Those that know Meghan and I know that we have what appears to be an on going camera acquisition problem. To remedy this but continue to try out ALL of the cameras we have decided to start borrowing cameras from our fellow camera enthusiasts instead of trying to purchase or hoard them all to ourselves. Not all are winners though and some are just easier or more fun to use but you have to shoot with them first to find out! Thus, we decided if we run a roll through every camera we are interested in, not unlike going on a 5 minute date with a bunch of strangers at a singles night, we can quickly see which are worthy of being added to our collection (or put on our list of “must haves.”) Camera speed dating!
Here is most recent camera I had the pleasure of a quick date with….the Sawyers Nomad 620.
A few quick facts about the Nomad 620…manufactured first in 1957 it takes 12 square photos per roll. Has I & B settings and has a single shutter speed. It is definitely a fair weather camera.
The Nomad 620’s minimalist look makes it obvious designers were leaving the 50’s and moving toward the more stream line detailing of the 1960’s. When I saw it for the first time it reminded me more of an old radio than a camera. The Nomad 620’s manual boasted 4 foot focus, however after using it I feel as if it were more like 8 foot focus distance. I tried to shoot some movement with it, so I was waiting outside the liquor store and there were pigeons fluttering around as people walked straight through them. The picture would have been great on a REAL camera, but it was TOO blurry when taken with this one. The age of the film probably had something to do with the graininess of the photos, though I’d swear the picture close to the center of the roll were less grainy, as if the film deteriorated like an onion.
