Old tech, junk and classics

Old tech, junk and classics

Today, pictures of two bits of technology past its sell-by: a Kodak Brownie Autographic, and a Kaiser light for close-up images.



The Brownie, like most lower-priced cameras, is robust enough: the shutter still works well, and the only let-down is that the bellows have got a rough corner, and almost certainly leak light. A range of apertures, zone focussing, and that special Autographic thing – a hatch that opens in the back of the camera, and a stylus to allow the owner to write a few words between the frames. I believe that film sold for such cameras had backing paper that let a little light through if abraded with the stylus: some day, I may see what happens with modern film and backing paper.



It’s not valuable, but it’s an interesting camera, and I may well have paid a couple of quid for it, many years ago. But the other bit of kit in the pictures is more modern, and it’s at the stage of its life that it is very much ‘at risk’. It belongs to my friend Stewart, who used to make his living photographing computer chips as well as weddings. It’s a Kaiser lamp unit, with a Halogen bulb inside it, and two fibre optic arms to allow very precise spotlighting of small objects.



Like all Kaiser kit, it’s really solidly made, and I believe it cost over £1,000 new. It comes with a few coloured filters that slot behind the lenses of the arms, and it was a vital piece of kit for Stewart for a number of years. But it’s highly specialised, and now that LED lights are cheap and powerful there’s not much of a market for it.

This is the dangerous time for any old object. It’s no longer fashionable/really useful, but it’s not yet acquired the patina of age and novelty that makes it collectable, let alone valuable. To the right person, it might be worth £100, a cheap way into close-up and macro. But there’s a real risk that it ends up in a skip, which would be a pity.



It’s the same for everything: twenty years ago, G-Plan furniture had become unfashionable, and you could get it for a song (and anyone who had an Austin Allegro would throw that in with the purchase). Now, both are recognised as actually pretty decent (there’s a video on YouTube in which someone too young to have driven a new Allegro tries one out on Welsh country roads, and concludes that it was decently made and sorted in road behaviour, thus undeserving of the reputation as the worst British car ever. I’ve driven a good few miles in Allegros, and I agree).

Camera-wise, the clunky Zenith SLRs have made it into the desirable category, if only for the sake of their Helios 58mm lenses. The things that are at risk are the nasty, plastickly autofocus SLRs that sold for £200 with a standard zoom. There’s nothing to recommend them in terms of ergonomics or performance – but even I would be sad to think that every last one had gone to landfill…

I took the pictures in my garage – the first time I’ve used the space I’ve cleared in there – hence the last image.