This book looks at the medium’s history and at the cameras that have been used by professionals and amateurs alike over the past 170 years.

Product Overview

Product:

500 Cameras – 170 years of photographic innovation

Price as reviewed:

£17.99

Author: Todd Gustavson

Cameras are split into subcategories that include field, twin-lens reflex, 35mm, panoramic and professional, as well as a host of other types. Each camera has its own dedicated page, with some insightful information about each one. Models range from the Giroux daguerreotype and the first Leica to the Nikon F and some of the first digital cameras.

The author is Todd Gustavson, who is the Curator of Technology at George Eastman House – one of the world’s largest collections of photographic and cinematic equipment. The cameras themselves have also been drawn from the collection, hence the book does have a bit of a Kodak bias, though it’s easy to forget what an impact the brand has had on the entire industry, not just film photography.

Overall, this is a nicely produced book, if a little dry. Not a book to read cover to cover in one sitting, but one you’ll easily be able to dip into at your leisure.