Tony Kemplen on the...Ricoh Auto Half

A half-frame camera from the 1960s, with a fixed-focus 25mm lens

- Tony Kemplen

Since completing my ten-year project in which I used a different film camera each week, 522 in total, I’ve set myself less onerous annual projects. This year, mindful of the steep increase in film prices, I’ve decided to work through the half-frame cameras in my collection. I think I’ve got around 20 different ones. As the name suggests, these cameras manage to get twice as many photos per roll, as they produce negatives which are half the regular 35mm dimensions. The format became popular in the 1960s, when film was expensive and amateur photographers were keen to eke out as many photos from their films as possible.