P&S cams- worth putting up with???

[pthornto]

I love the idea of an easy to use camera that just disappears when you don’t need it. Essentially the definition of a P&S. I picked up a Yashica t4 awhile back and while it works great and takes wonderful photos, there are compromises- it has noticeable shutter lag and a squinty finder. These are common to this class of camera and I’d be interested if any in the group have found dealing with these downsides of a P&S worth it for the output? Any tips???

 

[Bob Michaels]

I always have an underwater digital P&S that I carry on every trip. It replaced the Nikonos III that I used to carry.

Do those cameras have substantial compromises? Absolutely, both operationally as well as optically. Have those cameras delivered unique photos in situations where I would never consider carrying a regular camera? Absolutely.

 

[farlymac]

Whatever you do, don't get so totally enamored with any P&S camera unless you can find a steady supply to replace it. Almost all were not designed to be serviced, and as they start to fail usually get trashed so even ones for parts are hard to come by.

That said, I've got many of them that are good enough to be considered for the "One Camera If Stuck On An Island" scenario. Most of them I could trust to last quite a while because of their simplicity of design. The ones that have more options seem to be susceptible to breakdowns as moisture gets in at every button, or the internal mechanisms can't handle the shocks of rough handling.

Canon, Olympus, Nikon, and Ricoh made a lot of really good P&S cameras. Kodak even has a few with excellent lenses. It seems to me the earlier models are more rugged than the later ones. One Canon model I really liked was the Sure Shot Classic 120, but it had a lot of issues. The main thing was there were a lot of buttons on the back, and if you carried the camera in a shirt pocket your body sweat would condense on the camera, and seep in through the buttons to the electronics which would brick the camera. I went through four of those cameras before I gave up.

More functions also sometimes meant a larger body to contain all the mechanics and electronics. The worst example of this is another Canon, the Sure Shot XL, and it truly was extra large, more than twice the size of a common P&S.

What was great about them for a while was I could find them in the charity/thrift stores for usually no more than $3.00, but Goodwill now sells all they get on their own auction site. For a long time you couldn't even find them in antique/junk stores, but they seem to be making a comeback. I was perusing a camera store site from NYC, and they had P&S cameras starting at around $75.00, with many going over $150.00. I supposed they were completely checked out and refurbished, but I keep thinking I could make some money shipping them off a box or two of my collection.

Anyway, P&S cameras can be a fine substitute for a more expensive alternative, especially when you don't want to draw much attention to what you are doing. Pull it out of a pocket, snap the shutter, and put it away all in the matter of a few seconds. Just watch out though if you have one with a coffee grinder for a film drive.

PF

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I used less fancy and far less expensive prime lens, two focus position AF cameras.
I can't even recall thier models, manufacturer. They were 5 cad cameras.
Image quality was great on 5x7. I just never enlarged it to 8x10 for some reason.
For serious and small camera I went Rollei 35 twice. Not overpriced as Kardashian P&S.
Maybe because you have to know what you are doing.

 

[pthornto]

That’s just the thing- the Rollei 35 makes me want to pick it up and use it. It is an engaging camera and the viewfinder is pretty darn good.... but, in many ways it is slower!

 

[markjwyatt]

I am not sure a Rollei 35 is a P&S camera. A very compact, quality 35mm camera, yes, but point and shoot? Not sure. No faster or pointier/shootier than any manual SLR/rangefinder/viewfinder with meter, but more compact.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I find the Olympus Stylus Epic is the ONLY bicycling camera that works as it is the only camera one can pull out and shoot with using one hand. Any other camera, you must take both hands off the bars to use, not a good thing when you are shoulder to shoulder with other riders with unknown bike handling skills.

Mexico - the Rosarito to Ensenada bike ride, a 50 mile rolling party (my son Matt)

New York - 5 Borough Bike Tour

 

[Hari]

Bob Michaels: I used the Olympus Stylus Epic (w/2.8 lens) until
it didn't work. Checking around there's no fix but to get another.
And these have become rather pricey.

 

[Pál_K]

The best P&S I’ve used is the Ricoh GR-1. Truly pocketable, one-handed operation, the ability to use it in program mode or aperture-priority, exposure compensation, great viewfinder and viewfinder info (focus points, approximate focus range, shutter speed, auto parallax). It also has the clever snap-focus feature. Great 28mm lens.


I’ve used mine a lot. A lot. When the battery starts to get weak, the camera exhibits weird issues - like losing focus.

 

[agentlossing]

"Point and shoot" with film means "AF, AE and auto film advance" 99% of the time, and those are all failure points for aging film cameras. I'll stick with my digital GRIII.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I am not sure a Rollei 35 is a P&S camera. A very compact, quality 35mm camera, yes, but point and shoot? Not sure. No faster or pointier/shootier than any manual SLR/rangefinder/viewfinder with meter, but more compact.

Fastest P&Ss I have are fixed focus, one aperture, single shutter speed.
This winter I won "winter city panorama" contest with one of those.

I can't see why Rollei 35 can't be set same way for speed. Nor I was ever limited by its regular operations. I used it even while padling in canoe 🙂.
It is matter of practice. I do one hand exposures with M4-2.
All of those Yashicas, Olympuses and especially Ricoh are prone to short live under regular use. For very heafty, not any where reasonable price these days.

 

[zenza]

I always have either my Stylus Epic (easy to forget I even have it) or Fuji Klasse with me.

 

[Archiver]

The irony of my P&S film cameras is that I consider them too valuable to shoot regularly. The Contax T3 goes for crazy prices right now, and the Fuji Natura Black is the same. My T3 looks mint and could fetch AUD $3000 or more. I love the output of these cameras so much that ironically I hardly shoot them, lest they wear out faster and become financially irreplaceable.


Are P&S cameras worth the hassles in general? I guess it depends on which one you have. As @fairlymac said, don't become so enamoured of one if you can't easily replace it. Or in other words, reserve your love for cameras you can replace! Sometimes difficult depending on your taste. I'm pretty fond of the Olympux XA2, which is easily replaced and has few drawbacks apart from the need to zone focus.

 

[jsrockit]

The high end 90s models are all pretty cool and capable... and super expensive now. Basically, I would only buy one to use it and not care if it dies. If you are going to be upset that your $ is gone after using it for as long as it lasts, then no, it is not worth it. They are cool though.

 

[DougK]

The only 35mm point-and-shoot camera I own these days is a Fuji Nature S Black, which is a truly amazing camera. I'm sure it's worth quite a bit of money now, but I just can't bring myself to sell it yet.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Fastest P&Ss I have are fixed focus, one aperture, single shutter speed.
This winter I won "winter city panorama" contest with one of those.

I can't see why Rollei 35 can't be set same way for speed. Nor I was ever limited by its regular operations. I used it even while padling in canoe 🙂.
It is matter of practice. I do one hand exposures with M4-2.
All of those Yashicas, Olympuses and especially Ricoh are prone to short live under regular use. For very heafty, not any where reasonable price these days.

Well-said KF. One of my favourites for P&S was the Fuji GSW690iii with the 65mm lens. There's a lot to be said for Tri-X (or your favourite 400) pre-set shutter speed .... f8 & hyperfocal distance. I have a handful of very nice photos with the Rollei...& it does offer higher quality lens choice than my current XA. I just never bonded with the super-boxy design of the Rollei35. Instead of a high-price electronic P&S I've finally settled on a Leica CL and a very small 35 lens. As small as i can go without giving up the quality & handling i want.

 

[pthornto]

All good responses! Than you. My approach has been to just accept that I’m likely going to miss a precise moment but just be happy it will still get captured. Also learning to accept letting go of setting the aperture and just focus on framing the shot.

Oh and I try to use 400 film to keep shutter speeds up and minimize the auto flash!

 

[Pál_K]

I’m hoping that since my GR-1 hasn’t failed after all this time, it is a statistical anomaly and will continue to work for another few decades.

The Nikon 35AF is a good P&S, but seems to go through batteries as fast as film.

The most widespread P&S is the smartphone.

 

[Bob Michaels]

The irony of my P&S film cameras is that I consider them too valuable to shoot regularly. ..........

One of my requirements for a P&S is that it need be moderately expendable. That means I am able to carry and use it everywhere, every time without major fear of loss or damage. I accept that means I must make some nominal compromises in optical quality. Everything related is a compromise. Shooting 35mm instead of 6X7 is one of those compromises. Consider the compromise of not getting the photo because you were too worried about your camera.

For quite a while Olympus sold "factory refurbished" (i.e. like new) Stylus Epics for $30 on E-Bay but I am down to my last one. Totaled a few along the way but the photos I got by having a camera in those situations make it all worthwhile.

My current P&S is digital. Makes excellent photos most of the time. It's an older model Fuji. I can live with only JPGs, no manual focus, no manual exposure. Every manufacturer has one for just over $100 and they are waterproof. Sure they are not repairable and don't last forever. But they bring home the photos. Sure beats not getting the photo because all your cameras were too good, too valuable, so they were still at home.

 

[Bingley]

It’s not technically a P&S, but the Oly XA can be shot like one, and it has a v nice lens. Very capable little cameras, and they fit in a jeans pocket...