PPP Cameras unveils new website aiming to list every film camera ever made
By Stephen Dowling 30/09/2026
PPP Cameras’ Pierro Pozella has unveiled a momentous project – a free-to-access website which intends to list every film camera ever made.
The site, called Camera Index, has already launched with more than 1,400 cameras made by manufacturers with the letter ‘A”, including Agfa, Ansco, Alpa and Argus.
In its mission statement on the blog, Pozella says: “Camera Index is a long-term project that will take several years to build. New cameras are being added every week, with major manufacturers and popular models being documented first before the archive gradually expands into the more obscure corners of photographic history
“Our aim is to create one of the most comprehensive film camera archives available, while keeping it freely accessible to photographers, collectors, researchers and anyone interested in analogue photography.
“At its heart, Camera Index is about preserving the history of film cameras as a whole documenting the cameras, the manufacturers, the stories and the history behind them before that information becomes harder to find. And this is only the beginning. In time, we plan to expand the archive to include lenses, accessories and other important pieces of photographic history.
“It’s a huge undertaking, but someone has to be crazy enough to try.”
Pozella, who runs a film lab and appears as a camera restorer on the BBC’s hit TV show ‘The Repair Shop’, spoke to Kosmo Foto the day after the website was revealed (29 September) and explained why he had launched it.
“It won’t be a surprise to hear that I’m genuinely obsessed with cameras,” he said. “They’re my special interest, my job and passion – so basically this camera archive is what my brain looks like and how it internally operates. Someone names a camera and in my head opens out these multiple tabs of information about it – my wife calls me ‘The Walking Camera Encyclopaedia’! I thought about how this is achievable as a verbal 1:1 conversation with someone, but how could it be communicated on a broader scale with others.
“As a camera repairer first and foremost, I’m aware of what happens when knowledge isn’t recorded – and the gaps that occur. I therefore felt strongly that information should be compiled and made accessible, as this is what will fundamentally keep analogue cameras alive well into the future.
“Being autistic, I need information to be clear and concise – so that I’m able to process it. This also prompted the format of the archive, as I felt this wealth of information which is spread across books and the internet needed to be summarised and housed in a clear and comprehensive way: so that it can be a resource which you can easily dip in and out of.
“Camera books have been a solid resource for me, since I started repairing cameras over 15 years ago and continue to be instrumental in building my knowledge. From a contemporary standpoint however, I’ve noticed there’s a lot of cameras missing from these printed resources. Additionally, as more cameras are being developed and launched there is a need to compile this information also. I therefore knew that rather than creating a printed archive – it needed to be a working document/database format which can continually be updated and added to.”
The website follows other attempts to identify every known film camera, such as the camera reference sites Camera-Wiki and Collectiblend. Both have filled an online gap since the last edition of McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, compiled by collector Jim McKeown, was published in 2004.
Pozella said he had been mulling the idea over for years, and the first stage had taken him around three months. Details on some of the cameras are sparse for the time being, but he said he wants to add to the listings with “blogs, repairers, repair material, reputable shops or stockists”.
Each camera will come with a thumbnail image, which have been created by software Pozella coded himself. He is expecting to have to make tens of thousands of images once the archive is complete.
Pozella has repaired or sold all sorts of rare cameras, but told Kosmo Foto researching the archive has presented him with cameras he didn’t know about. “Since starting on the category ‘B’, I’ve discovered the Bronica 40th Anniversary Edition – looks wicked and I want one!”