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Recently I had the opportunity of acquiring an old camera. By old I don’t mean "it still uses film" old, I mean "really" old on the antique level.

I’m not an expert in the industry of antiques acquisition but since I had this opportunity I started doing a little research. In any case, my approach in this article is not for those who want to buy an old camera to sell it later for profit (although many things I’ll mention would still apply).

The market is huge and has many different variables that can affect the outcome of a good deal. Nonetheless, there are a few basic things you need to consider before pulling out your credit card to pay for a beauty like this.

1 - Why do you want to buy an old camera?

Resist the buying impulse. I know old cameras are beautiful and very tempting, but defining why you want one is probably one of the most important things you need to think about. Do you want it just for the looks of it, to exhibit it on a shelf on your living room not to be used, or do you intend to load it and actually take it to the field and use it?

Your answer will determine the working condition you need the camera to be in and thus the amount you may expect to pay for one.

2 - Where to buy an old camera?

This one is endless. Everywhere, from yard sales to ebay. Just look around a bit and I’m sure you can find many for sale. The question is, what do you want to buy.

If you have a specific camera in mind you can try on a specialized dealer. You’ll get to talk with someone who is probably doing this for years and knows what he’s talking about. Usually these people can describe exactly the condition the camera is in and, if they have it on the store, you can handle it and examine for yourself all the little details. The downside is that you’ll probably end up paying a little more.

Online auctions can provide good deals but are a bit more risky since you won’t have the chance to have the equipment in your hands before you buy.

3 - Do your Research

That’s what Google is there for.

And I’m not talking just about the prices (more on that bellow).

Nowadays, you know what to expect from a camera and everything is described in much detail on the manufacturer’s catalogs. On the "old" days, not everything was so clear and some batches of cameras could come into the market with mechanistic issues that never got solved. Specially if you are planning to use the camera, you need to know if there were problems that you don’t want to deal with now (as an example, the Kodak Signet 35 had a very problematic shutter). Also, while today any change in the model is reflected in the model name, it wasn’t always so. The same model name did not always describe the same equipment (as weird as it may sound). My best advice is to always know the serial number of the camera you want to acquire and do your research on it. If you look around, there are sites maintained mainly by collectors (and usually dedicated to a specific brand) that list serial number ranges and any particular modification done to a specific batch.

4 - If you want to use it, make sure it’s usable

The camera condition is of uttermost importance, specially if you intend to use it. While you probably won’t mind the normal signs of age and use, a crack in the bellows or fungi in the lenses will render the camera unusable until it is repaired (if indeed it can be repaired). This is specially dangerous if you’re buying it online. If a camera is listed as sold "as is" you probably won’t have the chance to return it even if you find out that the seller forgot to mention the rusty lens mount. Try to ask as many questions as you can and know all the details on the condition of the camera. If possible, and many times it is not, if the seller is the person who used the camera before, try to find out how many photos were taken (the life of a shutter screen is not unlimited). Any sign that the camera was ever dropped is also a big no-no.

5 - The value… oh yes, the value - Know it before you buy

The first thing that many sellers think (usually people dealing with antiques, but not specifically cameras) is that the oldest a camera is, the more valuable it is. Don’t fall for this one. It’s not so. There are cameras that are valued at a few thousand dollars, and other cameras from the same period that are worth next to nothing. This has to do with how rare a camera is (how many were manufactured vs how many lasted until now), how good it is, and also how famous it became on the hands of a particular photographer.

The price that a seller asks can be an educated value or just simply someone throwing a price out and waiting for it to stick. You can have a taste of this on ebay. Search for a particular camera model and you’ll probably see a very wide range of prices asked. This, of course, depends on the condition of the camera, but can also reflect sellers not knowing the value of their items.

Again, Google is your friend and, for many cameras, you can find good estimates of the values. If you want a more educated guess, there are a few price lists in print that can help you.

With this article I do not intend to give you all the information you need, but buying an old camera can be a risky business, specially if you want to use the camera, and these are just a few tips to get you started.

While doing some research for this subject, I found some books that were recommended on some forums. I don’t have them, so I can’t really say if they are good or not. Just in case you are curious, here are their links on Amazon:

Have you ever thought about acquiring an old camera? If so, why? Any bad or good stories to share?

I’m feeling a bit weird writing about underwater photography knowing that it’s freezing cold outside. Nevertheless, there are so many places where, by this time of the year, it’s warm and the water is inviting for a dive.

For those of you lucky enough to live in such a place, or as many do, spend the holidays near a water paradise, and want to record those moments not only above water but also bellow it, here are a few basic tips for underwater photography.

While some more advanced underwater photos (and of course better ones) will require specific and often expensive equipment, not to mention time spent on diving courses and all the equipment required for it, there is no reason not to try it with a more budget-friendly approach and, with time, go for the gold. But for now, let’s keep above the 10 meters (33 feet) level.

The basics: choosing and preparing the equipment

Just keep in this in mind: any beach is a highly hazardous environment for your camera. High amounts of sand, dust and moisture can quickly turn a good camera into a piece of expensive junk. Although there are available “sealing kits” that supposedly wrap your camera on a protective housing and protect it from dust and moisture, and some even allow you to take your camera underwater to low depths, personally I’ve never tried them. There is something about taking my camera underwater that puts me off. So what are the alternatives? Go for cheap and dirty: try a disposable underwater camera.

Disposable underwater cameras are simple cameras pre-loaded with film, protected inside an acrylic case. You can use them around and underwater up to a certain depth. Don’t expect “National Geographic” quality photos, but for beginners they are the best choice.

And now I’m imagining you thinking: “I’m already on the digital age, I have my workflow set, I’m used to digital processing, why would I go back to film and above all on a… ugh… disposable?”. Well, it’s your camera and it will be surrounded by water with increasing pressure as you go down. If you don’t have the money for a custom case that you’ll probably use once a year for a few shots, why not?

Choosing the right disposable camera

As with any other field in photography, there is a multitude of options available. The good news? As it is disposable, it will be cheap and the most you’ll loose if everything goes wrong is the camera and developing costs. From my personal experience, I never had a situation in which everything got ruined.

Before choosing which camera to take, there are several variables that you need to consider:

• How clear is the water
• Up to which depths do you want to dive
• Flash or no flash

Water works as a massive light filter. The further you go from the surface, the less light you will have available and importantly, the less red light you’ll have. If you stay above the 10 meter (33 feet) level, this is not a major issue (although it’s noticeable), but if you want to go deeper you simply need to provide your own red light source. This is why photos taken with this kind of equipment tend to be blue all over. Bellow 10 meters, a camera with flash is a must, even in clear waters. This poses another problem: If there are particles in the water, the flash light will reflect on them and overexpose your photos. So, try to choose your camera based on what you want to shoot and the conditions you’ll have in the water.

This might sound too simple if you think that you are used to be worried with apertures, shutter speeds, depth of field, etc., and now you won’t have to. But realize that underwater you have many other things to be worried about: try staying still at 5 meters to correctly frame your photos in a water with just slight current  and you’ll see what I mean.

As a guideline, try looking at the specs of three well-known underwater disposable cameras: Kodak Ultra Aquatic, Agfa LeBox Ocean, Fuji QuickSnap Marine.

Taking the shot

As I mentioned above, when underwater you don’t have the luxury of time to correctly frame a shot, or choose the best angle, specially if you intend to shoot wildlife. First, as as you’ll notice very very quickly, unless you take a bottle with you, you need to surface on a regular basis (yes, breathing is essential) and the cute little fish won’t stay there waiting for you. Also, looking through the camera with a diving mask on your face is much harder than it sounds. The fact that you won’t have a zoom on this camera will also require that you get as close as possible to your subject while keeping you and the subject safe.

As a good advice, if you have the time, try shooting your camera of choice on an open-air swimming pool just to get the feeling of it.

If possible, try shooting between 11 AM and 2 PM to make use of the higher levels of light penetration on the water. The angle at which light enters the water earlier or later in the day will reduce the depths at which you can shoot.

Developing the film

While the films inside these cameras have nothing special about them, you can improve the end result by taking it to a shop that specializes in underwater film processing. They are not so easy to find but the difference between the special processing and the regular film processing can have dramatic effects on the prints, making them much more vibrant and reducing the blue cast they will have otherwise.

Although this article is not extensive, I hope I managed to provide a few tips to spark your curiosity about underwater photography next time you go to the beach and improve your experience and results.

Have you tried underwater photography on a basic level? What other tips and experiences can you share with us? Leave them on the comments right bellow.

Yesterday, I wrote about my considerations on buying or not some geotagging equipment. Later, I was going through the feeds on my reader that I had neglected for the past few days and read a piece by Brian where he mentions, in a parody kind of way (yeah Brian, you almost got me there) the possibility for a GPS enabled Compact Flash card.

Could it be possible?

This article actually made me think about the possibility. In the end, Brian mentions that the technology that would enable such a device is not that far off. I’m almost sure that the technology is readily available to be explored by manufacturers. Knowing that CF cards exist with embedded Wi-Fi transmitters, it can’t be that hard to incorporate a GPS receiver into one.

Is it useful?

Following his spoof post, Brian continues with a poll asking his readers how much would they pay for such a thing with 4Gb memory. At the moment I’m writing, $150 leads followed closely by $100. Knowing that an external GPS receiver costs something between $100-$150, it’s clear so far that not many people would pay much more.

But I have a problem with this idea: What if I want extra cards? The huge majority of photographers, amateur and professionals, don’t rely only on one card. If you want all the photos to contain the coordinate tags, would you have to buy several of the cards, and pay the extra to have a GPS receiver on all of them?

Going back to the Wi-Fi enabled memory cards, one way that some manufacturers found to bypass this problem was to integrate the Wi-Fi into a SD card shell, while the actual memory comes from an interchangeable mini-SD. This way, you can have as many memory cards as you want and not having to pay for the Wi-Fi on everyone of them.

Would this approach work for CF cards? Not sure. One reason why CF cards are the standard for dSLRs is their capacity for high speed data transfers. If keeping the CF card shell with the GPS receiver would mean the need for a slower card to be inserted, then it would not work.

Until the technology is mainstream, I guess external GPS receivers are the best option. Nonetheless, I’m still not completely convinced how useful this is to go out the door and get one right now. Maybe after that extra lens…