of his favorite books on camera collecting and photography. He has been a long-time photographer and a more recent collector. He says the books help him dream of what he’d like to have. He noted that the “bible’ of camera collecting is Jim McKeown’s well-known Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras which is over two inches thick. Paul Garrett showed us the first edition which was only about a quarter of an inch thick. There are other price guides, but Ed thinks McKeown’s is by far the best and most comprehensive. Another classification of books are those giving a historical perspective, highlighting some of the most important cameras. A beautiful and comprehensive book is Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital by Todd Gustavson and George Eastman House. This book not only traces the camera’s development, but talks about the inventors and artists who use them. Another of Ed’s newest favorites is Classic Cameras by Colin Harding. The articles focus on 75 classic cameras with great pictures and history for each one.

Ed’s favorites for information on collecting cameras include the set by Ivor Matanle: Collecting and Using Classic Cameras and Collecting and Using Classic SLR’s. Other good sources are Jason Schneider’s Camera Collecting, Book One, Book Two and Book Three which include articles originally published in “Modern Photography”. He also introduced a wonderful website: http://www.camerabooks.com. It is very comprehensive and well organized.

Then there are the books that focus on a specific brand. These included books such as The Story of Kodak, Leika Manual (one of many), and Nikon Rangefinders. Two books that Ed especially recommends are Nikon - A Celebration and Canon i- A Celebration by Brian Long. Other favorites include Jason Schneider’s Camera Collecting, Book One, Book Two and Book Three which include articles originally published in “Modern Photography”.

Most of us use our camera books for reference, but Ed has read many of the books in his collection cover-to-cover. Thanks, Ed, for an opportunity to see some books that we might want to add to our collections. (We can always buy another book case…..)