We were reminded of the upcoming Chinese New Year, in early 2018, when a shipment of Zero Image pinhole cameras arrived from Hong Kong.  The company's founder, Zernike Au, often adds personal touches to the boxes of cameras he sends us, and this time the box was sprinkled with festive Chinese trinkets. ⠀ ⠀

We have carried Zero Image pinhole cameras at our shop since 2004.  We love Zernike's cameras.  They are works of art, in both form and function.   Despite the distance between us, geographically, we have formed a wonderful friendship with Zernike himself, which adds another layer of enjoyment to selling and using his cameras. ⠀ ⠀

If you haven't had one of these cameras in your hands, you should put one there.   If you haven't seen the world through a pinhole, you should arrange to take a peek.  You probably haven't realized that there is a pinhole camera-shaped hole in your life, and what better time to fill that hole than the start of a new year?

Kung hei fat choy!

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Our Zero Image family, including the 8x10 Challenger, this one in mahogany.   Like its 4x5 little brother, the 8x10 can be coupled with extensions to change its focal length - the pinhole and zone plates have a rotating turret so that they may be optimized for each focal length. So cool. So pretty.⠀ ⠀

Of the first two that we ordered, the second was rapidly claimed by one of our staff... Ah, the dangers of working in a camera store and being constantly in such close proximity to beautiful cameras.

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A close-up on the detail of a Zero Image 8x10 Challenger camera, featuring its zone plate.  Zero Image's large format cameras can be switched between pinhole and zone plate at will, giving the already creatively-inclined photographer even further options.  This photo embodies what we have always loved about Zero Image's cameras: their wonderfully beautiful little details, communicated sublimely and simply, via wood and brass.

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In 2016, Zero Image added this 8x10 pinhole camera to their line up.  We ordered two of them as soon as they were available; the first found a home with one of our own staff members and the second went just as quickly to an excited customer.   We like selling cameras, particularly cameras like this.  We don't think of them merely as units moved or profits accrued.   To us, each camera that leaves our shop is the growth of the film photography community.  There are now two more Zero Image pinhole cameras out there, making images, exposing film, creating art.  There are a lot of Zero Image cameras running around Portland and, without us, many of them would still be there, but our efforts have definitely played a role in the growth of that camera community.  Thinking of the cameras we have helped put into good hands, makes us smile.  This is our reward for the work we do at the counter.  We have continued to get more of these 8x10 pinholes in our inventory, no because they have amazing profit margins, but because we take such satisfaction in introducing them to the photographic world.

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