The REALLY Dark Side: P&S Advice.

[Andrew Sowerby]

Another vote for the Stylus Epic. Very small, good lens (except mine flares at longer shutter speeds with strong backlight), cheap, comes in black. All good things.

How many cameras do you have Stephanie?

 

[jcline]

Vote for the XA2

Vote for the XA2

This is a very very simple camera with a great lens. It is zone focus but you could pretty much just ignore it 90% of the time. Even if you don't want to put it in the p&s group, its a great little camera. I leave it in my coat pocket packed with 400 at all times.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Another vote for the Stylus Epic. Very small, good lens (except mine flares at longer shutter speeds with strong backlight), cheap, comes in black. All good things.

How many cameras do you have Stephanie?

That I use?

Canon P, Fed-5C, Meopta Flexaret (which is going away), Canonet 28, Canon Demi, Argus C3, Lex35, and, at one time, a Voigtlander Vito CLR. I can't find the CLR now...I hope I find it again soon, though. I wanted to use it for a project I was doing.

 

[MelanieC]

I have a Stylus Epic that I bought, oh, in 1996 or 1997 -- the cheaper one with the shorter "zoom" lens. Setting aside the fact that I am terrible at composing photos, the shots I got with it were pretty great, and much more so in the hands of a real photographer (ex-boyfriend with artistic tendencies and a bunch of old Nikons). At the time I got it, it was under $100 and I remember choosing it because a zillion and one websites recommended it.

Once I got a digital camera I stopped using it as my snapshot camera, and last year I gave it to my mother, who otherwise will use disposable cameras when she goes on trips (shudder). Now that I've rediscovered my M3 I've pretty much stopped using digitals, though (I have a Coolpix 950 and now a D70s). And after reading how much people who are into real cameras (i.e., rangefinders) like the Stylus Epic, I might have to steal it back from my mother!

I do love how tiny it is and how clever the clamshell design is. The flash is totally hyperactive, though, and is best left turned off in my experience, unless you really like for your friends to resemble deer in headlights.

 

[XAos]

Yeah, the SE and the XA2 are great. Compact, don't get bigger when you 'turn them on', no long motor lag times, and you can work em with gloves on. I wish I had a 'pocket cam' with about a 70mm lens on it like that. That's my sole gripe with these cameras is that 28mm takes some getting used to.

 

[GeorgeFH]

Yeah, the SE and the XA2 are great. Compact, don't get bigger when you 'turn them on', no long motor lag times, and you can work em with gloves on. I wish I had a 'pocket cam' with about a 70mm lens on it like that. That's my sole gripe with these cameras is that 28mm takes some getting used to.

olympus Infinity Twin comes close. two lens, a 35mm and a 70mm in a small package.

 

[chenick]

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.

I have a Konica Big-Mini 302 that I'm planning on using... It's been in the family for years and rarely used. I have googled it and very little comes up (was looking for an explanation of the red/green LEDs)

From reading about other Konica lenses, I imagine this should be very good as it's a prime 35mm lens F3.5 with ± 1.5EV settings, infinity lock etc. Not bad for a basic p&s

-Nick

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

And I thought the REALLY dark side was a pinhole camera for daguerrotypes.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'm actually working on a pinhole, too, but I want something less conspicuous than my box brownie to carry around in public. 😉

 

[DougK]

Did anybody mention the Olympus Trip 35 yet? I love that camera and since there were so many made, you can still find near-mint examples for very little money.

 

[GeorgeFH]

I have a Konica Big-Mini 302 that I'm planning on using... It's been in the family for years and rarely used. I have googled it and very little comes up (was looking for an explanation of the red/green LEDs)

From reading about other Konica lenses, I imagine this should be very good as it's a prime 35mm lens F3.5 with ± 1.5EV settings, infinity lock etc. Not bad for a basic p&s

-Nick

i don't have the same model of Big Mini you do. but I think the red/green LEDs are pretty standard for all autofocus P&S. green for focus okay and red for low speed/flash recommanded.

 

[GeorgeFH]

Did anybody mention the Olympus Trip 35 yet? I love that camera and since there were so many made, you can still find near-mint examples for very little money.

I've been think about getting one just to try this mod. http://alspix.blog.co.uk/index.php/alspix/2006/02/12/

it doesn't look like it'll fit in my pocket as well as the 35RC though.

 

[kully]

I have the Olympus 35 RC and Trip 35. Although the 35 RC is _slightly_ smaller than the Trip there is not much in it.

I'm a super clumsy cretin and my Trip 35 (one of the very early models) has been left on the top of my car twice now once it fell off onto gravel at about 5mph but the second time it fell off onto a tarmac road at about 15 and it still works absolutely fine.

Zone focussing is turning out to be fine and it's extremely apt in the metering stakes as well (I've not blown anything up more than 8x10 so far).

The 35 RC has had a film through it, it's fiddly to turn on and off with my medium thickness fingers and it does not have the indestrucible air of the Trip.

Trip 35
🙂 I can't kill it
🙂 Zone focussing works
🙂 No batteries
🙂 Metering is still working after more than 30 years
🙂 I use mine with zero lightseals remaining
🙁 No exposure compensation
🙁 useless in low light


35 RC
🙂 Max ISO 800 (Trip is 400)
🙂 Cool flash auto aperature setting.
🙂 Fully manual controls possible
🙂 It's amazing how many features are in this camera (self timer, flash lead port)
🙁 1.35v battery needed (I've tried a 1.55v with film speed adjusted - it doesn't work) Kim from the forum is kindly sending me a collar to use on a hearing aid battery though - I'll see how that goes.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I use a lot of disposables, a camera with a wide fixed focus lens and film is cheaper than a roll of film.

 

[Roger Cadillo]

I want something halfway decent. I like my crappy camera, but I'd like to find something that's not quite expensive as an L-CA that would work for me. Fixed lens, auto or fixed focus, 35mm or wider, f/3.5 or faster. Can I get something like this for under $100? Used or new doesn't matter. And yeah, just so that I don't get any, I don't want digital. 35mm film is a must. 🙂

I just found a voigtlander vitomatic ll its a solid little rangefinder. I have not seen results yet but it feels good in your hands. Compact with good optics. I just searched online and there were many under 100.00.
Good luck

 

[hugivza]

I haqve a Nikon 35 TI which is a little querky but optically good, but have just acquired a Kyocera Contax TVS to replace one which was stolen for 20C on the dollar. The Sonnar lens is excellent. With the priceof film cameras going South it could be a worthwhile ponder.............or even purchase?

Have fun anyway!

 

[Jacob]

A vote for the Minolta AF-C. One of the first mini af cameras, manual wind (=quiet), very sharp 35/2,8 lens, af lock, smart sliding front that protects the lens, manual asa setting (compensation possible), add-on flash, ugly-cool 80's styling. I like it a lot. Price around $20-30!
Jacob

 

[Bertram2]

I want something halfway decent. I like my crappy camera, but I'd like to find something that's not quite expensive as an L-CA that would work for me. Fixed lens, auto or fixed focus, 35mm or wider, f/3.5 or faster. Can I get something like this for under $100? Used or new doesn't matter. And yeah, just so that I don't get any, I don't want digital. 35mm film is a must. 🙂

I bought a Ricoh R35 for that purpose, actually I bought three, one for each family member, because I could get this camera for $90.

It's a camera developed for photo classes.
It has a 4/30 lens +hood with filterthread, beside the all auto mode it has a manual focus mode and a mode for 3 manual f.stops , an hotshoe for additional flash guns, a tripod thread , an exposure compensation +/- 2 and several modes for the flash, fill in, full, off etc. The shutter has times from 1sec to 1/500 .
Two normal AA batteries, which last pretty long.

If you want to see sample photos telling something about the oiptical performance go to

my site, www.bersac.de

open the Scotland album and there the sub - album B&W. These are the latest shots with the R35, some on BW400CN some on Tri-X. You can see there how the flash works, full and as fill in (the maltbags, under the roof).

This camera is good, actually a bit too good, because after a while it makes you thinking if this isn't all you need. The 30mm is versatile enuff to serve as a one-fits-all lens, and the camera is so tiny that it fits in every pocket.

Don't know to if it was ever sold in US, you have to check that .

bertram