I miss my T4, looking for a new compact

hmmm the guy of the Mju is not responding anymore. Dodgy.. will be on the lookout for another one. The Espio is on the way to my house today!

You know I also owned a Leica Minilux, which is an amazing camera and tack sharp! The only thing I disliked was the small viewfinder (same as Leica Mini?).
 
shadowfox said:
David,
Thanks for the explanation.
I have no idea what to think about this camera.
The reason I brought it up is because I got not one, but *two* of them thrown in along with a Leica R deal recently.

I've never seen a P&S that has Elmar (or any other Leica lens name) before. After seeing the pictures on flickr and yours above, I think I'll put in a roll and see what comes out! 😀
Click to expand...

Hi,

Killing two birds with on stone here; the Leica mini isn't the minilux (or is it MiniLux?). It's the first of the second or third run of Leicas for the masses. And there's what looks like a Minolta and Panasonic variation. Here they all are:

Leica-Mini-Etc-1-XL.jpg


Open the backs and this is what you see;

Leica-Mini-Etc-2-L.jpg


You pays your money and takes your choice, as they say.

FWIW, the Minolta and Panasonic have more modes for the flash. NB the lenses are 34mm and 35mm and I wonder if they are all the same components slightly altered in positioning or else f=34,5 and they rounded up and down...

The mini was announced in 1991 and so all of them will be elderly cameras. That's probably why I think the Panasonic is the best of my three.

I hope this makes sense.

Regards, David

PS and there's the Leica AF-C1 (of 1989) with its 40mm f/2.8 lens and a Minolta cousin.
 
It seems no one mentioned Fuji ZoomDate 2.8 aka Fuji Silvi 2.8 😀

24mm f2.8 at its wide end
IMGP5059.JPG


IMGP5063.JPG


IMGP5065.JPG


And for brand loyalty, battery is also fuji 😀
IMGP5053.JPG


and i'm shooting a roll of fuji superia now 😀
 
David Hughes said:
Hi,

Killing two birds with on stone here; the Leica mini isn't the minilux (or is it MiniLux?). It's the first of the second or third run of Leicas for the masses. And there's what looks like a Minolta and Panasonic variation. Here they all are:

Open the backs and this is what you see;

You pays your money and takes your choice, as they say.

FWIW, the Minolta and Panasonic have more modes for the flash. NB the lenses are 34mm and 35mm and I wonder if they are all the same components slightly altered in positioning or else f=34,5 and they rounded up and down...

The mini was announced in 1991 and so all of them will be elderly cameras. That's probably why I think the Panasonic is the best of my three.

I hope this makes sense.

Regards, David

PS and there's the Leica AF-C1 (of 1989) with its 40mm f/2.8 lens and a Minolta cousin.
Click to expand...

I saw a riva mini somewhere around here. Is that comparable to the Leica? Image quality wise?
 
jaimiepeeters said:
I saw a riva mini somewhere around here. Is that comparable to the Leica? Image quality wise?
Click to expand...

I think, in this case Leica is comparable to Minolta 🙂
Well, this is nice little camera made by Minolta and sold also as Leica. It can't take shots you could expect from Leica lenses costing 4 digit figures, it's a compact for people who want to supplement their Leica bag with a product with name they recognize.
 
So not really up to par with the Mju , espio etc?

Tomorrow I think I'll get my espio and will run a roll of film through it and show you the results 🙂
 
jaimiepeeters said:
I saw a riva mini somewhere around here. Is that comparable to the Leica? Image quality wise?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Well, yes and no. This applies to all the cameras mentioned.

The Riva Mini and the others are going to be old (about 20 - 25 years) and second-hand as well. So your guess is a good as mine simply because each one will have a different history. Will it help if I add that buying cameras in flea markets and so on I reckon about 5% get thrown because they are nbg? And one or two of them were passable but still thrown: battery costs come into it as well.

But, if we are only talking about 5" x 7" prints, then I doubt if you'll see a difference. I have my doubts at bigger sizes but haven't bothered to check them. Like all camera you have to play with them and learn what they can and can't do. Then write it down on a luggage label and tie it to the camera... ;-)

Trouble is, we are talking about P&S's. We push the button and it does the rest and most of the time we get a good quality picture. Then the dud ones tend to be very dud and the brilliant ones are OTT.

Regards, David

PS If you want certainties then buy a Leica and return it to Solms: there's no certainties with second-hand camneras. That's one of the reasons I limit myself to spending coffee money on them.

PPS OTOH, I know someone who bought a camera lens in a charity shop. Walking out of the door he had an idea and asked if they had any other cameras not on display. Result; he was offered, and got, a Leica IIIc and Summitar for ten pounds. 'nuff said?
 
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muf said:
Espio mini or zoom?
Click to expand...

Pentax espio AF zoom full macro. 35-70mm
Any good? Others here said it was comparable to the IQzoom version and one even said it would be his choice of the 3 mentioned on a page prior to this one...
 
Rollei and Samsung

Rollei and Samsung

Hi,

This should say it all. The specification for the lens suggests they are the same but we all have our own interpretation ;-)

Rollei-and-Samsung-L.jpg


Regards, David
 
jaimiepeeters said:
Pentax espio AF zoom full macro. 35-70mm
Any good? Others here said it was comparable to the IQzoom version and one even said it would be his choice of the 3 mentioned on a page prior to this one...
Click to expand...

Ahh, it's not the same as mine which is a 35-80mm zoom. I've not run a film through mine yet so can't comment on the quality, but is the Espio mini(UC-1) that I have is anything to go by then I have high hopes.

Paul

7379500922_4d9c64af15_c.jpg
 
jaimiepeeters said:
wow.. so similar. Looks relabeled but you say they used a different lens?
Click to expand...
That is unclear on these Samsung/Rollei cameras. Samsung was trying to make a name of their own in the film camera world at the time that they owned Rollei. Were the lenses of their own design, or were the Schnieder rebranded as Samsung for marketing purposes? We may never know for sure.
 
muf said:
Ahh, it's not the same as mine which is a 35-80mm zoom. I've not run a film through mine yet so can't comment on the quality, but is the Espio mini(UC-1) that I have is anything to go by then I have high hopes.

Paul

7379500922_4d9c64af15_c.jpg
Click to expand...

From personal experience, I have yet to use a Pentax compact of any flavor that had a less than excellent lens.

I am very fond of this one:


Pentax IQZoom 90MC by Greyscale3, on Flickr
 
Lovely fondler's thread. Prices may rise once again 😀

What do the "panoramic" functions on these cameras do? Several frames together, a poor man's X-pan? Or simply crop a single frame?
 
jaimiepeeters said:
wow.. so similar. Looks relabeled but you say they used a different lens?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Can't say if it is or isn't a different lens. The label on it is different but they chose it and can put what they like.

I looked at the spec. page in both instruction books and the figures are identical.

Open the back and they look the same.

The problem is that you don't know what's happened and so can only guess.

FWIW the Smasung one says: "35-70mm power zoom lens, F3.9-7.1 (7 elements 7 groups)".

And the Rollei ""AF-Varigon f3.9/35mm-f7.1/70mm HFT Makro lens from Schneider Kreuznach (7 elements, 7 groups) with motorized (sic) zoom."

Regards, David

PS and the age plus being P&S's means you can't really test them together: or be bothered...
 
For Greyscale

" I have yet to use a Pentax compact of any flavor that had a less than excellent lens."

I'll second that; my favourite being the ESPIO 928 in all versions, the big old 120 and the mini. But Pentax on the camera is a pretty good guarantee of quality.

Regards, David
 
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