Kodak Vest Pocket Model B (c.1926)

This folding roll-film camera was originally my Grandmother's and almost certainly the first camera Dave used. With fairly rudimentary controls (no focussing, two shutter speeds and a variable aperture) the exposure control was minimal - as I can attest as I shot and developed a roll of film through this camera back in the early 1980s!

Finetta (c. 1951)

launched in the UK the year Dave was born and most likely his first personal camera. A proper 35mm camera with interchangeable lenses - although I suspect few people had more than the one supplied with the camera. Although most people in the 1960s shot primarilly B&W film, Daves surviving images from this era include lots of colour pictures.

Praktica Nova I (c. 1968)

A fully manual 35mm SLR with controls familiar to anyone with a current DSLR. My first SLR purchased in the early 1980s was a similar Practica MTL 5 (their technology hadn’t moved on much!). Anyone who has only used electronic cameras will not have experienced the deeply satisfying sound one of these cameras makes when winding on and releasing the shutter.

Pentax P30 (c. 1985)

A proper "modern" 35mm SLR with a fully electronic program function - spelling the end of the ability of cameras to take pictures without batteries. A camera I remember being released, and one I aspired to own instead of my own Praktica BC1. Until the advent of digital technology in the new millennium this would have remained Dave's best quality camera and those that came after this were more for convenience than quality.

Hi-Tec Micro 110 (c. Mid 1980s)

The 1980s technology revolution saw a love of all things small which resulted in the proliferation of inferior 110 format cameras. This toy 110 film camera was the extreme of that minaturisation with the film cassette itself forming part of the body of the camera. No exposure control, focus or even a sensible viewfinder - this was not about quality photography, but we all had one! The film in this camera is only half exposed...

Minolta AF-DL (c.1987)

Something that today's generation of digital photographers would be very familiar with - a compact camera. No zoom lens here though, the DL stands for "dual lens" and the camera gives you the ability to switch between two focal lengths. I imagine Dave purchased this camera for convenience when travelling - I also went through a phase where I shunned my SLR in preference for a small compact camera in the 1990s.

Minolta Vectis 260 (c.1998)

Another compact camera, and this time with a proper zoom lens. But this camera is also an APS format film camera (anyone remember those?). Thought to be the future of film when introduced as it permitted the selection of different aspect ratios between shots and changing of film when only partly used. Ultimately a poor quality substitute for 35mm film although interestingly the term APS lives on as it is also the size of most digital sensors in DSLRs.

Olympus Camedia C-750 (2003)

The digital age arrived at the begining of the new millennium and this level of camera specification coincided with a huge growth in digital camera ownership. 4MP was enough to print a decent sized image (A4 maybe even A3) and the reality is that 4MP is still as much as most digital camera users need (although manufacturers will try to convince us otherwise). However, this was fundamentally just a compact camera and not considered a serious tool for photography.

Olympus SP-570UZ (2008)

Released and purchased only a year before Dave's death this camera contains cutting edge technology that equals or in some cases exceeds that in our own current cameras. It may not be an SLR, but this "bridge camera" contains more MP than the average user could sensibly use, a 20x optical zoom lens with image stabilisation and the ability to capture 13.5 frames per second from 1s BEFORE the shutter is pressed (work that one out!). No doubt Dave would have continued to upgrade his cameras, but where will the technology end up?