Help me pick a keeper.

[Paolo Bonello]

I bought a box of assorted cameras for very little money. Initially I saw a few 35mm film SLR's in the bundle that I wanted and lowballed it it on fleabay so was very happy with the outcome even if the other cameras ended up being worthless. Anyhow I won it and 13 cameras later......... what to do with the rest.
OK my question is, I'm looking for one or two keepers in the P&S category to take in my cycling kit or just general P&S use and I need help picking from the remaining cameras. Assuming they all work. How would you rank these as usable P&S cameras, if in fact any of them are worth keeping? I really know very little on P&S cameras. I just want to identify a keeper and put the rest in a box or in the bin. The canon elph works as I had a battery for it and there was a film inside but the film is not 35mm so not sure if I want to use that one because it means buying specific film etc...

Anyhow, hope you can help m pick one or two to try a roll of film in.

Cheers,
Paolo


assorted cameras by Paolo Bonello, on Flickr

 

[Ranchu]

The Z-up 80 on top looks good, maybe the minolta, and maybe the konica on the lower left. No experience, just the hearsay washing around in my head. A lot of these zooms have awful finders, I can't stand to look through. Some don't though.

 

[MickH]

Stick a film through them all and keep the one you like. If you don't like any of them you can always bin/resell 'em and keep the GF-1 which, if what I read here and elsewhere is correct, beats the pants off anything you've included above.

 

[Ranchu]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/closer21/326292320/

(somebody else's pic)

 

[btgc]

I'd say - Konica on top, if size and focal length match your expectations.

 

[spaceman spif]

I'd agree with btgc -- the Konica at the top is the likely keeper IF it's working okay. (There's only one way to find out, and it'll cost you a roll of film + processing.) But some in the pic are NOT keepers.

The Canon APS is the first reject. The film, unavailable in many stores, is smaller, more expensive, more expensive to process, and there's less selection. And, the limited selection still available is gonna go away a lot sooner than 35mm -- it'll be like disc film or 126 cartridge film one of these days.

Although I like Oly's, the Oly in the middle and the Konica in the lower left corner are pretty inexpensively made, if I'm seeing them right. I don't think the optical or build quality will be stunning.

The other three, all little zoom cameras, will likely perform similarly, although it looks like the Oly has the longer (and probably slower) zoom. I'd choose my 2nd from those three based on its feel in my hands, control placement, how the viewfinder looks, range of film ASA's it can handle, and of course picture quality. But I'd bet it's pretty close to a toss-up.

Hope that helps!

 

[David Hughes]

Minolta lenses on P&S's are usually good and the AE and AF can work really well. Trouble is you can't tell from looking at the outside.

I'd not waste money on film for an APS Canon but many others are worth keeping and using. I get A4 prints out of my best ones and they are dirt cheap at present. Except the Leica and Contax versions.

Regards, David

 

[RayPA]

It's hard to make a suggestion without knowing the specifics of the cameras, but I agree about chucking the APS (Elph) straight away. For the others I would look for features that might suit a potential purpose such as durability, shock/weather/water proofing, lens make, lens speed, AF speed, flash performance, narrow zoom range, pocketability, etc.
For example, the flash on that Pentax looks promising and the Konica at the top looks pretty rugged. You might end up with more than one keeper, because there really is no perfect p&s camera for every situation.

 

[Paolo Bonello]

Thanks a lot guys.
The Konica on top looks like a keeper but the battery is odd. I'll have to google that one. It is a bit bigger than I wanted for cycling duties though so I might pick from the others for that purpose.
Yes The elph is going in a box or the bin. The Konica bottom left and the Oly trip (centre) feel extremely poxy with very tiny non-descript lenses. I might give those a miss unless it turns out that I can't get the others to work.
Being able to use them quickly on the bike and without too much fiddling is a must so I guess I should try out few rolls.

So after all the helpful advice I think I'd like to try the Minolta middle row left, The Oly zoom middle row right and the Pentax bottom row centre.

That's at least 3 I need to throw a battery in and try out for cycling plus the bigger Konica at the top.
Thanks again guts you've been extremely helpful.