The REALLY Dark Side: P&S Advice.

I'll take all the $20 XA2's you can send me. Run about twice that the last I looked. I use a Stylus Epic for my P&S now. but if you take flash out of the picture I'd be 95% as happy with the XA2. The SE gets the nod for flash and a closer minimum focusing distance.
 
If you wnat a camera that looks like an RF and don't want to spend much The Canon AF35ML has the same 40mm f1.9 lens the QL19 has except in an AF. The only drawback is the very noisy motordrive, but the photos are tack sharp and they sell fo around $40
 
Wow...I can sell the photos I take with it for $40? Give me one of those! :D

Seriously, I may consider that one also. Still looking for opinions...it'll be about a week until I buy...perhaps even two.
 
another vote for Olmpus Epic, for about $69 at B&H, it simply is the best pocket P&S. I have two, one with date, another without. one for b&w, another with slide.

mervyn
 
Yup. If someone else wants something I'll gladly pass it on to them...I should be looking for film instead of a camera anyway. I don't really want to spend the money on a T4 at this time...but perhaps down the road a bit if I like it.
 
RDW said:
Stephanie, how about a Leica? I have a Leica Z2X that I carry around in my camera bag along with my rangefinder cameras. I got if off ebay used for about 70.00 However, it has a zoom instead of a fixed focal length lens. It is a 35-70mm. And the lens is excellent. It is an outstanding little camera, very easy to use, very well layed out, and it looks cool too. It even has the little red Leica logo on the front of it.

Hey, I might be interested in that, if you are unloading it. I can save you the trouble of shipping it, I'm in Dallas as well. How much are you asking for it?
 
While we're praising the Epic/mjuii... I just found out it can be triggered via infrared remote. Nifty! Maybe modern cameras do have some good points...
 
Stephanie:

I also have a Nikon L35AF that I recently discovered in a closet. It's AF and the lens is supposed to be superb. It's a 35mm wide angle, non zoom lens, so it might meet your requirments. They go pretty inexpensively as mentioned above. They also run on two AA cells, no big deal for finding batteries. These cameras look very cool. They are black and just look and feel quality. They come with a lens cap, so if you have a choice get one with the cap.I think there is a review by Ken Rockwell on this camera (do a search). I also have a Canon sureshot zoom AF film 35mm camera that has a 35mm wide angle setting, 135 telephoto setting. It's lighter than the l35af, and has a very nice viewfinder/zoom action. Would recommend that too. The T4 is supposed to be a great camera for P/S. Never used one, but there was a posting a few days ago about a book "driveby shootings" by a taxi driver in NYC who used a T4. There was a lot written about it at phto.net. I think the founder of that site recommends it as the "starter" film camera for almost everyone. I'm sure you couldn't go wrong with one. Just be sure that whatever you get is in really good condition. Then you will have joy, not disappointment and headaches, in your life.

Frank
 
There is a Yashica T4 in our family and it is not going anywhere any time soon. It is just that good. The Olympus Epic would also be a good option and was on the list before I got the T4.

Nikon Bob
 
Krasnaya_Zvezda said:
Hey, I might be interested in that, if you are unloading it. I can save you the trouble of shipping it, I'm in Dallas as well. How much are you asking for it?
Sorry, I did not make myself clear, but the camera is not for sale. They are neat little cameras though. I was only reccomending the camera to Stephanie and after looking back at my post it does appear that I am offering it for sale. Sorry about the confusion.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
I'll also take suggestions for new crappy point and shoot cameras, though, with fixed focus lenses. I kind of like the toy camera thing.

The Agat 18K has decent optics and is the ultimate "throw in your pocket" toy camera. Dirt cheap, half-frame, 28/2.8 glass Industar lens, and a funky set of Sunny 16 etc. exposure settings.
 
cpranger said:
I also have a Nikon L35AF that I recently discovered in a closet. It's AF and the lens is supposed to be superb. It's a 35mm wide angle, non zoom lens, so it might meet your requirments. They go pretty inexpensively as mentioned above. They also run on two AA cells, no big deal for finding batteries. These cameras look very cool. They are black and just look and feel quality.

This was my only camera on a trip to France in 1992 (long, sad story as to why I had nothing else at the time). Used that thing to within an inch of its little life for that week and a half, and it yielded great photographs (it helped that it had manual film-speed adjustment, albeit located around the lens element...bring a lens cloth with you when you use it!).


- Barrett
 
I'm not very please with Stylus Epic. The problem is it really loves to shoot wide open at 2.8 even when the light is decent. So if you want big depth of field you are out of luck. and it is pretty noisy too. XA with aperature control is much more useful. or Olympus 35RC, which isn't much bigger than most P&A. If you realy want an auto exposure camera, at least get an older one with manual ISO control.
My first camera was a Canon MC, from the 80's. Very good 2.8 lens. you can set the ISO. backlight comp. tiny like the XA and detached flash. it is not the most common camera, but turns up on Ebay one in a while.
another suggestion is Konica Big Mini. it has a cult following in Japan.
and since these two don't have many fan websites devoted to them yet, (please don't get any ideas) they often still go for less than $10. at that price you can buy one for everyday of the week.
 
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RDW said:
Sorry, I did not make myself clear, but the camera is not for sale. They are neat little cameras though. I was only reccomending the camera to Stephanie and after looking back at my post it does appear that I am offering it for sale. Sorry about the confusion.

Ah, my mistake. Your description quite sold me on it right away!
 
one of the myriad of Minox 35 models...

many of them are easy to find under $100. a few models go well over a $100 sometimes...but they're not really any better than the cheap ones, for the most part. they're mostly 35mm/2.8 that are TACK SHARP! and they're TINY and LIGHT. shutter speeds are 1/500 to either 1 or 8 seconds, mostly. most focus from 2.3 feet to infinity. mostly aperture priority. focusing is i guess what you'd call zone focusing...it has depth of field on the focusing ring. i suggest setting the cam to hyperfocal distance. most can use film from 25-1600 (but some to either 800 or 1600...a couple to 3200). can set film iso manually. many have upto 30 second shutter speed if you select iso25. some have backlight compensation. some have built-in skylight filter. most, if not all, have hot shoe for flash...mostly x-sync set at 1/125. all have self timer. all have tripod mount. very nice bright-frame direct viewfinder with shutter speed indicator. most have cable release socket.

i highly recommedn this little cam. i have the GT-E model, myself.

awesome awesome little cam...terrific optics! sharp and high contrast.
 
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