We first reviewed McKeowns in Classic Camera Magazine issue number 7, when we compared it with another price guide. Many of the points we made then are no longer applicable, so we have not reproduced the review here.The McKeown's guide contains "instructions for the use of this guide" and we recommend anyone who has never used McKeowns before to read this section. Many of the common myths of camera collecting are exploded here. For instance, the Guide does not claim to be prescriptive, handing down prices from on high. There are no set prices.
Even McKeowns does not contain every camera ever made, but it has a very good try. Coverage of cine cameras, perhaps reflecting interest, is poor and seems worse as a comparison with the excellent still camera section is inevitable.
Prices are in dollars and mainly reflect the American market, although increasingly market differences may disappear with the growth of Internet commerce. Where there is a significant difference, this is usually indicated in the text. Guidance is also given on adjusting the price stated for condition. We have often observed, as dealers, how vendors ignore - or gloss over - condition but it is important to collectors and users alike.
McKeowns is probably the most used book we have. We have two copies now that we have the shop so that when someone walks in with something we have never seen before we can look it up; it will almost certainly be there.
The 2001-2002 edition of McKeown's is out now and claims to have over 6,000 new pictures and to contain over 25,000 cameras.
The cine camera section is still small but at least some cine cameras are covered. There is also a section dealing with camera-shaped novelties but again, this is a small part of the whole book, the bulk of which is devoted to still cameras.
A couple of sample entries from the Kodak section should show the coverage of this book, as well as hopefully go some way to exploding the myth that old = valuable.
No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie Camera, 1915-26. Two and a quarter inches by three and a quarter inches on 120 film. Very common. $12 - $20Instamatic 500 - 1963-66. Made in Germany. Continental-style metered model with Schneider Xenar f/2.8 38 mm. in Compur 1/30 - 1/500 shutter. Hot shoe and PC sync. Common. $30 - $60
One minor irritation for regular McKeowns users - having trained us (over several years) to look under "E" for Eastman to find Kodak cameras, they have now shifted Kodak to "K"!
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