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-   -   Compact cameras. (http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13564)

Keith Tapscott. 30th December 2020 09:06 AM

Compact cameras.
 
I am considering buying a small pocket camera, but not sure what.
Something not too expensive. Any suggestions welcome.
The Minox 35 series of similar perhaps.

Alan Clark 30th December 2020 09:31 AM

The Olympus 35RC is an excellent little camera. Rangefinder focussing, auto (shutter priority) exposure, manual override, tiny. I have had one since 1976. I bought it to take holiday snaps of the family. It was years before the penny dropped and I realised that it was an excellent camera for "serious" black and white photography as well.

Alan

Collas 30th December 2020 09:35 AM

The Rollei 35 is very good and I can't see the need to go for the Sonnar models as your distance guessing is never going to be accurate enough to get critical focus at f2.8.

MikeHeller 30th December 2020 10:52 AM

I have an Olympus Mµ-II and a Mµ-III. I have made 12×16" prints from the Mµ-II when I took it seakayaking. As I recall the zoom motor was quite noisy and it insisted on popping up the flash and setting it off if 'it' decided there was insufficient light which I found a bit irritating.

They are both surplus to requirements if you are interested in one of them. The Mµ-II is slightly smaller.

Mike

Rob Archer 30th December 2020 11:07 AM

I use an Olympus 35RC, Mju 1 and Mju 2. All of which are excellent. The mjus are tiny and great for bike rides etc although they're fully automatic and can't take filters. The 35RC is a very capable little camera that takes filters (43.5mm) and has an incredibly sharp lens. A few pictures in my various albums here shot with all of them.

Tony Marlow 30th December 2020 12:32 PM

I have a Minox 35mm camera but have not really used it. It is very small and fiddly to use. There are no filters available to use with it except a UV one with a lens hood. The batteries are not easy to find I had to get mine from Germany.
I have read many reports that the shutter on this camera is prone to failure so I would be wary of choosing this one.

Tony

Terry S 30th December 2020 12:57 PM

It depends upon how much control you want over the camera Keith.

My small and easy to carry and use cameras, are Konica Pop's. They look and feel well made, come in a variety of colours (I think I have about five different colours, with yellow and green being my favourites) but they do have limited bits to change, being film speed (turn on the front of the lens) and a AA battery flash on and off. A few apertures, changed by using the film speed and just the one exposure I believe. And I have just found a good description of it:

'One shutter speed (1/125th of a second), a 36mm fixed focus lens, manual film advance and rewind, manually-set ISO values of 100, 200, and 400, and a manually-deployed pop-up flash.'


I have done 16" x 12" prints from them and the lens at this size print shows good definition, although I usually print up to 10" x 8" the majority of the time from the negs.

And just in case you may be interested, here is the model in yellow:

http://digandgift.co.uk/wp-content/u...pop-yellow.jpg

Terry S

Svend 30th December 2020 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collas (Post 137436)
The Rollei 35 is very good and I can't see the need to go for the Sonnar models as your distance guessing is never going to be accurate enough to get critical focus at f2.8.

^^^+1

These are wonderful cameras. I have both the 35TE (Tessar), which belonged to my mother; and the 35SE (Sonnar) which I have owned since about 1982 or so. Nick is correct about distance "guessing" (let's call it estimating :)) at wide open, which is really only an issue for nearby subjects. But there are other reasons to choose either the Sonnar or the Tessar: the Sonnar is sharper, but softer contrast (lovely lens! one of my all-time favourites), and has better coatings I think; whereas the Tessar is also very sharp but higher contrast, if that suits your aesthetic eye better. Otherwise they are extremely well made, very small and rugged. The latest models (TE and SE) have LED exposure indicators in the viewfinder; older ones have the meter readout on the top housing. They can be a bit fiddly to use until you twig the clever design of the front dials, after which it becomes intuitive and you will become quite quick about it. And it doesn't take long to become proficient at accurately estimating distances (it's a zone focus camera).

Highly recommended, but not for everyone.

Let me know if you have any questions on these.

Nat Polton 30th December 2020 02:06 PM

I have been looking at the Olympus 35 RC myself over the last few weeks.
Quite a few have the self timer setting lever snapped off.
No big deal if you are handy at metal work and can fashion a working substitute.
Not many people on ebay mention this fault. Examine the photos carefully.

Buyer beware.


Although I have not tried it, I have read that the screw holding the timer lever on has a left handed thread. Could this be the source of so many broken levers or is it just die cast metal reaching the end of its usable life. Die cast Mazak breaks down with age I have been told.
Still looking for a good one.

Cheers.

Bill 30th December 2020 02:56 PM

Another vote for the Rollei 35. Mine has the Sonnar lens which is excellent. When I got it the metering system was not working but Newton Ellis serviced it, sorted out the meter and adjusted it to take the 1.5v battery. The original batteries are no longer available. I have had an Olympus 35RC and have a Trip. Again both excellent and reasonably small cameras but not as small as the Rollei.
Bill


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