Camera Heritage Museum
We made the
trek to Staunton, VA for the sole purpose of visiting the Camera Heritage
Museum. With a little help from Google Map we found our way without any problems.
I really did not know what to expect to find.
What we found was a very cool museum with a variety of cameras! The
folks that run it are very knowledgeable on cameras and the history of
photography. We started out with the audio tour, but soon found the owner and
curator giving us a more in-depth tour of the museum. It was incredible.
This place
is a camera lover’s, or photographic historian’s, dream location. The have
thousands of camera and photographic equipment on display. There are several
unique and one-of-a-kind pieces on display. We spent a great deal of time there
and David and Boris provided all kinds of information. I think I found a home
for my collection if I decide not to take it on our next move.
There is the
largest collection of Leica cameras I have seen in one place. The collection
has some very valuable pieces, but several plain and basic items are on display
as well. David provided stories behind various pieces without being snobbish
about any of it. We were impressed. It was also nice to speak with others that
understood the language of photography and photographic equipment. Many of the
pieces would have ended up in the landfill if not for the efforts of those here
and the supporters of the museum.
Antique
Cameras, their Users and their place in History”
“The Camera Heritage Museum has the opportunity to
acquire the P. Buckley Moss Museum building in Waynesboro. As word of our
museum reaches the public, the numbers of visitors and camera donations
continue to grow. We are in need of places to display the cameras that are
arriving on a weekly basis from all over the world. We would like to purchase
the P. Buckley Moss Museum building as a new location for the Camera Heritage
Museum. The beautiful building was originally built as a museum, so it would
not require any renovation for our purposes. However, we need to raise $6.4
million to purchase the building. Also we need $750 thousand to repair.”
“P. Buckley Moss recently donated her museum building
and surrounding land to the Virginia Tech Foundation. Virginia Tech does not
want the responsibility of maintaining a building so far from campus. Thus, the
building will be for sale to raise funds for the Virginia Tech Foundation.”
“Please consider making a difference by contributing
to the success of the museum. Because we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization, any monetary donation will be tax-deductible. If you would like
to donate to the Camera Heritage Museum, please visit our donations page at http://www.cameraheritagemuseum.com/donate/
or send a check to 1 West Beverley Street, Staunton, VA 24401.”
Other links
with information on collectible cameras are below.
Purchasing
film for the classic stuff can be hard.
One source that might have it is:
And the only
place I know that you can get some of the older stuff processed is:
Information
on Stereo cameras can be found at:
http://www.stereoscopy.com/cameras/index.html
After
spending about four hours exploring the Camera Heritage Museum we found our way
to the Mill Street Grill. The portions were more than enough and were quite
tasty. Billy was our server and he was excellent. The menu is pretty lengthy so
most folks should be able to find something to their liking. The fresh bread
and homemade butter were a nice touch to our dinner experience. The ambiance
was incredible as you are actually in an old mill. We would not hesitate to
visit here again when we are in the area.
Thanks for reading
to the end. Feel free to check out any of my other blogs. A list of links can
be found here:
4 comments:
A fascinating trip through the museum. A place I will probably never get to visit myself! Thank you!
Athena
Oh, we definitely have to get down there, look at all those beautiful 19th century Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes, the old Brownie Cameras... ahhhh! Thank you for the picures, looks like a fascinating place.
Sounds like a great trip and a fun thing to do! Glad you had a good time and got to see all those older cameras.
Thanks for looking at the blog and for the great comments.
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