Junk Store Cameras

I don't know how this link will come across, shared from Instagram. It's a fun post by Zebra Dry Plates.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZITGqXtaaR/?igsh=NHp6ODN1ZWxoYnk1

With @junkstorecameras we took the Compass camera out for a portrait session. Built in the 1930s with Swiss watchmaking precision, it was one of the most advanced pocket cameras of its time. Small enough to fit in a coat pocket, yet packed with features that were decades ahead of many of its competitors. Nearly a century later, it’s still creating beautiful photographs :) #zebradryplates #compasscamera #analogphotography #portraitphotography #photography

https://junkstorecameras.substack.com/p/le-coultre-compass-camera

At a yard sale yesterday. She was asking $55, but I got it for $40. 😉 Each piece removed from the Albinar camera bag, brought with it a cloud of nostalgia. The gold standard Pentax K1000. The f2 and f1.7 lenses. The obligatory aftermarket zoom lens and 2x teleconverter. The giant Vivitar Thyristor flash. Everything down to the gaggle of filters, lead film bag and lens tissues screamed 1988. The school's phone number on the back - that area code changed in 1995. Anyway, in an outside pocket I found a yellowed, handwritten note with driving directions. I realized these directions are to the Kent Commons, where the Puget Sound Photographic Collectors Society has held a yearly sale since... when? The 70's? I'm picturing some students being sent there to pick up a few pieces of photo gear. A nice stroll down memory lane.

I'm using the craziest little Compass camera- which I'll talk about later- to make tiny tintypes. My presentation boxes need a little more finesse, but they're coming along. I make them from vintage book covers. I cut up an old velvet jacket for the liner and used leather stamps to emboss the mat.

It's April. We gotta talk about pinhole. What are you doing for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2026 on April 26th?
I wrote down some Pintoid memories:
https://open.substack.com/pub/junkstorecameras/p/pintoids-light-leaks-and-long-roads?r=560e07&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

If you use FIXER to fix your paper negatives, it works much better than using developer to fix them. Oops.