2023 has been a great year for my photography, I feel as though I have achieved a lot and grown both my technical and observational skills. Overall it's been a very enjoyable year for My Journey Into Photography. It's not just my skills that have grown, it's also my appreciation of the tools I have in my collection and here are my top three cameras I have really enjoyed using in 2023.
Pentax K1000
The perennial favourite of photography students around the world, I was given a Pentax K1000 by my dear friend Sid in 2022 and I really got to know it in 2023. Being one of the later cameras that was assembled in Hong Kong, it did suffer the fate of many K1000's from that era, the black splodge in the prism. After having the prism replaced with one from a Pentax P30 parts camera, my Pentax K1000 has been a great addition to my collection.
It is your typical Pentax that took the best traits from the Spotmatic range and updated it to take into account changes in the photography world. Just like the Spotmatic it's easy to use and has simple controls. The upgrades it has are a modern battery that replaced the mercury battery used in the Spotmatic and the Pentax K mount so I can use every manual K mount lens Pentax and others made. I have one Pentax K mount lens, an SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 and it's a great combination. It showed me why students and colleges love it and now I agree with them.
Olympus OM-10
I am a self confessed Olympus fan and I have often spoken fondly of my dream camera, my OM-1. This year it was joined by an OM-10 that my dear friend Gren gave to me and I was delighted to find that Olympus had not let us down with this camera. It has the fabled Olympus light metering found in the pro OM cameras and an aperture priority mode that produces great exposures time after time. Its only bad point is the manual adapter that is often lost or the camera is sold without it.
The OM-10 is an automatic camera where you choose the lens aperture, say F/8 and the camera chooses the shutter speed for you. The manual adapter allows you to choose the shutter speed too, giving you full manual control over your settings. Don't worry if you buy one without that adapter, I find it a bit fiddly courtesy of a wonky left hand and tend to use my OM-10 on Auto
Balda Baldax 6x4.5
I almost withdrew from the Frugal Film Project 2023 as my Agfa Isolette was failing and needs a full restoration. I was looking for inspiration to continue and found a Balda Baldax via an instagram post from the Vintage and Classic Camera Company based here in the UK. It looked great in the photos and the price was well within the budget for the project. I hit the buy button.
When it arrived I could see it was every bit as good as the listing said it was. Considering it is a 90 year old camera I knew I would be able to do great things with it and promptly brought it into the project as a substitute. I have never shot 6x4.5 medium format and knew I would be getting 16 photos on each roll, but didn't expect it to shine. Oh how wrong was I...!
I quickly learned how to use it with a test roll to see what little quirks it may have and if any adjustments needed to be made. The film pressure plate was a little sloppy, so I adjusted that and it's been great. After a few rolls through it I was getting a higher hit rate with each roll. It's a beautiful little thing that fits in the palm of my hand and has a great Vidanar 75mm f/4.5 lens mounted in a Compur #00 shutter. I have been able to get sharp images with it and it has taught me a lot about trusting my technical skills.
Having auto features on cameras is great, but stripping photography down to basics really teaches you to think as a photographer. My Balda Baldax 6x4.5 is my number one camera of 2023 and I have decided it will be my medium format camera for the Frugal Film Project 2024 too. Considering it was made in 1933 it's doing well for a 90 year old camera and long may it continue.
I have really enjoyed using these cameras in 2023 and will continue to enjoy them for many years to come. It has been a lot of fun with a few hiccups along the way that have been challenging, but very rewarding. What will 2024 bring? I have no idea, but you can be sure I will be writing about My Journey Into Photography as the year progresses.
I am taking a break for the festive season, but I wont be stopping taking photos. I will no doubt be pointing my camera at my family and hope to have plenty of great photos and memories to look back on in future years. That's me done for 2023. I hope you all enjoy health and happiness in 2024 and beyond.
Jim Graves
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