Lavec Cameras

[koniczech]

Hi all,

A few weeks ago, my friend went home for a weekend and stumbled upon a yard sale. The woman there was selling her 35mm point and shoot, a Lavec camera with black plastic body and the extensive controls of: winding film, opening the back, sliding the lens cover left and right, and shooting a picture.

Looking around on the interwebs, I couldn't find his exact model, but he mentioned something about these cameras being given out with Time magazine a while back (which is how the woman who sold it to him probably got it). The images came out looking like a toy camera, as the lens is cheap plastic, and a few of the 21 pictures are in focus. I'll ask him if he'll put them on his underused flickr.

So, have any of y'all ever used/ seen/ heard of the Lavec cameras? If anything, I would expect to hear about the LT-002 (p&s with fake pentaprism). I have been able to find more info about this camera, but I would love to hear about anyone else's experiences with these cameras.

koniczech

 

[Doug]

Hi -- Sounds llike might be fun to explore the nature of this camera. I also have a Time camera - dating back some 30 years - though it has no mention of Lavec. Here are my observations:

A give-away premium for subscribing to Time Magazine. Came with zippered vinyl soft case, strap, and lens cap. Thumb wheel for film wind. 50mm f/6 lens. Tapered slot forms diaphragm in conjunction with behind-lens leaf shutter, marked to f 16. Viewfinder is pretty vague about edges of field. Styled to look like an SLR with hot shoe on raised “pentaprism”. Film is guided over sharply curved film plane to match lens’s field curvature. Apparently there is a fixed single unmarked shutter speed that may be determined through experiment.

 

[Luddite Frank]

Hi -- Sounds llike might be fun to explore the nature of this camera. I also have a Time camera - dating back some 30 years - though it has no mention of Lavec. Here are my observations:

A give-away premium for subscribing to Time Magazine. Came with zippered vinyl soft case, strap, and lens cap. Thumb wheel for film wind. 50mm f/6 lens. Tapered slot forms diaphragm in conjunction with behind-lens leaf shutter, marked to f 16. Viewfinder is pretty vague about edges of field. Styled to look like an SLR with hot shoe on raised “pentaprism”. Film is guided over sharply curved film plane to match lens’s field curvature. Apparently there is a fixed single unmarked shutter speed that may be determined through experiment.

A "Brownie" for the 1980's ?

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

I see Lavec cameras periodically at Goodwill or Salvation Army, all for a buck or two. Pretty much as described above - plastic, plastic, plastic. Great if you're a toy camera shooter like me! Build quality is as you would expect - very poor. But that's where the adventure begins with all things plastic (camerawise, at least)

Mark