Any fans of small cameras?

Size matters a great deal to me, my ideal 35mm camera would be a Minolta TC-1, but a bit pricey for me. A camera that will go in my pocket, but still give me the flexibility of a 'proper' camera, is very appealing to me.
 
i also second the suggestion for a pen F. when i held it in my hands, i feel that this is what a ideal camera setup size should be. When i hold my leica after i hold the pen F, it feels just a weeny bit too big.
 
TC-1: full 35mm and tiny tiny tiny. I have grown to love it in spite of 28mm not being my ideal FL. Witness these odd characters:

Scan-130329-0031.jpg
 
RLG said:
Yes, a black Contax Tix with the designated hard case. In APS I also have the Vectis 300 and Leica C11. Love them all.

Best
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Hi,

Wow, so there's two of us with the black Tix and its ERC. We must be the smallest minority group on the RFF...

Regards, David
 
I like the vintage folding 35mm cameras. I have a Zeiss Contessa, and a pre-war Certo Dollina II. Both sport Zeiss Tessar 50mm f/2.8 lenses, though the one on the Certo is uncoated.
 
My new avatar is me with the Hi-Matic 7sII in my hands. The little thing consistently returns 39 frames from a 36 roll. I'd love to have Pen-F. Just yesterday I found a box with 100s of slides and negatives from my mother fromcthe '60s - all labeled "Pen-F". The camera is long gone, though.
 
ZeissFan said:
At the moment ...

little_cameras.jpg

From the left:

- Balda CE 35: Excellent little German camera with a decent lens and fold-down lens door. This also is sold as the Vito CE 35. It has a dedicated bolt-on flash, which I don't have. It's scale focus and uses programmed autoexposure. Uses two S76/LR44/375 batteries.

- Rich FF-1: Nice little camera with a fold-down lens. I still have the first roll of film in the camera. It offers both programmed and aperture-priority autoexposure. It's a scale-focus lens. No dedicated flash. It has a traditional hot shoe. Uses two S76/LR44/375 batteries.

- Chinon Bellami: Has "barn doors" to protect the lens. I haven't used the camera yet. Just bought it. It has a dedicated bolt-on flash. It also has programmed autoexposure only and a scale-focus lens. Uses two S76/LR44/375 batteries.

- Olympus XA: Considered to be the best of the lot. It has a rangefinder, sliding lens cover, aperture-priority autoexposure, dedicated bolt-on flash, electromagnetic shutter release and a self-timer. Plus, it has a shutter speed scale and needle in the viewfinder. I found this one at a church sale for $3. Uses two S76/LR44/375 batteries.

MISSING (I don't have all of my cameras with me):
- Minox 35: Fold-down lens door reveals a scale-focus lens. Nice camera, overall. BUT, good luck on finding one without a balky shutter. uses the PX27 5.6-volt battery (or four S76/LR44/375 cells).

- Lomo LCA: The Lomo gained popularity in the (my opinion) quirky "grunge" style of photography. Photos generally aren't super sharp and sometimes have odd vignetting or color shifts. It's scale focus. Uses three S76/LR44/375 batteries.

- Tessina: Excellent camera made in Switzerland. All-metal body. Has a large number of accessories, including a watch band for wearing it on your wrist. If you don't have 20-year-old eyes, the pentaprism is a must. All manual-exposure, spring-driven film advance and a sliding lens door, which locks the shutter release.

- Ducati Sogno: Insanely expensive Italian half-frame camera made by the same company that produces the motorcycle. It offers interchangeable lenses and viewfinders, rangefinder focusing, a focal plane shutter and all-manual exposure. Very heavy camera for its size. Figure on paying $1,200 or more for the camera and its standard lens. It can use the same film cassettes as the Tessina. There are two standard lenses: f/2.8 and f/3.5. Both collapse into the body and prevent the shutter from being accidentally released.
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Nice list Mike... I had taken you literally when you said that for the Ducati " It can use the same film cassettes as the Tessina"... and perhaps it could if you somehow modify the ends of the Tessina cassettes, which is not simple... I purchased 4 of the Tessina's, and while they are exactly the same size externally as the Ducati, they will not work on a Ducati, at least on my Simplex which I assume is the same as the Sogno cassette wise.

Just thought I'd warn any others that may want to try to save $$$ by purchasing Tessina's, did not work for me.
 
Looove small cameras!

I'm currently picking small compacts up from thrift stores and selling them for profit online, proceeds go towards bills and groceries.

  • Olympus Mju-II (2 of 'em, made approx EUR 70 on each)
  • Olympus XA (the RF model. Bought for EUR 2,50, made over EUR 125 on it. Have a second one that will sell after small DIY service)
  • Konica Big Mini (bought for EUR 2,00 and going online soon)
  • Lots of small compacts that sell in Facebook Vintage groups for EUR 10-25 profit a piece.

😀 😀

On a more serious note, I've also found a small camera that's a keeper, a very pretty Kodak Duo Six-20 with Art-Deco design and the Kodak Anastigmat 3.5/75mm lens. It takes 4.5x6 images on 620 film and I plan to shoot Fomapan 100 with it and develop in Caffenol.


EDIT:

 
Ricoh GR1s or was it 1v.

Very pocketable and an awful lot of very good stuff in a small package. Always liked the way it wound all the film out of the cassette when loading before winding each frame back in when exposed.

Sold it to fund a new (at the time) M6ttl. I kind of regret this, I'm not saying that the M is a bad camera or anything, just that it is not as small, unassuming, low key and handy as the Ricoh.

I understand these Ricohs become a headache as they age...
 
Interesting to revisit this thread four years after I first posted in it. I'm still a small camera aficionado, and I'm still quite happy with the Rollei 35 as my most pocketable option. Since the first go-round, I've discovered the joys of a Barnack Leica with a collapsible Elmar - almost as small as the Rollei, and shaped more conveniently for pocketing. The Leicas see more use than the Rollei these days. I also have a Voigtlander Vito folder that is wonderfully compact and a great design, but naturally much slower to use.

I've tried a few others in the intervening time, but none have stuck around. The XA4 I had for a while was mildly entertaining and certainly compact, but I didn't warm up to the mandatory auto-exposure functionality.
 
Dralowid said:
Ricoh GR1s or was it 1v.

Very pocketable and an awful lot of very good Alstuff in a small package. Always liked the way it wound all the film out of the cassette when loading before winding each frame back in when exposed.

Sold it to fund a new (at the time) M6ttl. I kind of regret this, I'm not saying that the M is a bad camera or anything, just that it is not as small, unassuming, low key and handy as the Ricoh.

I understand these Ricohs become a headache as they age...
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That is a very interesting feature, is that the GR1s ? Do other cameras do that?

*edit, just found this review. That is a cool feature
http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2012/11/ricoh-gr1s-review-by-ben-beech/
 
JoeLopez said:
That is a very interesting feature, is that the GR1 ? Do other cameras do that?
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My fuji Tiaras (28mm and zoom) do that. They are great within their limitations as tiny pocketable cameras with quality lenses. Also falling in love again with my recently resurrected sleeping beauty - the Leica Minilux. The small viewfinder on these don't bother me in a point and shoot. Certainly no worse than the Rollei 35s, and I always resent not having a working light meter built in.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
 
Revived thread!
Small is nice....but not too small. My favorites;
Full frame 35mm, Olympus 35RC
Half frame 35mm, Olympus Pen VF (original, all manual control) or occasionally the Pen D

I have a Minox IIIs and various Minolta 16 cameras and will fixate on them for 2 or 3 months at odd times but like the small 35's for everyday use.
 
CliveC said:
I have a thing for small cameras. I love how much technology and mechanicals can be crammed into a small little package.

In the few short months since I've (re)discovered film, I've already picked up several smaller cameras (alas, not the famous Rollei 35 yet). I'm sticking to 35mm film, so the tiny 110 cameras won't do.

Anybody else let the size of a camera overly influence a purchase decision? Any underdogs and underappreciated gems I should be on the lookout for?
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The Retina I and Retina IIa are both dynamite cameras for their tny size. The IIa especially, it's amazing.

The Olympus XA is nothing short of miraculous, when it works right. 😛

I've never tried a Rollei 35, but I want to. I have to admit to a thing for small cameras, myself. But up until recently when my copy ceased to work, the digital Sony RX100 scratched that itch perfectly, film or no film.
 
With film, I thought small was the best thing ever. There was never anything too small. In digital, there have been cameras that are too small and now I've gone to point where the Ricoh GR is about the smallest that feels right to me.
 
Looking for a small camera fan? You've come to the right place. It all started when the Olympus XA came out. I couldn't resist it and got one for my wife.
I now have:
Olympus XA
Olympus Infinity
Olympus Infinity Stylus
Olympus LT-1
Balda CE35
Minox GL & ML
Lomo LCA
Yashica T4 Super
Leica Mini
Canon MC
Tessina Bad/Returned

I have also used my son's Ricoh FF-1A. In several cases I have multiple models and variations of the above cameras. Of note the Minox ML uses a 6 volt battery rather than the discontinued 5.6 volt other Minox models use. Also, the Canon MC is the only small autofocus camera I can think of that has a detachable flash. Can anyone think of another one?
 
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