In the last year or 2, I’ve shot a lot of 110 cameras. They have tended though to fall into 3 camps – modern toy shooters with plastic lenses for the lomo crowd, simple 70’s cameras with that classic minox 110 shape or the bonkers high end SLR & rangefinders. The 430E & 430Ex sit in that middle group but with some high end features that raise them above the average. Continue reading One Hand in My Pocket – Minolta Pocket Autopak 430Ex review
All posts by Alan D
The lady goes East – The curious tale of Lomography Lady Grey
It was during my rush to get my hands on some F2/400 that I bought some rolls of lady Grey and on a recent dive into Boots I picked some more up on a buy one get one half price deal. I’d heard the stuff was marked as and made in USA and was basically Kodak Tmax. But then I stumbled across this Flickr discussion post which rightly pointed out they ain’t made in the states no more but is marked as made in the Czech Republic. Continue reading The lady goes East – The curious tale of Lomography Lady Grey
Three Takes on the Halina Panorama – (1) Hamish’s Tale
The Halina Panorama (aka Ansco Pix Panorama) has a bit of weird cult status for such a plastic simple plastic camera and is something you can pick up for a fraction of the cost of some classic plastics like the VUWS. When a few turned in a job lot I decided to have a bit of fun and send them out to some willing victims for their views. First up we have Hamish Gill of 35mmc fame, an unashamed lover of compact cameras but is usually more at home discussing the merits of the likes Yashica and Contax T series.
How would he cope going Lo-fi ? Continue reading Three Takes on the Halina Panorama – (1) Hamish’s Tale
Behind the Mask – Reader’s Digest PN919/Vivitar PN2011 Review
Although Vivitar in terms of plastic cameras are best known for the legendary VUWS, they produced several at the turn of the century, some of which have also got a cult following like the PN2011 (commonly seen in Reader’s Digest PN919 guise). But does this live up to its more famous sibling ?
Continue reading Behind the Mask – Reader’s Digest PN919/Vivitar PN2011 Review
We’re not in Kansas – Olympus OZ-10 Review
Given my recent trouble with mju’s you might have thought I’d stay clear of Olympus compacts for a bit but then this budget number landed in a job lot and you know it’s not that bad. Continue reading We’re not in Kansas – Olympus OZ-10 Review
The Italian Job – A Tale of 2 ‘New’ Films
Goodness what a year for film 2017 is turning out. A resurgent Kodak kicked things off right at the start with the announcement that Ektachrome will be back by the end of the year. But in March it has been gone a bit Italian with 2 launches of 2 very different films made just 50km from Genoa. Continue reading The Italian Job – A Tale of 2 ‘New’ Films
Rehash Trash or Class ? – Hanimex 35SE Review
This simple fixed focus flash number was actually made by Haking and is based on the Halina Flash 350. But is this rebrand a contender in the toy cam class or just reheated left overs ? I took one for a stroll at dawn one morning to find out. Continue reading Rehash Trash or Class ? – Hanimex 35SE Review
Prestige and the Duds – The Olympus mju-I nearly reviewed
Oh dear ! I had a lot of hope when I started out to test this camera but 3 dud ones later I’m not sure. The mju-I (aka mju, µ[mju] or ∞stylus) was the camera that launched the mju series and would lead to the much sought after mju II (aka Stylus Epic) -one of those prestige fixed focal length compacts that change hands for lots of Dosh. Some feel the much cheaper mju-I is just as good but as we’ll see things didn’t work out for me… Continue reading Prestige and the Duds – The Olympus mju-I nearly reviewed
Rehash Flash – Ricoh FF-9S Review
The Ricoh FF series has a bit of a cache especially around the fixed focus models released in the late 80’s and early 90’s. But how does this (aka Shotmaster AF Super or One Take AF Super) 90’s restyling of the FF-9 work out against the rivals of its day ? Continue reading Rehash Flash – Ricoh FF-9S Review
Yuletide trashcam shoot-off – Fuji FZ-5 v Halina 160
‘Twas Christmas Eve in Canny Cameraville and a small package arrived with a Fuji FZ-5 and a few days later a Halina 160 turned up. But how do these 2 basic 1980’s plastic-tastic cameras fare ? Continue reading Yuletide trashcam shoot-off – Fuji FZ-5 v Halina 160