Camera restorer Pierro Pozella, founder of PPP Cameras, has launched Camera Index, a free searchable database that aims to document every film camera ever produced.
Anyone who has tried to identify an unfamiliar camera from a car boot sale, or track down the specs of an obscure folder inherited from a relative, will know how scattered film camera information has become. A new project, Camera Index, wants to fix that.
As first reported by DPReview, Camera Index is the work of Pierro Pozella, a camera repairer and the founder of PPP Cameras. The aim is to build a free, searchable database covering every film camera ever made, along with related equipment.
The project is working through manufacturers alphabetically, starting with names under “A” such as Agfa, Alpa, Ansco and Argus, with major manufacturers and popular models being documented first. Pozella describes it as a long-term project that will take several years to build, and the database already lists well over a thousand records.
Our take
For anyone shooting film, and especially for those of us teaching it, a single reliable reference like this would be enormously useful. Every week in the darkroom someone turns up with a camera they’ve found in a loft and wants to know what it is, what film it takes and whether it’s worth repairing. Plenty of enthusiast sites have tried to do this before, and many have disappeared along with their owners’ hosting bills, so the challenge for Camera Index will be keeping going for the years it will take to complete.
It’s also good to see the knowledge coming from someone who repairs and restores these cameras day to day, rather than relying purely on old catalogues.
How to use Camera Index
Camera Index is free to use and is available now at cameraindex.co.uk. New manufacturers and models are being added as the project progresses through the alphabet.
