Although Tony Ray Jones' 'A Day Off' would probably sneak into first place on my Desert Island Photographic Books list, closely following comes 'A Camera Repairman's Guide to Practical Photography' by Ray Oberreuter.
Basically a 180 page rant about how bad new cameras were from a 1990 camera technicians viewpoint. Hilarious and alarming by turns, it nevertheless does what it says, reveal the failings of camera manufacturers from a twenty year old stance with unavailable spares, winders made of chewing gum, broken cog teeth, Micky Mouse electronics - the dark reality beneath the press ads.
Here's an extract:
"A professional photographer wrote in expressing his fear that cameras like the Canon F-1 and Nikon F-2 might be the last durable photographic machines. The editors responded they could not see how the increase in the use of advanced electronics and plastic could imply that todays cameras were any less durable and reliable than ther predecessors. My question (and probably your's too) is how----- dumb can these people be? On a scale of 10 I would give them 35!! They concluded by predicting tomorrow's professional cameras would be more reliable than todays. My opinion is that Nikon F's, F-2's, Canon F-1's and FTb's, Pentax Spotmatics and Minolta SRTs will never, ever be improved upon concerning durability and reliability..."
Basically a 180 page rant about how bad new cameras were from a 1990 camera technicians viewpoint. Hilarious and alarming by turns, it nevertheless does what it says, reveal the failings of camera manufacturers from a twenty year old stance with unavailable spares, winders made of chewing gum, broken cog teeth, Micky Mouse electronics - the dark reality beneath the press ads.
Here's an extract:
"A professional photographer wrote in expressing his fear that cameras like the Canon F-1 and Nikon F-2 might be the last durable photographic machines. The editors responded they could not see how the increase in the use of advanced electronics and plastic could imply that todays cameras were any less durable and reliable than ther predecessors. My question (and probably your's too) is how----- dumb can these people be? On a scale of 10 I would give them 35!! They concluded by predicting tomorrow's professional cameras would be more reliable than todays. My opinion is that Nikon F's, F-2's, Canon F-1's and FTb's, Pentax Spotmatics and Minolta SRTs will never, ever be improved upon concerning durability and reliability..."