As photographers, we have a tendency to collect things. If you shoot film, that tendency often morphs into a full-blown obsession. Before you know it, your shelves are lined with vintage SLRs, folding rangefinders, and a library of lenses spanning multiple mounts, formats, and eras.
For a long time, my collection lived in two places: physically on my shelves, and digitally in a scattered mess of spreadsheet cells, text notes, and user manual PDFs buried in folder hierarchies.
I wanted something better. I wanted a way to catalog my gear that was beautifully designed, easy to search, integrated directly with my blog posts, and accessible at a moment’s notice.
So, I built one.
You can see the final gear database in action here: ictfilmguy.com/my-gear/.
The Core Philosophy: Why Inventory Matters
When you own more than a couple of cameras, keeping track of their details becomes a chore. You find yourself asking:
- What mount is that lens again?
- Where did I save the PDF user manual for this obscure 1950s folding camera?
- How much did I actually invest in repairing that sticky shutter?
An inventory isn’t just about showing off, it’s about utility. By cataloging specs, serial numbers, acquisition dates, purchase prices and repair costs, you build a living history of your collection.
But a spreadsheet, which is what I’d been using, is boring. I wanted a public-facing database that looked premium, loaded instantly, and allowed other photographers to explore the gear I shoot with. Most importantly, I wanted the information about my gear to be useful.
Database Basics
At its core, I wanted a basic database. I wanted to be able to search my gear by serial number, by brand and model, etc. I wanted a searchable record of what I own. I wanted to be able to see at a glance all my gear that was manufactured in Germany, or sort through all my Rangefinders, or see all my cameras that use 120 size film, or look at all gear (cameras and lenses) of the same lens mount.
This database does all of that, and so much more!
For instance, if I have a camera that uses the M39 lens mount, I wanted to be able to see all the lenses I have that fit it. Or conversely, if I have a set of lenses that are Pentax K mount, what cameras do I have that can use them? This database allows me to easily find out.
If I want to see my group of cameras that are made by Canon, I can do that. If I want to see all of my SLRs, I can do that. If I want to see every camera that uses 127 size film, I can do that.
The database is broken down into three sections; Cameras, Lenses, and On the Workbench. The latter category is for gear that is in need of service or not fully functional. Any gear in the first two categories are working pieces that I can use at any time. My gear can be viewed all together or separated out by category. I have plans to add a new category for Accessories. This is where I’ll log external light meters, filters, etc.
I should mention that the initial database build did not require me to manually type or enter everything into it. I converted my existing gear spreadsheet into a CSV file that was imported and parsed into the new database, and specific entries for each piece of gear were automatically created from this process. As with any database, I can add, modify or delete entries as necessary.
Personalizing the Collection: Real Photos and Real History
One of the details I’m most proud of is that this isn’t a database of stock images. Nearly every camera entry features an actual photograph of my specific piece of gear. This was the most tedious part of the project. Photographing and uploading 120+ photos of cameras took a solid afternoon. But now, when you look at the Leica IIIf page, you are looking at the exact camera that sits on my shelf, complete with its unique character and wear. If you search for the Argus C3, you’ll see two entries. You’ll see my black one and my tan one, both with their own photos and separate serial numbers. My lenses have not yet been photographed but hopefully will be in the near future. And as for my camera photos, some of them have too shallow of a depth of field. I have plans to reshoot using a steady tripod and a consistent f/8.
Behind that main photo, each gear page is more than just a list of cold, hard specifications. I built a dedicated section for custom notes, fun facts, and historical context.
For example, when you read about the Agfa Isolette III or the Silette, you aren’t just reading that it takes 120 film or has an Apotar lens; you get to read about the history of the camera, its quirks, the origin of that specific unit, and how it handles in the real world. It turns a simple inventory list into a collection of stories. I kind of regard this section of the database as information and details you might learn from a tour guide if you were at a camera museum.
Connecting the Dots: Linking Gear to Photos
One of my biggest pet peeves with online camera wikis is that they show you a camera, but they usually don’t show you what the camera does.
I didn’t want just a list of specs. I wanted a system where my blog posts (where I share my photos and write about film stocks, developers, etc.) were directly connected to the the database entries of the gear I used.
Now, when I write a blog post, I can tag the specific camera and lens (or lenses) used from a simple dropdown list in the WordPress editor.
The system automatically does two things:
#1. On the Blog Post: It automatically appends a clean, visual card at the top of the post, showing the camera and (when applicable) the lens/lenses featured in the blog post, so readers know exactly what gear was used to make the images. The gear cards can be clicked to be taken to their specific database pages.
On the Gear Page: It cross references the viewer back to any blog posts that feature it. (See how it pulls in the first photo of the blog post as a custom card icon!)
Additionally, it automatically pulls images from blog posts featuring it and displays them in a gorgeously curated “Photos Taken With This Gear” gallery.
Enter the AI: Curating a Clean Gallery
Here was the catch with curating blog post photos for the “Photos Taken with this Gear” galleries: when you pull images automatically from a blog post, you don’t just get the beautiful landscape photos or street portraits. You also get close-up product shots of the camera body, dials, workbench repair photos, and screenshots of film developer charts.
Nobody wants to see a close-up of a workbench when they are looking at the photo gallery taken by a specific lens or camera.
To solve this, I integrated the Gemini 2.0 Flash API directly into the WordPress backend to handle curation.
Whenever a gear page loads, a silent background scan runs. The AI analyzes the photos from the tagged blog posts and asks a simple question: Is this image OF a camera/gear, or was it taken BY a camera?
The AI automatically filters out:
- Product close-ups (dials, knobs, plates, leatherette)
- Workbench and repair shots
- Charts, graphs, and screenshots
The result? The gallery displays only the creative, artistic photos taken with that gear, while the product shots are left behind. And if the AI misses something, I can hover over any image as an admin and manually click 🚫 Hide from Gallery to remove it instantly.
NFC Tags and QR Codes: Bringing Analog Gear into the Digital Age
This is perhaps my favorite part of the entire system. On the detail page of every camera or piece of gear, the database automatically generates a unique QR code and redirect link. This is viewable only to me as the databse admin. I can copy this link and write it to an NFC tag which I affix to the piece of gear. Now there’s a scannable tag on each piece of gear. When I tap my phone against a camera, it instantly redirects me to that piece of gear’s specific entry in the database.
With as many cameras as I have, it’s tough to be an expert on all of them. If I’m out on a photowalk with a camera I don’t use all that often, I might need a reminder of how to rewind the film, or collapse the bellows, or set the shutter speed. I can tap my phone and be taken to the camera’s database page. Then I can tap the “View User Manual (PDF)” button and be served up that camera’s user manual on the fly. There is a PDF user manual embedded into every camera’s database entry.
The Admin Dashboard: Keeping Track of the Investment
For my eyes only, when logged in as the administrator, each gear page displays a private details card showing:
- Source & Acquisition Date: Where and when I bought it.
- Investment Tracker: Purchase price + repair/cleaning costs = total investment.
This keeps my finances organized and gives me an honest look at what my collection represents.
In a future upgrade, I’ll have my database queried regularly against real and current values of the gear. A dashboard will present to me the full value of my collection and its individual pieces. It will include a graph to show the ups and downs of the values, much like you’d see on an investment website or something similar.
Final Thoughts: Catalog Yours
If you’ve been putting off organizing your gear, consider moving beyond the basic spreadsheet. Building this custom database has not only made my blog posts richer and more interactive for readers, but it has turned my physical camera cabinet into an interconnected, smart library.
This database was a complex undertaking. I can’t take full credit for it. In full disclosure, I leaned heavily on A.I. via Google’s Antigravity platform. I acted as project manager and the system built the web-based database. The PHP file stands at 3600+ lines.
Take a look around the database at ictfilmguy.com/my-gear/, click through a few cameras like the Agfa Isolette III or the Leica IIIf, and let me know what you think in the comments!
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