Today I'm going to share a little something most people don't know about me, that I have a fetish for vintage cameras. It all started with a couple of film cameras in the past that I've since regretted letting go.

First was my Olympus XA2 with separate screw on flash unit. The tiny-tiniest camera ever but took just the best pictures. I can't remember exactly where this went. I owned it from about 1983 until 1994 (it was passed on to me by my aunt). I think I gave it to my stepdaughter when I received a new Nikon film P&S camera for Christmas (it should be noted that said new camera broke after just a couple of years). I would dearly love another one of these XA2's, it is the ultimate in pocket/purse cameras.

Then I had a lovely Canon AE1 SLR complete with autowinder, 50mm lens and 80-200 zoom from about 1990-1994 (college years). When I split from my boyfriend in 1994 he got to keep the camera. I definitely lost out in that deal, as I expect the camera still works today and is probably still worth $200, oh well...

So after being digital for quite a few years, I decided that I wanted a film camera as a back up and specifically for some black and white film shooting (digital has a hard time replicating the look and feel of true B&W film).

My first foray into vintage was a 1965 Canonet QL19 with original leather case. This is a rangefinder camera which manually focuses using a ghost image where you line up the two images to be in focus. The lens is fixed 40mm but is a whopping F/1.9. This is a fabulous lens for low light and the 45mm field of view is great for street photography. My copy has a slight ding in the top corner near the advancing lever, but it was cheap (eBay).

My second vintage camera was a 1971-76 Canonet 28 with a Canonlite D flash unit. Again this is a rangefinder but with a slightly wider fixed 40mm lens, this time F/2.8. This was a really great deal for $15 bought locally although it would have been nicer if I had a case for it.

I am still hoping to add to my collection and am on the lookout for a super cheap Canonet GIII QL17 as well as a Minolta Hi-Matic/7S/7S2. So if you have an old camera hanging around, and you'd like to let it go to a loving home, then let me know.

The Stand Up and Scrap challenge was the first scrapbooking challenge I've ever participated in (digital or not). We weren't allowed to post our layouts anywhere where we might be identified during the challenge but now it's over I'm gonna share. So rather than post all 5 at once (I didn't do the last challenge), I'll post one a day for 5 days.


Here is the layout for week 1 "Dream Big".

Here are my photos from Sunday's Photowalk on Abbot Street in Kelowna's Historic District.
http://www.zooomr.com/photos/marinagarrison/sets/24717/

I'd love it if you take a look and leave some comments!

This morning I went Photowalking along Abbot Street in Kelowna's Historic District. The turnout was poor with only myself and Kent (the organizer) attending. However, we had a great time, got lots of shots and still managed to get in a reasonable amount of photo-geek talk!

I am still editing the photos but here is one to keep you going in the meantime.


If you would like to come photowalking in Kelowna, make sure you join the Kelowna Photography group on Facebook.com so you'll know when we hold our next event.

So this isn't the best photo I've ever taken. Getting the kids to stand still together for more than 10 seconds is virtually impossible but I couldn't let Halloween go by (and their first Trick or Treat) without recording the event. K went as Cinderella and J as Bob the Builder.


If you're wondering these are the bags they took and, yes, K did take her flashlight :)
They scored lots of candy (especially as they only went to about 5 houses) but there aren't many kids on our street/nearby so each house was giving them 5 treats each!