Welcome! This is your best first source for learning all you need to know about antique and classic cameras, vintage photographs, and the history of photography! Other special services, such as appraisals, identification of photographic artifacts, specific historical information, and sales, can be reviewed on our home page by clicking here!

Meanwhile, on this page, you will find extensive general resources and information on collecting, studying, and preserving antique and classic cameras, timelines on the evolution of photography, special articles, and many more tools for exploring the history of photographic technology. This will also be the eventual starting point for the Internet Museum of Photography. We are currently under construction and a number of these areas are not yet accessible, but please feel free to browse what we currently have to offer, and don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of any other service.

While we continue to expand this site and create new pages, here is a selection of recent articles on collecting antique and classic cameras written by our president, David Silver, as a contributing editor for Photo Shopper magazine.

(Remember, this is still a preliminary treatment, and many more articles and features will be be added in the near future, most of them original and unique to this web site.)

1. Originally published by Photo Shopper magazine in December of 1995, this is the first in a popular series of articles written by David Silver on collecting classic cameras. It's a brief introduction to the variety of cameras that a collector can look for, including some surprisingly good values.
   
   Go to: http://www.photographyhistory.com/cc1.html
   
   
   
   
2. From January of 1996, an article about classic medium format rollfilm cameras. Many of them are still usable today, as well as collectible, and could serve as perfectly capable alternatives to expensive modern cameras!
   
   Go to: http://www.photographyhistory.com/cc2.html
   
   
   
   
3. Another article from January of 1996, one that received a great deal of attention when it was first published and motivated many new people to join the collecting ranks! It's an examination of some of the lesser known Japanese 35mm cameras that arrived in America during the twenty years following World War II. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
   
   
   
   
4. A stunning selection of pictures, showing many treasures from David Silver's extensive collection, highlights this excellent article from February of 1996 on American large format antique cameras. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
   
   
   
   
5. This is an excellent beginner's primer on collecting photographica. Originally published in greatly edited form due to space limitations in the magazine, here is the final corrected draft the author approved before the editor had to cut nearly 1000 words!
   
   Go to: http://www.photographyhistory.com/cc5.html
   
   
   
   
6. From March of 1996, this is an appreciation of #127 rollfilm, of some of the historic cameras that used it, and an examination of its possible impending demise.
   
   Go to: http://www.photographyhistory.com/cc6.html
   
   
   
   
7. An entertaining article on ingenuity in classic camera designs, including unusual solutions to perplexing photographic problems, complemented by a number of excellent illustrations. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
   
   
   
   
8. From April of 1996, in answer to questions from readers of Photo Shopper magazine, David Silver offers a brief discussion on Retina cameras and handles a few other topics in light-hearted fashion. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
   
   
   

To return to the home page of the International Photographic Historical Organization (InPHO), or to learn more about our many special services, please click here!

For direct access to our services, or to request more information, please contact the office of the President, David Silver, at silver@photographyhistory.com or telephone us at (415) 681-4356.

International Photographic Historical Organization
P.O. Box 16074
San Francisco, California 94116
U.S.A.

Copyright © 1997, 2001, David Silver. All rights reserved.

This page is presented with Mr. Silver's express permission.