For as long as I can remember, my great-aunt has been our family’s photographer. Birthdays, weddings, beach holidays, nature hikes, garden parties, travels: she always was (and still is!) that one person holding a camera, documenting it all. She even used to develop her own photos in her apartment’s dark room!

Of course, she was the first person that I contacted when I decided to embrace analogue photography. Among all the analogue gear that she had kept after she had gone digital herself, was this beautiful Canon FTb QL.

It’s a bit on the heavy side (1+ kg with the lens mounted), but it fits in the hand very naturally, has a necklace for on-the-go shooting, and a very bright viewfinder. Focusing is crisp with the wonderful 50 mm f1.4 lens and a built-in light meter is the only component that requires a battery.

On top of that, loading new film is a piece of cake with the quick-loading (‘QL’) system. Although the FTb boasts no real crazy features, this family piece is all I need (and often more) for shooting.