Vintage Camera Museum - Chennai

Nothing is as important as being passionate about something. I always love to explore the works of passionate people. Dr. A.V. Arun is one such great person. Orthodontist by profession, he has a passion for collecting antique and vintage cameras. His private Vintage Camera Museum is located in ECR near Tiruvidanthai in the suburbs of Chennai. It has an unbelievable count of 2,100 cameras due to his 22 years of outstanding work.

This small museum is heaven for photographic enthusiasts and those who explore the history of cameras.

Name a category of the camera; you can definitely find it here. Box cameras from the 1900s, vintage spy cameras of the World War II period, instant Polaroid cameras, large box cameras dating back from the 1870s, sub-miniature cameras, video cameras, 8 mm and 16 mm cameras, camera flashes, accessories, 100+ years old folding bellow cameras, twin lens cameras, cameras that were used in World War II, range finder cameras, field cameras, rare SLR cameras, medium format cameras, Pentax cameras, handy cams, large format cameras and many more.

The 8 feet long and 5 feet tall wooden extra-large format camera made in the 1890s is a major attraction of this museum. This camera weighs around 200 kg. It's hard to believe that there were such large-sized cameras in those days. In this room, two more big cameras more than 5 feet long are kept.

Some cameras have no mention in any of the reference books. Such rare cameras like Sunflex Model V, made in Japan, are also on display. The Rollei 16 camera from Germany has a tiny viewfinder, which is unique and rare. It is also found here. Similarly, another unique camera model from Russia, Zenit Fotosnaiper, is also there.

There are spy cameras which make us believe the old James Bond movies. They are in the form of Mirinda cans, cigarette lighters, and radio sets. Meagher Camera, a large format camera made in London in 1870, is the oldest collection of the museum.

Other antique items include old lamps, projectors, liquor bottles, brass objects, radio sets, televisions, and gramophones. A few photographs that were taken in the early 1900s are also displayed.

Before setting up this permanent museum in 2013, Dr. Arun had conducted many exhibitions with his collections. In India, there are hardly 3 to 4 such camera museums. One such unique museum in Chennai should be considered one of the city's pride.

Wishing him to have many more collections added to this museum...

Happy travelling.

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