Vintage cameras and analog film have grown to be unprecedented media darlings within our crowded digital landscape. With a superstar status fueled by insatiable demand amid a limited supply, in this week’s podcast we investigate both the beauty and quirks of these trending tools. Joining us in conversation are photographer / vintage camera buff Bill Bain, and expert camera technician / repair wizard Shlomo Weinberger from B&H Photo’s Used Department. Whether you cut your teeth on old school tech or you’re an analog adopter in the digital age, there’s a topic of interest for everyone, plus plenty of DYI tips to be had, including our favorite—liquid electrical tape! How many of you dedicated camera buffs knew about that?

Guests: Bill Bain and Shlomo Weinberger

Top Shot © Jill Waterman

For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/vintage-cameras-with-bill-bain-and-shlomo-weinberger

Guest Bios: Bill Bain has loved photography since his teenage years, when all his earnings went towards buying gear and paying for film and development. During a long career as an engineer, photography was a constant thread—particularly documenting his family and their extensive travels. Now living a post-corporate life in the Canadian Rockies, Bain devotes much of his time to photography. In addition to being fully immersed in digital imaging, he continues to make good use of his extensive collection of vintage cameras, many dating from the early 1900s. Bain’s analog and digital fine-art images have been featured in Black & White magazine, and his photos of Olympic-style wrestlers have been published internationally.

Shlomo Weinberger is a gifted technician who developed a specialty in repairing vintage cameras and lenses over nearly 25 years at B&H Photo. After learning his trade from an old-world technician steeped in the analog age, Weinberger currently operates a special repair shop within B&H Photo’s Used Department, where he patiently inspects, calibrates, lubricates, and otherwise assesses the condition of the cameras and lenses that pass through his hands before they are offered to customers.

Stay Connected:

Bill Bain’s Website: https://www.bainphotos.com/Film-Photography-page

Bill Bain’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bainphotos/

B&H Photo Used Department: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Used-Equipment/ci/2870/N/4294247188

B&H Photo Vintage Film Equipment: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Cameras-Photo-Gear/ci/2871/N/4294247179

Episode Timeline

2:47: Bill Bain’s tips when shopping for a vintage camera

3:30: Inspect the lens for mildew or mold and actuate the shutter

4:45: Making use of vintage lens fungus for creative portraits

6:53: Bain’s preferred vintage camera formats: Folding bellows and box cameras

8:05: Bain’s new vintage camera—60-year-old Mamiya C330 twin lens reflex

9:08: How many cameras are in Bill Bain’s collection?

10:19: Black and white or color film, and various emulsions

12:28: Discontinued film formats and a nod to 2016 podcast—Dick Haviland: Last of the Classic Film Re-Spoolers

13:57: Bain’s DYI modification for unavailable film stocks: Plastic wall anchors!

15:34: Different film sizes and determining if a camera will accept a currently available stock

17:42: 120 format film—the most easily adaptable film format

18:18: The difference between 120- and 220-format film

19:12: 127 film and smaller formats

20:20: DYI tip—Use a cigar cutter to trim readily available films to fit smaller formats

22:54: Vintage cameras with interchangeable lenses vs fixed lens cameras

23:14: The Petzval lens—19th-century classic and Lomography’s 2015 redesign and release

24:00: Bill Bain’s favorite vintage camera—His mother’s Kodak Jiffy 620

25:02: The poor man’s Leica—the Argus C3

26:42: Read the manual! Plus, finding user manuals for vintage cameras online

28:38: Making minor repairs, and when to pass vintage camera repair off to a skilled technician

29:16: DYI camera repair discovery—Liquid Electrical Tape!

32:06: Episode break

34:00: Shlomo Weinberger’s advice when shopping for a vintage camera

34:34: Evaluating lens scratches—front vs rear element, edges vs center of glass

35:05: The most popular vintage cameras in B&H’s Used Department

36:50: The most common vintage camera problem / repair—stuck aperture blades

38:11: Weinberger’s most respected vintage cameras—Leica M3, Hasselblad system, Rolleiflex

35:32: Leica M3 has the best rangefinder—you can shoot with both eyes open

41:44: Weinberger’s weekly workload of vintage cameras and lenses

42:28: Repair quirks to an original Nikon F

43:02: What to look for when repairing a twin lens Rollieflex

44:26: Flash photography with vintage cameras that synchronize at all shutter speeds

44:58: Pro tip for evaluating a twin lens camera—ensure all four sides of the lens board focus straight

46:34: Process for overhauling a vintage camera shutter  

48:48: B&H Photo’s used department museum display

50:32: Jeff Berliner’s Petzvel lens collection from the Penumbra Foundation

51:15: Lubrication of vintage cameras—don’t try it yourself!

52:44: Things to know before contacting B&H with a vintage camera inquiry

55:45: How to find Bill Bain online and in social media