Melbourne photographers would no doubt be familiar with Michael’s Camera Shop on the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets in the city. The store sits in a National Trust classified building that was built in 1915 for Michael’s when it was a pawnbroker and jeweller’s business. Over subsequent years, Michael’s changed into a pharmacy before morphing into a camera shop. Who would have guessed?

Last week I discovered Michael’s Classic and Antique Camera Museum. The museum opened in June 2006 and entry was free. A quick stroll up to the first floor revealed a large room filled with glass cabinets displaying thousands of cameras from the 1890’s to the present. It really was quite interesting and well worth the visit.

The exhibition reminded me of some of the old cameras that I have owned:

The first camera I owned was a present from my parents in 1986. It was a Kodak Instamatic X-15F, and lasted me until about 1992. As a child, it was such a delight to own my own camera, but developing the film was quite an expense! The Instamatic was unique in a number of ways. Firstly, it used bizarre 126 film that was housed in a dual-spool plastic cartridge. Secondly, all my photos had square dimensions. But it was so easy for a child to operate and gave me many hours of pleasure.

In 1992, my parents purchased a new camera that meant that I was able to ‘move up’ to their old Minolta XE-1. This SLR camera enabled me to take control of my photos because it had features like a real camera should, such as focus! I really enjoyed that camera. Unfortunately technology and age caught up with the old Minolta XE-1 and it soon became time to move up to a modern camera.

In 1998, I purchased a brand new Canon EOS 500N. This was a fantastic camera with all the features I could want! My photography really took off after I bought the 500N. The camera was a lot lighter than the Minolta XE-1 and had many great features such as a built-in flash and autofocus. At that time I was particularly interested in botanical photography. With a tube extension kit, I was able to take some truly magnificent close-up botanical photographs.

Ironically, my ‘new technology’ SLR camera would itself fall victim to new technology. Initially I resisted and persisted with film, but by 2004 I could hold out no longer: the digital revolution had come! My next camera purchase was the 3-megapixel Canon PowerShot A70. The PowerShot was a reliable camera and a good introductory model for digital photography but after a while I started to push it beyond its capabilities. So earlier this year I purchased an 8-megapixel Canon EOS 350D. Hopefully this will be a longer term investment that the previous two!