Cameras 1956-1985
c 1956-1972
Check out all the cool colors for this simple plastic camera at http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Sabre_620
Phil donated his to the collection of the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum.
Kodak Instamatic 500:
This hefty steel-bodied camera was made in 1963 in Germany and was a high-specification model, fully manual. Its light meter is made by the respected Gossen but reviewers often recommend using a hand-held one instead. A button on the bottom allows the lens to recess into the body.
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_Instamatic_500
https://bloggingadeadhorseblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/27/the-kodak-instamatic-500-type-048/
“This amazing camera never needs flashcubes. Makes its own flashes!” boasts the camera’s box. It also has a rechargeable battery and electric eye for automatic focusing.
Berkey started in Boston and is best known for its movie cameras; the Everflashes went into production in 1970, first using Kodak film and, later, Polaroid film.
Kodak Instamatic X-15
1970-1976):
Inexpensive point-and-shoot; its “X” designation means it didn’t need a battery, thanks to the 1970 introduction of the Flashcube. Since Phil’s collection reflectsRdesign and technology breakthroughs in people’s cameras, this attribution from Wikipedia is relevant:
The lead designer for the Instamatic program was Dean M. Peterson (original design by Alexander Gow), also later known for most of the innovations in the point-and-shoot camera revolution of the 1980s.
Accoutrements Quad Cam:
Often sold as a toy and purchased by Phil about 1985 at Urban Outfitters for about $10, the plastic-bodied Quad Cam shoots four images within a second on a single 35mm negative. His is in the collection of The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design.
Phil used an SLR to shoot many of the photos that accompanied his articles online and for The New York Times.
Stay tuned for his photo archive.
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