Newsletter April 2026

Dear members,

The April issue of Club Daguerre aktuell is online. This article is the central introduction to our April newsletter: all articles in this issue can be accessed directly via the following headings.
For our international members: An English version of this newsletter is available here:
👉 https://aktuell.club-daguerre.de (click the 🇬🇧 flag in the header)

Editorial April 2026 - Things are happening at the club
Klaus Herrmann looks back on a spring in which there was a lot going on at Club Daguerre: two successful workshops, a successful first virtual regulars' table, lively regional meetings and a look ahead to the annual meeting in August and the virtual regulars' table in June.

Annual meeting 2026 in Mannheim - invitation and registration
The centrepiece of the association's year is approaching. All information about the programme, accommodation and registration can be found here and in the current Photo Antiquaria.

"A weekend as a 19th century photographer" - workshop report
Wet plate, darkroom, historical chemistry and, in the middle of it all, participants getting hands-on for the first time. Our workshop has already taken place twice and has been a hit both times. A look back at a format that fascinates and inspires.

Experience historical photographic technology live: Wet plate demonstration at the South German Photo Museum Bad Wörishofen on 9 May.

Virtual regulars' table for members: Report from Bièvres - 13 June 2026, 5:00 pm
After the successful start in March, we are looking forward to the second virtual regulars' table. Klaus Herrmann and Walter Jekat will report on their first visit to the world's largest photo fair in Bièvres: with pictures, video impressions and plenty of room for your questions, tips and experiences.

Breidenbach's A-Z of the Japanese camera industry
Roland Breidenbach from Dülmen has spent years taking notes on the Japanese camera industry: not for the public, but for himself. Now he has made his work available to the club, and we have turned it into a searchable web application. Almost 200 entries on manufacturers from today's industry giants to the forgotten ones of the post-war years. Now online at https://club-daguerre.eu/japan/

Folding camera meets instant photo: The TTArtisan 203T and its ancestors
A Chinese lens manufacturer builds a mechanical instant camera without a battery, without a light meter, with bellows and spring mechanism - and its family tree leads via Shanghai and Moscow to the Agfa Super Isolette of the early 1950s. A camera that travelled right through the Cold War before being reborn in the 21st century as an Instax device. And, incidentally, an article about nostalgia as a costume - and as an attitude.

Website of the month
Once again, we have pulled out a treasure trove from the web that most people are unlikely to have come across before. The article reveals what's behind it.

Events May / June 2026
Photo fairs, auctions, exhibitions and workshops in the coming weeks - all dates at a glance.

Palatinate regional meeting - new date: 20 June 2026

👉 To all articles and the archive: https://aktuell.club-daguerre.de

Enjoy reading.

With best regards

Klaus Herrmann
Chairman of the Club Daguerre e.V.