The Good Old Days

I was up in Gutcher a week ago on the 30th doing surveys with Yell's oldest birdwatcher, Andy Gear.
While I was up he showed me the kind of camera he used back in the 60's, 70's.

This monster weighs a tons and this is what Andy would cart around to photograph birds

The lens and stand in its full form, its got a pretty good zoom, both of these together are very heavy

Andy built some of the lens himself, it was originally used on the Spitfire during World War Two, 1940's technology crafted with 1960's.

The farthest Andy took the camera was across Hermaness (a several mile walk) to see "Albert" the Black-browed Albatross, this is the film he took the photos on, amazing pieces of history.

The equipment used in the 60's compared to what we use today is amazing, the weight and size of Andy's lens compared to my light thing is extraordinary.

My camera had a better zoom magnification than the camera Andy was using so we've come a long way since the 60's!

It was still amazing to see a piece of history that I'd never come across before and I thank Andy for showing it too me.