nongfuspring
Well-known
I'm interested in picking up a small scale focus camera with a wide angle lens, 28mm or wider and I was wondering if there are any cameras that fit the bill. I'm after something around the same size as an XA, leaf shutter, and ideally manual but I'm fine with aperture priority so long as I can use an ASA dial for exposure compensation. 90% of the time for film I use a large SLR with 50mm lens, so I figure it might be interesting to try the complete opposite - a small zone focus/no focus fixed lens wide angle camera.
I've come across the Vivitar/Superheadz slim wide which is compelling but I've heard a fair bit about their brittle film advance mechanism which doesn't inspire confidence and the narrow aperture combined with single shutter speed would make things a fair bit less practical. In a perfect world I'd really like the an XA4, but the price is way out of my budget for a throw around experiment (I'm really looking to spend less than $50).
Thanks!
I've come across the Vivitar/Superheadz slim wide which is compelling but I've heard a fair bit about their brittle film advance mechanism which doesn't inspire confidence and the narrow aperture combined with single shutter speed would make things a fair bit less practical. In a perfect world I'd really like the an XA4, but the price is way out of my budget for a throw around experiment (I'm really looking to spend less than $50).
Thanks!
Darshan
Well-known
I was going to recommend XA4 (I have one) but then I saw your 2nd paragraph, Ricoh will be above your price range too. 28 mm is my favorite FL. Good luck with your search.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
vagab0nd
Established
I'll add onto what Ko.Fe. said, just without the nice shot to demonstrate:
Similar to the UWS (in that these are wider angle, fixed focus length, and plastic) there's the Ansco Pix Panorama which can be had for considerably less and the panorama mask pops out very easily. I recently came across a Vivitar CV35 and Ansco Fun Pix which are 27mm and come with flash. These 3 cameras have 2 lenses in 2 groups (and might even be the same lens across all 3).
The Fuji Dual Wide Mini/DL 500 takes pretty good wide angle shots IMO. It isn't manual but there is a back lighting option on the version I have.
And then there are compact zooms (eg the Rollei Preggo 90 or the Olympus Stylus Epic Wide) which start out at 28mm and are typically much cheaper than their fixed focal length counterpart. Though, if small size is a must, avoid the Preggo.
All of these (except the Oly Wide) I've managed to pick up at thrift stores for a few bucks and have had acceptable to quite good results with. I plan on super gluing a filter holder in front of the CV35 or Pix Pano to use ND & B&W filters on to see how much extra can be coaxed out of those.
Similar to the UWS (in that these are wider angle, fixed focus length, and plastic) there's the Ansco Pix Panorama which can be had for considerably less and the panorama mask pops out very easily. I recently came across a Vivitar CV35 and Ansco Fun Pix which are 27mm and come with flash. These 3 cameras have 2 lenses in 2 groups (and might even be the same lens across all 3).
The Fuji Dual Wide Mini/DL 500 takes pretty good wide angle shots IMO. It isn't manual but there is a back lighting option on the version I have.
And then there are compact zooms (eg the Rollei Preggo 90 or the Olympus Stylus Epic Wide) which start out at 28mm and are typically much cheaper than their fixed focal length counterpart. Though, if small size is a must, avoid the Preggo.
All of these (except the Oly Wide) I've managed to pick up at thrift stores for a few bucks and have had acceptable to quite good results with. I plan on super gluing a filter holder in front of the CV35 or Pix Pano to use ND & B&W filters on to see how much extra can be coaxed out of those.
farlymac
PF McFarland
Olympus Trip XB4K has a 27mm lens, built in flash, two-pin DX coding (that's 400ISO, right?), and a really big viewfinder. Not as obnoxious as the Canon Owl, but very good eye relief with glasses on. Can't find any other info on it. I haven't shot mine yet, so I can't attest to the IQ. It's a simple camera, hopefully better than the VUWS.
The only small scale focusing cameras I know of with 28mm lenses are half frame.
PF
The only small scale focusing cameras I know of with 28mm lenses are half frame.
PF
nongfuspring
Well-known
Thanks for all the advice guys. I had no idea there were so many affordable point and shoots at that FL - and mostly really cheap too. The Nikon Fun Touch 5/6, Trip XB4K, Oly Wide all sound really handy. I'll go check out the second hand stores then maybe resort to ebay failing that. Also came across this useful list for anyone also interested in less known wide P&S cameras: http://6500k.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/wide-angle-point-and-shoots-pt-2/
btgc
Veteran
Konica Off-Road Wide is another fone camera. One of most advanced lenses, handy grip, snap mode.