Contax N1

The one thing that only an SLR camera loaded with black-and-white film allows, which digital cameras do not, is the use of coloured filters, especially red or orange which penetrate atmospheric haze and dramatise skies in a unique way, and allow the photographer, in the viewfinder, to see the world "through rose-tinted spectacles", or in this case orange, which beautifies sunlit scenes.

Nostalgic for the blink and click of a moving mirror and a focussing screen, the Contax (dating from around 2000) has been brought out of retirement. The N1 was far less-known than its range-topping rivals from Nikon and Canon for which a vastly larger range of lenses and accessories were available, but had unique features like an auto-manual focussing system and a class-leading kit lens, the Vario-Sonnar 24-85mm, in which lens performance was not compromised in order to to save weight or size - the front element is simply huge, taking 82mm filters.