Film Compact camera from the film days.

When I started this topic, I was talking about the fully automated compact cameras from the 80s like my cheapo Kodak compact shown in my photo. But we fell hard into the premium $1000 manual-focusing rangefinder category pretty damn fast.

*insert smiley face emoticon here*
 
Bellamy Hunt feels your pain, and was supposedly trying to something about it. Don't know how his venture turned out.


 
Bellamy Hunt feels your pain, and was supposedly trying to something about it. Don't know how his venture turned out.


I think it came to nothing, to tell you the truth - but we may yet get surprised ...

M.
 
The Canon AF35ML was the only AF film compact I've owned since shooting with some zoom or other as a kid. So that's my only recommendation based on any experience, but, like I said, the lens seemed very soft all the time. Maybe it was a one-off and mine had seen batter days. You could probably find one fairly cheap! I got rid of mine because there seemed to be a fault with the flash capacitor, it would make loud, alarmingly electrical sounding clicks when the flash was popped up, and I know old flash capacitors can, you know, zap you. So, along with the bad IQ of the lens I ended up trashing it.
 
I'm the accidental owner of an Olympus 35 RD, which I inherited from my father. It's not especially compact, but the 40mm f/1.7 lens certainly qualifies it for this thread.

I don't have it with me today or I would post a pic - this is an image pinched from the internet. Looks great, doesn't it?
View attachment 254621
I should have a proper look at mine one of these days and decide what to do with it. I can't see me shooting with film again, and I think the type of battery it uses may be an issue, but it seems a shame to sell it.

-R

Came close to dropping a couple hundred bucks on this on eBay after I saw your post but I didn't move fast enough before it was snapped up someone else.
 
The Canon AF35ML was the only AF film compact I've owned since shooting with some zoom or other as a kid. So that's my only recommendation based on any experience, but, like I said, the lens seemed very soft all the time.

I kinda feel like I have a main digital camera that will always remain my main camera. So if I have a compact film camera, it would be my ... 'playful' camera for lack of a better word. It'll be something I'd use for a sporadic shot here and there. If the lens isn't as sharp as it should be, I don't reaaaally mind if I can use it as a lomo camera. I'll keep an eye out for this one.






We completely forgot to mention the Olympus XA range (or I might have overlooked that) ... As @TraamisVOS indicated, it's a real rabbit hole to go down.

Nevertheless, the original XA, a pocketable aperture priority rangefinder camera, should be mentioned here; while I always preferred the Minox lenses because they render a more contrasty image, the XA's lens works fantastically well with black and white film because of nice transitions and good micro-contrast. And of course, the rangefinder can safe the day.

Anyhow, I'll shut up now - I've basically added to the list, which is hardly conducive to helping one decide ;)

M.

This one sounds good, I looked it up on eBay and it's not that cheap but it's not in the $1000 range. Hmm....
 
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